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by J A A S Ranasinghe, 
Operation, Implementation and Coordination Specialist, Community Development and Livelihood Improvement Project Funded by the World Bank

The above-celebrated statement by Sunil Wijesinghe, an eminent Management Consultant at a seminar on 5 S Productivity Enhancement Technique a few years ago is still echoing in my mind and it stimulated my interest to study the conceptual meaning behind this statement and also to ascertain the strategic techniques associated with the above syndrome.

What Mr. Wijesinghe meant by referring to work smart, not hard, in simple terms was that the productivity, profitability and efficiency could be substantially enhanced by working smart than by working hard in any organization. For career development purposes, many benefits could be derived by working smart.

1. Success mindset:-

Experts agree that there is no best way to realize your fantasy to win for which there is no step-by-step formula. But there are critical skills that almost all winners manifest.

Probably no one has all the skills needed. They exist in pieces and parts, right along with a panoply of weaknesses. But winners develop most of these skills to a high degree.

In short, they do not leave winning to chance. They pursue it and they make winning happen. Behavioral scientists have found that successful men and women have both a desire and expectation of success. Those who fail to achieve often have the desire but lack expectations and effort. Winners look at adversities as challenges. To them opportunities come disguised as problems.

1.1 Setting goals:- Winners are single-minded in pursuing well-defined goals. Setting goals means planning and winning won't happen unless you have planned for it. If you don't set a career goal and work toward it, chance and circumstances are going to determine where you go.

It should be the other way round; your goals should determine what direction you take. Having goals increases your efficiency and effectiveness. The greater your desire to achieve your goals, the more efficient and effective you will be. Think of your goals in terms of a mission, which in military jargon connotes a degree of seriousness and dedication.

1.2 Controlling others:-

To be successful, people need to know how to deal with other people. Some people do it intuitively. But for others, it is an acquired skill. High achievers really care about their colleagues and subordinates.

They know how to use a person's goals and desire to help achieve their own goals. Successful managers don't take anyone or anything for granted. They are quick to show appreciation. They are good listeners. They avoid head-on collisions with employees.

They realize that a heated argument with trade unions accomplishes nothing and the damage wrought may never be repaired. They stay calm and reasonable in turbulent situations. Some executives try to gain control of others by playing hardball or disciplinary measures.

Playing hardball can also imply an abrasive, bullying style. It's being cold, aloof and arrogant. It is pushing subordinates to the very limit. The resultant disadvantages to successful managers by resorting to hardball are an inevitable gap, dry up of information sources and the loss of support base that are very much essential for the productivity and the industrial peace in the work-place. The famous adage, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," must be remembered.

1.3 Playing the part:- Your personal appearance, how you articulate your ideas and how you project yourself are critical factors. You must dress in a manner that bespeaks success. Never under-estimate grooming and fashion. Playing the part also means having the ability to present ideas clearly and with authority.

Supervisors and managers need communication skills in dealing with the people who work for them. One notable drawback that our executives are saddled with nowadays is their inability to give written communications authoritatively. They prefer verbal communication to written communications due to the poor command of the English language.

2. Becoming more effective & efficient:- The more upwardly mobile you are, the greater your need for effectiveness and efficiency.

Once you have become outstandingly successful in your profession or achieved the topmost rung of the ladder, effectiveness and efficiency are not quite so important. You have assistants and secretaries to keep things running smoothly for you. But to the average man or woman on the white-collar fast track, avoiding confusion and chaos is more of a head-to-head struggle.

2.1 Auditing your time:- How do you spend your average working day? To most people who look back on their day, the hours are merely a blur. Most of what they did, they did out of habit or a sense of urgency. They have little real understanding of how their time was spent hour-by-hour and task-by-task.

A time audit will help you to come to realization of how you are using your most valuable resource. Essentially, a time audit means keeping careful track of what you do, when, on several typical days. It brings your work pattern into sharp focus and helps you make the distinction between achievement and mere activity. It is an important tool in learning to work smart.

2.2 Goals:- If you want to make effective use of your workday, you need to get into the habit of focusing your attention on the most important task of the moment. That task is not necessarily the one that looms the most urgent. Nor is it likely to be the task presented by a subordinate.

To determine what's important now, you first have to establish individual goals for yourself and work out detailed plans for achieving them. Make your goals as specific as you can. Put them in writing.

This will help to make them clearer. It will also deepen the commitment you have to each one. Once you've identified your most important goals, the next step is to map out plans to achieve each one. Give these plans a priority among all other items that demand your attention.

2.3 Divide and conquer:- When you look over your list of goals, you'll instantly realize that these goals present you with much more to do than it is possible to accomplish at any one time.

The solution is to divide each goal into manageable parts. In other words, list all of the activities necessary toward achieving each goal. For example, if your goal is writing a report, the first step is to make sure you have the right paraphernalia such as pens, pencils, papers before you begin so you won't be distracted by having to look for them and the necessary research materials.

Establishing short-term, easily attainable goals has more than a merely practical value. It has an emotional aspect as well. When you divide long-term goals into a series of sub-goals and then begin achieving the sub-goals, each achievement bolsters your confidence. And encourages you to do more. Without sub-goals, you are not likely to see much progress and it's easy to become discouraged.

2.4 Decision-making- Becoming more effective and efficient also means sharpening your skills as a decision maker. The higher up the ladder you climb, the more important the decisions you will be called upon to make and the grater the impact they are likely to have.

Decisions are based on data. Get the facts you need. Read whatever relevant materials are available on the subject. Talk to knowledgeable people. Try to develop at least three alternatives. Compare each alternative with your objective. Pick the alternative that comes closest to achieving what you want to achieve.

A reversible decision can always be nullified and other plans substituted. In the case of an irreversible decision, you're committed forever. Most decisions are neither totally reversible nor irreversible. They fall between the two poles.

When it comes to making a reversible decision, there is no reason not to move fast. If it fails to produce the desired results, you can always backtract. Irreversible decisions should be pondered carefully.

3. Beating the clock: Beating the clock is one of the key factors to working smart. It is important to realize that your work day is made up of two kinds of time. Most of the day involves time over which you have little control or no control.

You are engaged in tasks that are imposed upon you by the nature of your job or delegated from superiors. Time management specialists call this "required time, fixed time or response time". Then, there is time you can control, called "disposable time or discretionary time". While fixed time is obviously important, most time management experts agree that the key to being an effective manager is how well you use your discretionary time.

Time management Guru Peter Drunker once noted that no manager ever has more than 25 percent of his time under control. The problem with discretionary time is that it is not handed to you in a nicely wrapped package. It comes to you in bits and pieces-chopped up.

3.1 Avoiding interruptions: Interruptions are as much a part of career life and you can't eliminate interruptions. What you have to do is evaluate each when it occurs.

As long as you have your priorities established and keep them uppermost in your mind, making decisions regarding interruptions should never be difficult. This does not mean that every interruption is necessarily bad. A random telephone call may offer the opportunity of asking an important question or making a report.

Experts in time management call this "unplanned interaction". As a general rule, you have to learn to insulate yourself from unnecessary, unwanted interruptions. Your secretary with clear guidance could play a key role in minimizing constant interruptions.

3.2 Hiding out: Consider a second office as a means of isolating yourself when you want to concentrate on a major assignment/project. If a second office is beyond your command, consider your car as an alternative. Drive to a quie place and do your thinking in the car.

3.3 Open door policy: Most executives tend to say they have an open door policy. But such a policy is not wise from the viewpoint of smart working. When your door is open to everyone, you're letting other people set your priorities. You are no longer in control of your time. Rather than avoiding interruptions, you are inviting interruption, which has a deleterious impact on your effectiveness.

3.4 Control over telephone messages: Even with all the advances in telephone technology of recent years, the telephone can be a terrible time waster. It is not so much the time you spend on "hold" or getting a busy signal or wrong number. It's the idle conversations that eat up big chunks of time. Good telephone management begins from the switchboard and continues with your secretary.

3.5 Prime Time: There are periods during the day when you are at your peak mentally and physically. You're able to accomplish more with less effort than at any other time of day. This has to do with the concept of biological rhythm-or biorhythm - still a relatively unexplored process. As this suggests, the period of greatest energy and acumen varies from one individual to another. You should determine your own prime time.

3.6 Efficient sleep: According to recent studies, the quantity of time you spend in bed isn't what's important; the quality of sleep you get when you're there is what counts.

Perhaps you can cut back the amount of time you spend in bed. Reducing bedtime by just an hour a night would give you the equivalent of another workday. If this idea sounds appealing to you, first try improving the quality of your sleep daily.

Exercise may help you to get more rest from fewer hours in bed. It is widely believed that a glass of beer helps induce sleep, but the truth is that alcohol actually interferes with sleep and too much of alcohol may trigger insomnia. Do whatever you can, to avoid stressful situations during the day.

Tension and anxiety are even worse than alcohol when it comes to trying to get a refreshing sleep. Most adults sleep between six and eight hours a night. One study reports that the minimum daily requirement is six-and-one-half hours. But people's need cover quite a range. Thomas Edison, for example slept about four hours a night, whereas Albert Einstein slept half the day. Cutting back on nighttime sleep is not something that should be approached lightly. If you sleep too few hours, fatigue and below par performance are sure to result.

3.7 Using travel time: Whether you drive a car to work or hop a train or bus you are spending the equivalent of several workdays every month in commuting. This is time that can be put to good use. Plan your travel time as you do your workday. If you spend an hour commuting every day,then provide yourself with an hour's worth of reading, writing, listening or dictating. Over a period of weeks, you can do a mountain of work.

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