That is the length of our attention span. No wonder we keep loosing everyone in hour, two hour, half and full day meetings! Perhaps it's time we shorten meetings to more frequent, shorter duration and higher impact?
On a more practical level, 10 minutes is the key length of time to cultivate a meaningful conversation and engagement. Whenever I step back to think about where my relationships fall short, I often give the excuse that I don't have time... time for a default hour meeting, time for an indepth long conversation, etc.
The reality is that none of us do. But we all have 10 minute gaps of time... 10 minutes to between meetings to check-in with a colleage. 10 minutes to catch-up with a spouse while doing the dishes after dinner.
Two of my favorites:
1) a quick walk. When one of my team members ask for a few minutes, I say great and we head outside for a walk around the building. No distractions, no phone, a little exercise and fresh air.
2) I love Friday's because they are the day I take my kids to school. That 15 minutes of time with them in the AM - we are fresh and excited for the weekend. Big dad learns more about the kid's lives, their week, what they are learning, etc. during that drive than at any other time.
It doesn't take long to create meaningful relationships and impact, and at it's best occurs when you can scale it down into 10-12 minute increments.
Have a great weekend!
コメント