Parkinson's Law

Words: 500
Pages: 2

Establishing a buffer or transition time will have a profound impact on a health care organization. What’s more, with quantum mechanics and Parkinson’s Law on your side, this is a bold step you can take today. Recall, Parkinson’s Law suggests that work will expand or contract to fill the amount of time available for it. As Peters and colleagues (Peters, et al, 1984) point out Parkinson’s Law reflects that fact that “people choose their effort levels to be appropriate to the tasks at hand and the amount of time they have available to accomplish those tasks” (p. 293). Not only does this have face validity, but we all know it to be so. By reducing the standard one hour meeting by nearly 17 percent (from 60 to 50 minutes), imagine the compounding effect of saving ten minutes per meeting for just one day; now multiply this for one week, one month, and one year.
Case example: Time Out Savings
Based on a four meeting per day weekly schedule, a five day work week, and a 48 week work year you would save 40 minutes per day, 200 minutes per week, 800 minutes per month, that a whopping 20 days per year (based on a savings of 9600 minutes). What could you do with 20 additional days? That’s just you! Now, multiple these by the number of people in your organization
…show more content…
It is however intriguing to think about. In the box below is an abridged listing of some of the things you could consider doing with just one hour. The author, Kevin Daum, was inspired by the extra hour we gain that commences with the end of Daylight Savings time (at total of 126 hours). While his list included 24 activities that are both of a personal and professional nature, the abridged list below is limited to the business side of the ledger, though I sound the many of the personal ones quite inspiring. What might you add to your wish