Proposed DCI Reorganization

[Jeff Ream]

Success is the maximum utilization of the ability you already have.

It won't take much money. It will take staff buying in and being willing to put forth effort, no doubt.

But what it takes, more than anything, is the will.

for what DCi staff is paid, I'm not sure the will may be there....which means more $$ needed.

It's not like DCI staffers sit on their ### all day long doing nothing. If you're going to ask people to buy in, given the workload already there, you may have to pony up,

[danielray]

for what DCi staff is paid, I'm not sure the will may be there....which means more $ needed.

It's not like DCI staffers sit on their ### all day long doing nothing. If you're going to ask people to buy in, given the workload already there, you may have to pony up,

Volume of work doesn't necessarily translate into greater productivity or profitability. In fact, I am a big fan of working less.

To use an industry example, I would say Hopkins is the hardest working guy in the activity, hands down. This isn't necessarily a good thing.

He probably works about 70 hours a week, but he'd get MUCH more done if he only worked 30, as it would force a laser focused approach and clearer sense of priority. He would be forced to say NO to a lot more things.

On top of that, when people work less and spend more time relaxing, their ability to focus is much greater.

This sort of approach, oddly enough, was drilled into me by a professor who, after I hit something of a wall in my playing, convinced me that I would make more progress if I practiced less, not more.

The approach was sort of rigid with a maximum of three 25 minute sessions per day... with at least one hour between each session... broken down like this:

- 5 minutes before picking up the horn go through the music and take notes planning what you will practice on, note trouble spots that will need more emphasis, and prioritize them in order of difficulty. Write down a goal.

- 5 minutes warm up

- 5 minutes churning through the easy stuff

- 10 minutes on only ONE of trouble sections

- 5 minutes making notes on the session, things that are locked, things that need more work

Taking this same approach to work can dramatically improve productivity... and setting clear limits on how much time you can devote to specific tasks is key. Back to the point... DCI could be more profitable if the team worked less (in the off season) not more.

Edited November 4, 2011 by danielray

[Jeff Ream]

ok Daniel, hold on a second. You want to give them more to do, but you want them to work less. I'm failing to see how this works out. Doubling, maybe tripling workload, but working less...when they work hard ( and sometimes smart) now.

Something in there isn't computing. Still seems to me that if you are going to give them more to do, when they have a lot to do now, you will still need to add bodies.

Where I work now, we work smart, and hard. I'm at the job over 60 hours a week, and I'm working smart for probably 55 of them, yet I can barely keep up with the volume we have. I know others who are frankly swamped, and I spend some of my time helping them out.

DCI doesn't have spare people to pitch in when things get crazy. We really don't either. I'm just nice.

[danielray]

Still seems to me that if you are going to give them more to do, when they have a lot to do now, you will still need to add bodies.

This wouldn't give them more to do, just give some people some different things to do. These different things would generate cash at much higher margins than their current tasks, which covers resources that pick up the gap on tasks they were moved off of... plus generates a solid profit.

In more specific terms...

If you look at revenue per employee, a guy working in media or event management for DCI is probably not generating more than a couple times their salary.

If they were to do work for external clients, the same volume of work (some current tasks not related to media or event management would be reassigned) could generate several times more their current salary.

Again, there are also a lot of things that could be done cheaper by outsourcing to companies specializing in the specific area... which could also free up more time.

[Stu]

Volume of work doesn't necessarily translate into greater productivity or profitability. In fact, I am a big fan of working less.

To use an industry example, I would say Hopkins is the hardest working guy in the activity, hands down. This isn't necessarily a good thing.

He probably works about 70 hours a week, but he'd get MUCH more done if he only worked 30, as it would force a laser focused approach and clearer sense of priority. He would be forced to say NO to a lot more things.

On top of that, when people work less and spend more time relaxing, their ability to focus is much greater.

This sort of approach, oddly enough, was drilled into me by a professor who, after I hit something of a wall in my playing, convinced me that I would make more progress if I practiced less, not more.

The approach was sort of rigid with a maximum of three 25 minute sessions per day... with at least one hour between each session... broken down like this:

- 5 minutes before picking up the horn go through the music and take notes planning what you will practice on, note trouble spots that will need more emphasis, and prioritize them in order of difficulty. Write down a goal.

- 5 minutes warm up

- 5 minutes churning through the easy stuff

- 10 minutes on only ONE of trouble sections

- 5 minutes making notes on the session, things that are locked, things that need more work

Taking this same approach to work can dramatically improve productivity... and setting clear limits on how much time you can devote to specific tasks is key. Back to the point... DCI could be more profitable if the team worked less (in the off season) not more.

Up to this posting I have viewed your opinions with a keen sense of interest; I was even attempting to think outside the box and follow your reasoning. Now, with this post, you are just flat nuts! A successful business person, whether an employee or a CEO, who (see bold above because this is your suggestion) works for 25 min., then plays a video game for an hour, then works for another 25 min,. then takes a 1 hour nap, then works for 25 min, then goes and plays Frisbee catch with a dog for an hour, is going to generate enough revenue to run a multi-faceted million dollar corporation? Really? And what successful CEO helped you have this epiphany? Oh yeah, I forgot;, you got this brilliant idea from a Professor not a CEO of a highly successful corporation!!! So tell us, what corporation have you ran as a CEO with this method? How much revenue have you actually generated for a corporation as a Manager or an Employee with this method?

Edited November 5, 2011 by Stu

[whitedawn]

So tell us, what corporation have you ran as a CEO with this method? How much revenue have you actually generated for a corporation as a Manager or an Employee with this method?

Dude, you're not going to like his answer.

[Stu]

Dude, you're not going to like his answer.

If his answer is that he has actually made a bunch of money for a million dollar corporation working 25 min, then taking an hour break, then working 25 min. and taking another hour break, etc... (and can prove it) then I "will" like his answer!

Edited November 5, 2011 by Stu

[DrillmanSop06]

Up to this posting I have viewed your opinions with a keen sense of interest; I was even attempting to think outside the box and follow your reasoning. Now, with this post, you are just flat nuts! A successful business person, whether an employee or a CEO, who (see bold above because this is your suggestion) works for 25 min., then plays a video game for an hour, then works for another 25 min,. then takes a 1 hour nap, then works for 25 min, then goes and plays Frisbee catch with a dog for an hour, is going to generate enough revenue to run a multi-faceted million dollar corporation? Really? And what successful CEO helped you have this epiphany? Oh yeah, I forgot;, you got this brilliant idea from a Professor not a CEO of a highly successful corporation!!! So tell us, what corporation have you ran as a CEO with this method? How much revenue have you actually generated for a corporation as a Manager or an Employee with this method?

...you realize he was talking about advice given to him by his professor about practicing music, yes?

[Stu]

...you realize he was talking about advice given to him by his professor about practicing music, yes?

...you realize that he also said, "Taking this same approach to work can dramatically improve productivity", yes?

[DrillmanSop06]

...you realize that he also said, "Taking this same approach to work can dramatically improve productivity", yes?

You don't honestly believe he meant literally work for 25 minutes then stop during work, do you? I think you're just looking for an excuse to poke holes for the sake of poking holes. In this case, he has a valid point; plenty of evidence to show that working smarter, not harder, can lead to increased productivity. Do you really think he advocates those exact minutes for business? C'mon. I think his initial premise is absolutely unnecessary but you're pushing it.