Resources | Are you a pressure cooker when it comes to time? |
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| Tuesday, 13 July 2010 | |
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by Marion Adamson So how do we respond to time pressure? And what is it that influences our response?Can the influencing factors be linked to our culture, the nature / nurture debate? Perhaps we can pin it on our parents, or our past teachers and friends at school? Does it have anything to do with where we live? And even though I don’t have answers to any of the above, perhaps the answer lies in a combination of all aspects and then some… What interests me, though, is how time pressure sends people into conflict – a place where life no longer feels good. Expanding on last month’s article, When Life is Not Good, which introduced the Strengths Deployment Inventory (SDI), here is what I’ve discovered so far: The 4 primary motivational value systems seem to respond typically to time pressure in the following ways: For people sharing an Analytic-Autonomizing (SDI Green) motivation, life is good when the day goes according to the plan, the order, and the process. Introducing an unexpected task that pushes out the already carefully planned and prioritised day may result in conflict. Learning to deal with the unexpected, managing change and having a prioritisation tool could provide some real relief here. Team members that share the Flexible-Cohering (SDI Hub) motivation may enjoy learning to stick with decisions made. Having a high degree of flexibility, and able to easily change tasks from moment to moment may translate to a high level of distractions that delay goal achievement. Experiment with setting goals and sticking to them. In the Assertive-Directing (SDI Red) motivation, people are driven by task accomplishment, winning and meeting targets. The value relating style or behaviour, if overdone, may be interpreted negatively by peers. Learning to value the motivations of others will help this person avoid placing unhelpful time pressure on peers. Altruistic-Nurturing (SDI Blue) – this is me, here I sit typing this article, under time pressure. I can hear the kids are up and I am motivated to go and help make their lunch. But I also want to help my colleague by finishing this article on time. The reality is that I cannot do both at the same time. I sit with conflict, and it is a gut-tightening feeling and I start to hold my breath. What do I need, besides ProMentor’s Time Mastery workshop? I need to learn to delegate and say no. In the work environment people who are motivated by the desire to be helpful say yes to an increasing workload, creating even more time pressure for themselves and, in reality they are not helping anyone – least of all themselves – by overloading their already full plates. Your take home (applying your SDI assessment):
Try them and let me know what you think, email
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and hopefully “life is good” once more! Need to build your team’s morale and performance? Find out how with ProMentor’s workshops and our personal-touch coaching and mentoring for professionals and teams. Get more info at +27 (0)21 683 7575 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . Marion Adamson is the owner of Growth in Motion and a ProMentor Associate. Contact Marion at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or www.positivegrowth.co.za . You’re welcome to re-publish this article freely provided you publish the full article, unedited and include these last 3 paragraphs.         |
