Today's TQ

Daily Lessons in Intentional Excellence
Saturday, March 7, 2026

Reach Out And Touch Someone.

Instead of a personal meeting, make appointments to speak by telephone. Mail or fax your agenda in advance and have both of you treat this time as if it were an in-person meeting.

Attention to "old-fashioned" skills such as courtesy, pleasantness and manners will make a phone-call "meeting" as personable as a visit.

Today's TQ Challenge: Create Systems to Maximize Time -- Yours & Others.

Choose to be COURTEOUS! Which of your meetings could a telephone meeting be just as effective as a face-to-face?
Choose to be CONSIDERATE! Do you prepare for scheduled phone calls as well as you prepare for face-to-face meetings?
Choose to be RESPECTFUL! Is there an in-person meeting you've scheduled right now that would be equally effective via telephone?

Time spent with others can either be highly productive or barely productive -- depending on how you use your time together. Be honest. In any given day, who wastes whose time the most? Create systems for others to respect your time and you, theirs. When possible, take requests and questions from others in batches and do the same for them. Show your respect for other people's time during phone calls, appointments and meetings. Be prepared and punctual. Value other people's time and they will value yours.

"Anything that is wasted effort represents wasted time. The best management of our time thus becomes linked inseparably with the best utilization of our efforts." ~ Ted W. Engstrom

Think about it. How well and how often do you actually DO Optimize Factor 9E?

"I respect other people's time, and create systems which help them to respect mine."

A high commitment (9E rated 8 or better) suggests you are highly productive with the time you spend with others. You're aware of time limits and what can be accomplished each day. Knowing this, you treat time as the single most valuable resource on Earth. Knowing that everyone else is also pressed for time, you make sure you don't distract them from their work. Because you have created and communicated timesaving procedures for others to make the best use of their time -- as well as yours -- you now have more time to focus on your own projects.

On the other hand...

A lack of commitment suggests your time spent with others can be disruptive and inefficient. Your poor planning and disorganization wastes everyone's time. For example, you may have to make two callbacks to get information you could have obtained during the first call. You rarely take steps to prevent the incoming barrage of phone calls. The repeated requests that interrupt your day cause you to either reluntantly accept the sacrifice made in time lost -- or worse -- openly resent the time you have to give to others.

What happens when you CHOOSE to do Factor 9E a bit more frequently?

You save everyone's valuable time by being well-planned, on-point and on-time. You accumulate performance positives like "Considerate, Respectful and Efficient" -- immediately moving you towards the results you expect.

What happens when you FAIL to consistently do Factor 9E?

Your inefficient interactions with others wastes everyone's time. Negatives like "Inconsiderate, Disorganized and Distracted" start to take their toll on your performance -- quickly moving you away from the success you want.

Now Ask Yourself This...
Is Factor 9E Causing You Problems?

If you believe this factor is a key performance obstacle -- and that it's preventing you from realizing your personal dreams and goals -- then you need to improve it.

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