At the firm, we have the privilige of working one-on-one with hundreds of heads of sales and CEOs every year.  It's exciting and complex work that often comes down to discussing, assessing and implementing  a series of best practices that are heavily based in metrics and data.  From all of these interactions, there appear to be two or three priority concerns that these execs have in common regarding the management of their companies, and I've listed them below in priority order:  

Item #1:  How can I improve the productivity of my salespeople?

Item #2:  How can I manage my own time better?

Item #3:  How can I recruit, hire and retain better managers?

My guys and I spend the majority of our time working through the details of Item #1, so I thought that it would be interesting to solicit Best Practices from you as to Item #2, and what you do in terms of your week-to-week tactics to be able to manage your own time most efficiently?  

One example of a best practice is that of Patrick Gelsinger, CEO of VMware, who defined his time management process in the Wall Street Journal this week.

"How VMware's CEO Manages His Time"

It may be that his tactics are a bit over the top and too much like Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory, but who cares?

Patrick seems to be a very successful guy in a very successful company, so they obviously work for him.  And, that's the point, since every time management tactic needs to be...

-Personally meaningful

-Part of your daily rhythm

-Consistently easy to practice & execute

-Both efficient and effective

Recent data from a Wall Street Journal survey shows that the average CEO works 55 hours a week.  Certainly sounds like a very low number to me, but then I don't remember the breadth of markets and size of companies.  We know from our own data and from Sirius Decisions surveys that the average successful B2B salesperson works 57 hours a weeks.  Again, a low number by my standards.

The fact of the matter, whether you work 55, or 57 or 70 hours a week, is that you need to make those hours both efficient and effective.  So, the question of the morning is how do you personally make that happen?

• Is the issue of time efficiency and effectiveness a concern to you?
• What tactics have you found to be worthwhile as a manager?
• What Tips & Tricks do you use as a salesperson?
• What do you do specifically in the management of meetings?

To kick this off, I'll share with you a great read from The Harvard Business Review. Kind of a 20 Minute Manager kind of thing aptly named "The 20 Minute Manager Series on Managing Time".  I bought this a number of years ago, and reread it at least once a year.

Time is inelastic and, in the world of Sales today, perhaps the most critical skill to master.