Michael Fitch, who worked in key positions at Tencent, THQ and Ubisoft, wrote a material for Gamasutra about the usefulness of maintaining daily reports on the work done. We offer the Russian version of the material.
The first time I was asked to keep a journal about what I do at work was about ten years ago. Then it made me very angry. The request was sent down from above. I then perceived it as something like supervision, an attempt to make a complex and often abstract work measurable. As an adult, an independent person, a professional in his field, it drove me out of myself. I then believed that the measure of work should be the results, not the time spent on them.
Nevertheless, these were the requirements, and I got down to business. It turned out not to be as burdensome as I had expected. It was necessary to devote a few minutes every day to remember what I was doing, and then write it all down. Management has not used this information to monitor what I do or don’t do. I’m not sure at all if these records had any meaning to them. After a while, such recordings became a habit for me, and then something amazing happened for me.
When the time came for my annual review, I had records of everything I had been through. I could focus not only on my latest achievements, but also dig up what I was doing at the very beginning of the year. The work I did 6-12 months ago was no longer a hazy, abstract memory. I could note and recall the entire series of achievements that would otherwise have faded in the collective memory. Moreover, I could carefully study my own work organization scheme, understand which part of it takes more time than I would like, what I, on the contrary, should spend more time on, how I could improve my regime.
When I changed jobs, I continued to keep a journal. Despite the fact that no one forces me to do this anymore, I keep notes every day and every Friday, before I leave for the weekend, I send them to my supervisor so that we both have an idea of what I did last week.
Instead of being a tool for managing my superiors, the magazine has become a tool for my self-improvement. I can go back to the records of the previous months, highlight problems like excessive workload, dispersion of responsibility or too many trips related to my work. And, based on this, to gain concrete, convincing arguments for promoting someone, hiring new employees or redistributing responsibility between departments. I don’t even have to wait for formal reviews in order to collect these arguments. My supervisor receives a report from me every week on how the implementation of the tasks is progressing, details related to these tasks.
After I became a manager myself, I began to promote this practice among my subordinates. I do not require this to be done in a mandatory manner, remembering how I myself treated such a practice, but I highly recommend this case.
Over time, I became better at keeping a journal, because with the growth of responsibilities, my time became more fragmented.
I keep a simple word document on my desktop and every time I complete a task, I open this document and update it.
I realized that tasks that take less than 30 minutes should not be logged individually (this makes the document too long, in addition, in this case, large and important tasks risk being lost against the background of small, secondary tasks). But tasks that take more than two hours in time, on the contrary, need to be broken down. So the log mainly includes tasks that take 1-2 hours of time.
I usually end the day with a list of 8-12 items. A week of work fits into two or less pages.
Over time, it becomes easier and easier to highlight problems. If every day I start to add 15 or more items to my journal, I understand that either it’s time to change the scale of filling (perhaps passing tasks have become increasingly included in the list), or part of the tasks must be delegated, or the scope of responsibility must be redistributed. If the log for a week takes more than two sheets, I understand that the week was hot. If I mark less than 8 tasks per day, I understand that I can take on additional tasks.
Before sending the weekly list on Friday, I do a quick analysis of the past week and outline the tasks for the next one. It keeps me from being stressed about working on weekends. And when I show up at work on Monday, I immediately get involved in work.
In other words, the tool that was presented to me as a way to monitor how I use my time has turned into a great way to manage my own time and workflow. I can’t help but note how important this tool can be. Especially when everything is “on fire”, when you are overworked, and the work is very fragmented. A daily magazine is something like a lifesaver that will help you in such situations to determine priorities and orient yourself in what is happening. The magazine also increases the sense of control over tasks (game design, management, working with partners) that are abstract and difficult to evaluate.
You should try this. Start right now. Use any format that suits you, but most importantly, do it daily. Make it a habit, something organic for you, part of the workflow. The ROI from logging is phenomenal. Not only will you be able to perform tasks more efficiently, but you will be better able to find and solve problems.
A source: http://www.gamasutra.com