I once worked for a large financial services firm as a contractor. It was there that I met Reg (name changed). If you had to sum up Reg’s responsibilities, it was to produce a set amount of work, attend two meetings and notify people of the latest industry news.
He had his set weekly work done in around 10 hours, meetings took 4 hours and the industry update took him 30 minutes to compile. 14.5 hours per week. My job was to help boost output but it wouldn’t be from people like Reg who had no incentive to change.
So we did the dance around the subject. I listened to the delicate art of making what is quick sound way too technical for most people. I listened to a person who desperately wanted to keep his lifestyle and work at his current level.
My job wasn’t to get Reg to produce more but to provide help. It was an eye-opener to see how he had no incentive to produce more and had to work so hard to stay exactly where he was. Probably a big reason that I’m a freelancer, an entrepreneur and a business owner.
Depending on the industry, scheduling takes on many forms: Via email “do you have time…” Via email (available slots) Via self service website Via website form then phone booking Via phone On-site post appointment Via multichannel bookings Via class bookings (regular) Via group bookings (min number) Triaged by other staff members Via scheduler (individual) Via …
There’s ol’ school advice to move towards working “on” your business rather than working “in” your business. It is true but it often met by the thousand reasons why there will never be enough time in the world to move away from doing your boatload of daily tasks. For any hope at moving towards, perhaps, …
I’ve been experimenting with value-pricing in my freelancing work and have had my perceptions of value-based pricing turned around after listening to over 6 hours of podcast episodes. In the past, I always wanted to be the robin hood of pricing. Steal from the rich (those greedy freelancers who charge thousands) and give to the …
How incentives get in the way of change
I once worked for a large financial services firm as a contractor. It was there that I met Reg (name changed). If you had to sum up Reg’s responsibilities, it was to produce a set amount of work, attend two meetings and notify people of the latest industry news.
He had his set weekly work done in around 10 hours, meetings took 4 hours and the industry update took him 30 minutes to compile. 14.5 hours per week. My job was to help boost output but it wouldn’t be from people like Reg who had no incentive to change.
So we did the dance around the subject. I listened to the delicate art of making what is quick sound way too technical for most people. I listened to a person who desperately wanted to keep his lifestyle and work at his current level.
My job wasn’t to get Reg to produce more but to provide help. It was an eye-opener to see how he had no incentive to produce more and had to work so hard to stay exactly where he was. Probably a big reason that I’m a freelancer, an entrepreneur and a business owner.
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Depending on the industry, scheduling takes on many forms: Via email “do you have time…” Via email (available slots) Via self service website Via website form then phone booking Via phone On-site post appointment Via multichannel bookings Via class bookings (regular) Via group bookings (min number) Triaged by other staff members Via scheduler (individual) Via …
Perspective: Above & slightly to the left
There’s ol’ school advice to move towards working “on” your business rather than working “in” your business. It is true but it often met by the thousand reasons why there will never be enough time in the world to move away from doing your boatload of daily tasks. For any hope at moving towards, perhaps, …
Generosity tied to value
I’ve been experimenting with value-pricing in my freelancing work and have had my perceptions of value-based pricing turned around after listening to over 6 hours of podcast episodes. In the past, I always wanted to be the robin hood of pricing. Steal from the rich (those greedy freelancers who charge thousands) and give to the …