A. Meetings

ai. Is the meeting necessary?

• Can you sort this by email or phone instead?
• What will you get from the meeting?  What will you give? If you’re not needed, don’t attend. Anyone with a general interest can be sent a note of the outcomes.
• Beware of setting up regular meetings “just in case”.

aii. Are meetings held in family friendly hours?

• Meetings early in the morning / late in the evening (outside 9-5) tend to be unproductive (if collective brainpower is tired). They may be particularly difficult for staff who commute from some distance away.
• They get in the way of the work-life balance, especially if held outside core flexi-time hours. 
• They should only happen if unavoidable.

aiii. Do you plan meetings effectively?

• Most meetings go on for too long due to poor planning or chairing. 
• Set an agenda, have clear objectives, and set a finishing time. 

B. Information Distribution

bi. Do you copy emails and attachments too widely?

• Strike a balance between information sharing and information overload. 
• Be careful about use of ‘reply’ and ‘reply to all’ functions – emails generate responses. 
• Electronic filing should drastically cut down the need for wide copying of attachments. 
• Follow guidance for KISS (Keep It Super Simple) emails.

bii. Copy lists

• Are documents copied to all who need to see it – and no-one who does not? Not knowing about an area of work can make a colleague’s job more difficult.

biii. Do you use executive summaries and standard briefing?

• Put summaries at the start of long documents, or annexes at the end to save time for those who do not need the full picture. 
• Very often the job you are being asked to do has been done before.  Check standard briefing or back files. Don’t waste time duplicating (e.g. for PQs, Ministerial Cases).

biv. Do you use obstructive jargon?

• A lot of people will not know the same Three Letter Acronyms as you – be clear and simple.

bv. Do you make access easy?

• Make full use of shared IT infrastructure and ensure that document titles are intelligible: that way anyone who needs to access your documents can do so without disturbing you.
• Date your documents and maintain a good version control. Delete obsolete versions: they clutter up the server and are confusing to others.

C. Management Hierarchy

ci. Does this task need to be done?

• When there’s so much to do, so little time, your first priority should be to prioritise. Arrange to defer or reject any task which doesn’t take your team closer to one of your objectives.
• It goes without saying that your objectives should be traceable back to one or more of your department’s objectives.

cii. Do you empower effectively?

• Delegate less, empower more.  A lot of what we do could generally be done by colleagues, if we are prepared to invest a little time in training and guidance. 
• Give individual responsibility, and relax constraints.  Communicate objectives and progress clearly.

ciii. Do you ask for support?

• Empowerment is not about palming the job off on someone else; but also about speaking up when you are overloaded – ask for support if there is a crisis brewing.

civ. Do you go through too many layers of management?

• A gradist culture of caution means that work is often checked excessively – and unnecessarily – up the layers of the management hierarchy.
• If the issue is not contentious, there should be no need for it to be countersigned; if it is contentious the substance is likely to be more important than the punctuation.
• Talk to managers before, rather than after drafting.

cv. Do you check with the customer first?

• Be sure about the needs of your customer.  If it is a Minister, it is unlikely that he/she will want 50 pages of background briefing.  If in doubt check first.
• Guidance about Ministerial preferences is available from your Parliamentary Branch

cvi. Do you share information?

• You shouldn’t return from leave to find a huge in-tray waiting for you.  If information is effectively shared, absence of one team member should not mean that a job stops being done.

D. Personal working

di. Do you have clear and realistic objectives?

• Set realistic targets, as well as realistic deadlines for contributions.
• Specify concrete goals and break them down into manageable chunks. 
• Try not to deal with a piece of paper or email twice.

dii. So you manage your time effectively?

• There are many books written and courses run about good time management and prioritisation, but not so much put into practice.
• Ask yourself what needs doing by when.  A lot of things can wait – what takes an hour when you are tired at the end of the day may take half an hour the following morning when your mind is fresh. 
• If its difficult to prioritise between tasks – seek advice. You are part of a team, and your colleagues can help.
• Distinguish between what is important and what is urgent.

diii. Are you guilty of Perfectionism?

• Excellence is not a prerequisite for all tasks – even where the audience is a Minister, the Prime Minister, or the media.
• Make the product “fit for purpose”: anything beyond that is poor value for the time spent on it. “Good enough” increases productivity and frees time for other tasks.

div. Are you taking enough breaks?

• The brain operates far more effectively if you give it a 5 minute rest every hour.  All work and no play reduces effectiveness.
• Lunch at your desk may seem necessary at midday; but over the whole course of the day may reduce your productivity.

dv. Do you take shortcuts?

• Use templates for frequently-created documents such as letters and Ministerial submissions: tailor them to include standard copy recipients etc.
• Make use of Word tools such as Mailmerge to expedite personalised letters and posting labels. Take additional training if necessary.

dvi. Are you sitting comfortably?

Poor posture leads to discomfort, reduced output and even sick leave.

Neil Benbow

(c)neilbenbow2026