Hi there,
Do you ever feel paralyzed with short breaks between calls?
Unsure of how to spend those random 10 minutes?
I guarantee your colleagues feel the same way.
Let’s put those 10 minutes to work.
⚡ Supercharge of the Week
Remote Octopus recommends providing a time estimate when sharing a cross-functional task.
Why? Remote collaboration involves juggling a lot of tasks. As you’re moving between calls, you might have a 10 minute break here and a 20 minute break there. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming to know how to spend those 10 minutes. It’s easy to fall into the trap of spending those entire 10 minutes… thinking of what you could do that will only take 10 minutes. 😵💫
Sharing a time estimate with a task request streamlines this process for your colleagues. If you estimate that a task will take 10 minutes then they’ll know right where to slot it into their schedule. You’re creating ease and simplifying collaboration.
EXAMPLE IN ACTION
Instead of: When you have time, drop questions into this project doc.
Try: If you have 10 minutes before the end of this week, drop questions into this project doc.
EXAMPLE IN ACTION
Instead of: Review this doc before tomorrow’s call.
Try: Please spend 5 minutes reviewing this doc before tomorrow’s call.
⏰ Consider that it can be challenging to provide a time estimate. It might take some practice, especially if you’re estimating work that is outside of your subject matter expertise. You might provide a range – such as 10-20 minutes – or share that it should take approximately 15 minutes.
If you think time estimates could help speed up your workflows too, encourage your cross-functional colleagues to test them out with their own asks! And you’ll no longer spend an entire 10 minutes between calls brainstorming what you could accomplish within those 10 minutes.
🐙 Remote Octopus Resources
Ready to level up operational excellence for your team? Check out our resources:
