Return on Investment
Key Insight
- Good managers keep track of the impact of how they spend their time
- Keeping an eye on this balance can also help decide how to spend your time outside of work
When I teach Organizational Behavior, MBA students with a background in finance or accounting usually groan. Too soft. No numbers. It couldn’t be further from the truth. The basic assumptions of finance often apply to OB as well. When you manage others, you should make strategic decisions on where to invest your time and energy based on Return on Investment (ROI).
This principle is simple. Invest your time and energy in those work activities that give you the greatest return. It can be challenging to determine the ROI for some tasks, but not impossible. Here are two scenarios, one clear, one murky.
Work meetings. Some meetings are effective and necessary. My rule of thumb is that the smaller the attendance, the more likely a meeting will be good, and thus worth my time. But spending hours and hours in meetings where you leave not knowing which decisions were made or what action points need to be taken? Clearly a low ROI. Now, I understand that you don’t always have a choice in which meetings you attend, or that there might be a political reason to show your face. If that is the case, try to make this time worthwhile in another way. Maybe you can go for a walk during a long meeting when you don’t have to be on camera. I fold laundry during committee meetings because no one can see it on camera. I will even roll clay beads for my son’s bracelet business, so that I have something to do that helps me listen. The irony is that I get more out of these meetings because my attention does not trail off, and I do not get frustrated.
Feedback moments. Now let’s do a murky one. Giving feedback and being available for questions. Feedback moments are part of my role as Academic Director for the FT MBA program. This role is comparable to that of a quality manager. The goal is to keep both students and instructors happy. Usually, around June (April in a really bad year), I need to have an honest conversation with the cohort. I convey instructors' concerns to students, such as arriving late to class or not preparing. Many students are taken aback, and some show understanding. A few express their support openly. I have done my best. But it is unclear how many students are upset versus happy. I have no idea what the return on this investment is.
But if you stay open to having further conversation, this usually becomes clearer. As shown in the gathering that happened just a few hours after I gave my sermon. About fifteen students stick around until 5:30 pm. The instructors might have complaints, but they are unhappy about a few things too. One student politely asks for clarification on course fees. It is a complex answer, for which I need to use the whiteboard. But the students eventually all understand. There is an odd, honest, and safe vibe in the room, which is why students ask more questions and share more concerns, all valid. I listen to them carefully and then share some of the administrative restrictions I operate with. I see fifteen light bulbs switching on. One by one. “Why are you doing this job?” one student asks. “It sounds impossible to do it right.”
I ask myself this question many times a year. I do it for the students I can help. Those with urgent family matters who need an adjusted program. Those who are doing their best but feel overburdened and need someone to talk to. I do it for the few program improvements I can make. Many hours of my workweek are spent on meetings with students, instructors, and team members. And it generally pays off. Even though I don’t know how to put a number on lightbulb moments, or on a thank-you email from a student. But as long as there are more lightbulb moments and thank-you emails than sleepless nights, I will keep going.
The trick is to determine your own ROI on the various work, family, and leisure activities you do. Some of them you might have to do. Most of us need a paycheck. Some of us need to get the screaming toddler home. But it doesn't mean you can’t steer more toward the things that do give you energy in your job or home life. It might be as simple as starting the day with an activity or task you love, or ending the day with it to reward yourself.
It can also help to think of some tasks as investments with delayed returns. Because that screaming toddler you carried home and calmed down now knows a boundary, it's more likely these tantrums will stop. Or, all those tedious meetings you sat through eventually result in change. The key is to keep track of the balance between your investment and returns. And to pivot and focus your energy elsewhere if this balance isn’t there.