At the beginning of each college semester, professors establish their expectations. They outline the course content, explain how your grade is calculated, and the level and kind of participation expected. In addition, they share their office hours, so students can manage their time and reach out when they are available.
From day one Professors are clarifying expectations and enabling students to take personal responsibility for their success. At ConvergenceCoaching®, we teach the Commit with Clarity Framework, which enables us to clearly communicate expectations, similar to how professors provide a syllabus. But does the concept of office hours fit in the workplace? I would say, “Yes!” Let’s explore why and how.
The Why
As we advance in our careers, gain additional responsibilities, or take on a leadership role, more people need access to us. Many of us strive to be approachable and available so our teams can stay on track with their work, but it can cause continual interruptions in our day. We get to the end of the workday, others start signing off, and then we finally have time to focus on our own work. This cadence does not give us the work/life integration we desire.
The How
Time blocking is a time management method where you schedule time to perform tasks. Too often, the only time that gets blocked on calendars is for meetings. All the other time ends up being a free-for-all for whoever needs access to us and captures our attention. This keeps us operating in a reactive state versus performing at our highest and best and focusing on our priorities.
Some of us have tried blocking time between meetings to focus on work, but few people honor it. The problem is our colleagues look at our calendars and don’t see any opportunities to “pop in” and ask a question, so they reach out even though our status is “busy.”
By having dedicated times or “office hours,” we commit to being available for questions giving our colleagues an option to connect. They don’t have to interrupt because they don’t know when they could speak to us. By reserving these “office hours,” we end with more productivity during the day.
Office hours don’t replace one on one check-ins, or team huddles. Check-ins are an opportunity to dive into a subject or knock out a list of items with a colleague. Huddles are an effective way to pull the team together to share priorities, discuss obstacles, and build rapport across the team. Office hours are for one off issues or questions to address quick areas where team members need help.
The rollout is key to achieving added productivity with office hours:
- Explain to your team why you are offering office hours so they understand what is in it for them, and how it will enable you to have more time to get your work done as well
- When people come to you outside these times, ask them if it can wait until your next office hours so they learn to use the time. Emergencies do happen and obviously you want to address those, but establish what is an urgent request and what can wait
- Identify multiple times throughout the week to offer them. How much time depends on your role and how much access people need to you to be successful
- Be sure to choose times that are accessible to colleagues in different time zones as well
- Do not select times when you tend to be most productive. For example, if you are most efficient and focused in the mornings, avoid scheduling office hours then
- Label the time as “office hours” on your Outlook or work calendar and share your calendar with your team, so they can easily identify the times
- Do not allow others to book over this time. If you’re consistently not available during this time, colleagues will continue to interrupt you throughout the day
- Mark your Microsoft Teams’ status as “available” during these times even though your calendar is blocked
- Block specific focus time on your calendar and protect that time from interruption and being booked over
- Mark your Teams’ status as “do not disturb”
- Plan to work on a project that needs concentration
I encourage you to pilot office hours with your team. Start by selecting office hours a few weeks in advance so you can choose optimal times for you and your team. Then, gather feedback on what is working and what could be improved using this method. Hold yourself accountable to being available during office hours, accept fewer interruptions during your focus time, and strive to make your work/life integration a priority.
Wishing you all the best!
Samantha
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