Nicholas Craig column

Feb 23 2007 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

Two feasts in a week are too much for any one person. I celebrated Chinese New Year this year, closely followed by Shrove Tuesday. Noodles and pancakes are not perhaps the best mix. I am trying to forget it is the Year of the Pig. The allusions are far too obvious.

Unlike the Christian calendar, the Chinese celebrate their festivals for many days, particularly the New Year. It is great fun to take part in the celebrations, but in my dealings with Chinese companies an increasing number of business people find it difficult to organise the many extra events within already busy schedules.

Juggling heavy commitments at work with traditional festivities creates headaches for directors of companies who trade with the West. Their clients do not recognise Chinese dates in their calendars and work has to carry on as normal.

It brings me back to the need for all of us to use time management more effectively.

Meetings about meetings take up too much time in the business world. Training has become a time-consuming monster for too many companies which have the right aims but not enough focus to select only a few necessary packages.

They opt instead for a scattergun approach with a modicum of training for the many, which doesn't achieve a great deal.

The point is that we have to be effective and knowledgeable about our businesses in order to get everything done well. Training undoubtedly helps. If the emphasis rotates too much towards navel-gazing, however, momentum is lost. Training needs to be part of a disciplined work programme with time management at its core.

Last year, UK productivity growth fell to zero. The Office for National Statistics stated that UK output per hour falls well short of what is achieved in France, America and Germany.

Companies should manage people much better than they are doing at the moment. Good management is about methods, style and skill, not hours clocked or courses completed.

A Chinese proverb says `People of the West are always getting ready to live.' We need to start managing our lives so that we work well and still have time to play.