The Case of the Missing Time

At approximately 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 23, 1959, Chet Craig, manager of the
Norris Company's Central Plant, swung his car out of the driveway of his suburban home
and headed toward the plant located some six miles away, just inside the Midvale city limits.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly and a cool, fresh breeze was blowing.
The trip to the plant took about 20 minutes and sometimes gave Chet an opportunity to think
about plant problems without interruption.
The Norris Company owned and operated three printing plants. Norris enjoyed a
nationwide commercial business, specializing in quality color work. It was a closely held
company with some 350 employees, nearly half of whom were employed at the Central
Plant, the largest of the three Norris production operations. The company's main offices
were also located in the Central Plant building.
Chet had started with the Norris Company as an expediter in its Eastern Plant in
1948, just after he graduated from Ohio State. After three years Chet was promoted to
production supervisor, and two years later he was made assistant to the manager of the
Eastern Plant. Early in 1957, he was transferred to the Central Plant as assistant to the plant
manager and one month later was promoted to plant manager when the former manager
retired (see Figure 2.6).
Chet was in fine spirits as he relaxed behind the wheel. As his car picked up speed,
the hum of the tires on the newly paved highway faded into the background. Various
thoughts occurred to him, and he said to himself, "This is going to be the day to really get
things done."
He began to run through the day's work, first one project, then another, trying to
establish priorities. After a few minutes, he decided that the open-end unit scheduling was
probably the most important, certainly the most urgent. He frowned for a moment as he
recalled that on Friday the vice president and general manager had casually asked him if he
had given the project any further thought. Chet realized that he had not been giving it much
thought lately. He had been meaning to get to work on this idea for over three months, but
something else always seemed to crop up. "I haven't had much time to sit down and really
work it out," he said to himself. "I'd better get going and hit this one today for sure." With that,
he began to break down the objectives, procedures, and installation steps of the project. He
grinned as he reviewed the principles involved and calculated roughly the anticipated
savings. "It's about time," he told himself. "This idea should have been followed up long
ago." Chet remembered that he had first conceived of the open-end unit scheduling idea
nearly a year and a half ago, just prior to his leaving Norris's Eastern Plant. He had spoken
to his boss, Jim Quince, manager of the Eastern Plant, about it then, and both agreed that it
was worth looking into. The idea was temporarily shelved when he was transferred to the
Central Plant a month later.

A blast from a passing horn startled him, but his thoughts quickly returned to other
plant projects he was determined to get underway. He started to think through a procedure
for simpler transport of dies to and from the Eastern Plant. Visualizing the notes on his desk,
he thought about the inventory analysis he needed to identify and eliminate some of the
slow-moving stock items, the packing controls that needed revision, and the need to design
a new special-order form. He also decided that this was the day to settle on a job printer to
do the simple outside printing of office forms. There were a few other projects he couldn't
recall offhand, but he could tend to them after lunch, if not before. "Yes, sir," he said to
himself, "this is the day to really get rolling."
 Chet's thoughts were interrupted as he pulled into the company parking lot. When he
entered the plant Chet knew something was wrong as he met Al Noren, the stockroom
foreman, who appeared troubled. "A great morning, Al," Chet greeted him cheerfully.
"Not so good, Chet; my new man isn't in this morning," Noren growled.
"Have you heard from him?" asked Chet.
"No, I haven't," replied Al.
Chet frowned as he commented, "These stock handlers assume you take it for
granted that if they're not here, they're not here, and they don't have to call in and verify it.
Better ask Personnel to call him."
Al hesitated for a moment before replying, "Okay, Chet, but can you find me a man? I
have two cars to unload today."
As Chet turned to leave, he said, "I'll call you in half an hour, Al, and let you know."
Making a mental note of the situation, Chet headed for his office. He greeted the group of
workers huddled around Marilyn, the office manager, who was discussing the day's work
schedule with them. As the meeting broke up, Marilyn picked up a few samples from the
clasper, showed them to Chet, and asked if they should be shipped that way or if it would be
necessary to inspect them. Before he could answer, Marilyn went on to ask if he could
suggest another clerical operator for the sealing machine to replace the regular operator,
who was home ill. She also told him that Gene, the industrial engineer, had called and was
waiting to hear from Chet.
After telling Marilyn to go ahead and ship the samples, he made a note of the need
for a sealer operator for the office and then called Gene. He agreed to stop by Gene's office
before lunch and started on his routine morning tour of the plant. He asked each foreman
the types and volumes of orders they were running, the number of people present, how the
schedules were coming along, and the orders to be run next; helped the folding-room
foreman find temporary storage space for consolidating a carload shipment; discussed
quality control with a pressman who had been running poor work; arranged to transfer four
people temporarily to different departments, including two for Al in the stockroom; and talked
to the shipping foreman about pickups and special orders to be delivered that day. As he
continued through the plant, he saw to it that reserve stock was moved out of the forward
stock area, talked to another pressman about his requested change of vacation schedule,
had a "heart-to-heart" talk with a press helper who seemed to need frequent reassurance,
and approved two type and one color-order okays for different pressmen.
Returning to his office, Chet reviewed the production reports on the larger orders
against his initial productions and found that the plant was running behind schedule. He
called in the folding-room foreman and together they went over the lineup of machines and
made several necessary changes.
 During this discussion, the composing-room foreman stopped in to cover several type
changes, and the routing foreman telephoned for approval of a revised printing schedule.
The stockroom foreman called twice, first to inform him that two standard, fast-moving stock
items were dangerously low, later to advise him that the paper stock for the urgent Dillion job
had finally arrived. Chet made the necessary subsequent calls to inform those concerned.
He then began to put delivery dates on important and difficult inquiries received from
customers and salesmen. (The routine inquiries were handled by Marilyn.) While he was
doing this he was interrupted twice, once by a sales correspondent calling from the West
Coast to ask for a better delivery date than originally scheduled, once by the personnel vice
president asking him to set a time when he could hold an initial training and induction
interview with a new employee.
After dating the customer and salesmen inquiries, Chet headed for his morning
conference in the executive offices. At this meeting, he answered the sales vice president's
questions in connection with "hot" orders, complaints, and the status of large-volume orders
and potential new orders. He then met with the general manager to discuss a few ticklish
policy matters and to answer "the old man's" questions on several specific production and
personnel problems. Before leaving the executive offices, he stopped at the office of the
secretary-treasurer to inquire about delivery of cartons, paper, and boxes and to place a new
order for paper.
On the way back to his own office, Chet conferred with Gene about two current
engineering projects concerning which he had called earlier. When he reached his desk, he
looked at his watch. It was 10 minutes before lunch, just time enough to make a few notes of
the details he needed to check in order to answer the knotty questions raised by the sales
manager that morning.
After lunch, Chet started again. He began by checking the previous day's production
reports, did some rescheduling to get out urgent orders, placed appropriate delivery dates on
new orders and inquiries received that morning, and consulted with a foreman on a personal
problem. He spent some 20 minutes at the TWX going over mutual problems with the
Eastern Plant.
By midafternoon, Chet had made another tour of the plant, after which he met with
the personnel director to review with him a touchy personal problem raised by one of the
clerical employees, the vacation schedules submitted by his foremen, and the pending job-
evaluation program. Following this conference, Chet hurried back to his office to complete
the special statistical report for Universal Waxing Corporation, one of Norris's best
customers. As he finished the report, he discovered that it was 10 minutes after six and he
was the only one left in the office. Chet was tired. He put on his coat and headed through the
plant toward the parking lot; on the way, he was stopped by both the night supervisor and
night layout foremen for approval of type and layout changes.
With both eyes on the traffic, Chet reviewed the day he had just completed. "Busy?"
he asked himself. "Too much so—but did I accomplish anything?" His mind raced over the
day's activities. "Yes and no" seemed to be the answer. "There was the usual routine, the
same as any other day. The plant kept going and I think it must have been a good
production day. Any creative or special-project work done?" Chet grimaced as he reluctantly
answered, "No."
With a feeling of guilt, he probed further. "Am I an executive? I'm paid like one,
respected like one, and have a responsible assignment with the necessary authority to carry
it out. Yet one of the greatest values a company derives from an executive is his creative
thinking and accomplishments. What have I done about it? An executive needs some time
for thinking. Today was a typical day, just like most other days, and I did little, if any, creative
work. The projects that I so enthusiastically planned to work on this morning are exactly as
they were yesterday. What's more, I have no guarantee that tomorrow night or the next night
will bring me any closer to their completion. This is the real problem and there must be an
answer."
Chet continued, "Night work? Yes, occasionally. This is understood. But I've been
doing too much of this lately. I owe my wife and family some of my time. When you come
down to it, they are the people for whom I'm really working. If I am forced to spend much
more time away from them, I'm not meeting my own personal objectives. What about church
work? Should I eliminate that? I spend a lot of time on this, but I feel I owe God some time,
too. Besides, I believe I'm making a worthwhile contribution in this work. Perhaps I can
squeeze a little time from my fraternal activities. But where does recreation fit in?"
Chet groped for the solution. "Maybe I'm just rationalizing because I schedule my
own work poorly. But I don't think so. I've studied my work habits carefully and I think I plan
intelligently and delegate authority. Do I need an assistant? Possibly, but that's a long-term
project and I don't believe I could justify the additional overhead expenditure. Anyway, I
doubt whether it would solve the problem."
By this time, Chet had turned off the highway onto the side street leading to his home
—the problem still uppermost in his mind. "I guess I really don't know the answer," he told
himself as he pulled into his driveway. "This morning everything seemed so simple, but
now ..." His thoughts were interrupted as he saw his son running toward the car calling out,
"Mommy, Daddy's home."
TÓM TẮT
Norris Company is running a nationwide commercial business. It operated three printing
plants. Chet Craig is the manager of the central plant. There are many problems in the central
plant, such as Chet could not complete his job on time; supervisors are unable to solve the
daily production problems on their own; and organization structure is poor. They really need to
know what reason makes that problems happened, what have to change, and how to deal with
it. There are three main problems in the central plant. One is time management. As the
manager, Chet did not plan his own schedule well and did not complete the project which
supposes to complete. The second is employee confidence. It seems that every supervisor
has to talk to Chet for every small thing. They can not decide it themselves. The third one is
plant operation. The plant is behind schedule. Employees and supervisors are not noticed how
many tasks need to be completed. Lack of fit between people and organization tasks, people
and organization process, and organization structure and tasks are the causes of the
problems in the central plant. Employees are not familiar with tasks that they need to do and
they are not familiar with what authority they have. They have to ask Chet every time; it directly
causes the efficiency.
So many supervisors and departments are causing not enough employees to do the tasks.
The goals that the central plant needs to touch are ensure enough employees to do the job
and enough time to complete it, be ahead of schedule, and more efficient. There are many
departments and supervisors. Each one of them has to make sure that they have a job to do,
and they have to complete the tasks on time. The schedule is already behind it. They need to
increase their efficiency and be ahead of schedule. Central plant could develop an organized
schedule. Instead of asking by the employees randomly, Chet needs to plan his own schedule
seriously. He has to know what have to be done by the end of day. Create a better structure so
that everyone can do his or her job.
It can combine two or three departments and only have one supervisor to be responsible.
Define responsibility of each employee. Employees may not know the authority they have.
Define it and make sure everyone knows who has responsibility for that part. The
recommendation for the central plant is to create a better organization structure. Every
organization would be doing better if it has a clear hierarchy. The power of authority would be
recognized by each employee of the central plant. They know which one is reported to, and
who is responsible for. It could reduce the time that asking Chet, and Chet will have time to
deal with other projects. A better organization structure means doing the tasks more
efficiently.

Discussion Questions
1. What principles of time and stress management are violated in this case?

In this case, Chet violates several principles of time and stress management. The first
problem Chet has, is that he is constantly interrupted by individuals.
Rule 2, which states that you should make a physical list of things to accomplish today. It
also says that the list should include what you want to achieve aside from what you want to
do. It also says that you should have one list on a single piece of paper instead of several
lists on various pieces of paper. Chet needs to do some advanced planning as he is
seemingly going off his memory which goes against what is recommended from rule 2. He
has no clear outline for his day. He tried to plan what he was going to fix and work on during
his ride to work. Instead of laying out a plan of time.
In addition, without writing anything down about his “project”, no one is able to help him as
they cannot see his vision. Chet seems to have a lot of different tasks he would like to
accomplish, but he fails to prioritize his tasks which is a direct violation of rule number 4.
Rule 4 says that a person should prioritize his tasks and do the most important and urgent
ones first, while leaving less important and urgent matters to the future or delegating them to
a trusted subordinate. In this case, Chet seems to want to do everything at once and
multitask.
According to rule number 5, when dealing with a very important and big task, a person
should focus on completing that task and avoid multitasking. However, rule number 5 does
say that it is okay to multitask if the tasks are trivial and simplistic. If Chet had a prioritized
list, he would be able to follow rule number 5 and make smart decisions as to what needs his
full attention and what needs little attention or focus. This would help Chet get more done in
the same amount of time. Chet from the second he steps out of his car is bombarded with
trivial issues that hold him back from starting his project. Throughout the case, we see that
Chet does not allocate any specific time as a time where he can not be disturbed under any
circumstance. Chet is lack of time management skills. He conceived the open-end unit
scheduling idea over a year and a half ago and was instructed to develop the idea and still
has made no progress on it.
Not setting aside any time for yourself goes against rule 10 “reserve some time in the day
when others don't have access to you”. The rule also states that during this time one should
focus on completing his most important tasks which in this case would be Chet’s project.
However, all the rules interlock and setting aside time to do your most important tasks when
you don’t have a prioritized list (rule 4) is essentially pointless. The case talks a lot about
how Chet does not have time to do his project or think about it. Without a deadline, it is very
easy to push an important task off as you can always say “i'll do it tomorrow”. being a college
student, deadlines are essential to me getting my work done. Without a deadline for any of
my assignments, I would probably not do some of my assignments or leave them for the final
week of school.
Rule 12-keep track of your time. Chet spends a good part of his morning putting out fires. He
gets distracted in doing so. The first time he looks at his watch it is nearly lunch time. Finally,
setting deadlines is important. Chet admits that he hasn’t spent enough time on the open-
end unit scheduling dilemma. If he sets a deadline, like many other of his tasks, he may find
it easier to make time in his busy schedule.
Not setting a deadline violates rule 13 which simply states “set deadlines”. While at the plant,
Chet seemingly has a lot of objectives, but they all seem to be more short-term then long-
term objectives.
Rule 19 states that one should not just visualize long-term goals, but write them down. It also
goes on to discuss how a person could be efficient and organized, but still accomplish
nothing unless you have a clear direction in mind. This rule is not just in the book but is
practiced worldwide. Every major business has a mission statement which outlines exactly
what the company’s goals, mission, and values are. Chet could benefit greatly by outlining
the company's long-term goals.

Procrastination. His clear lack of preparation has led to large amounts of stress in his
day to day job. Trì hoãn công việc

2. What are the organizational problems in the case?

First of all, the organizational hierarchy is unevenly distributed. The supervision is

weighted heavily to where Chet and the two other plant managers bear the most
responsibility for the lower level positions. There seems to be a lack of middle managers and
supervisors. Also, the case mentions that Chet is working with different pressmen. According
to the hierarchy flowchart, pressmen should be reporting through their appropriate foreman,
and certainly not reporting directly to the plant manager.
Cơ cấu tổ chức của 1 công ty mặc dù rất đa dạng nhưng

Lack of initiative and leadership abilities. Another issue is that Chet has not emphasized
personal accountability for the foremen on his team. For example, Al the foreman came to
him with a scheduling issue due to a pressman not showing up for work. Chet does not hold
Al accountable for the duties that should be his own. Instead he lets Al pass the problem
along to him, and does not deal with it himself. Instead of allowing his subordinates to come
to him with problems that need to be solved, he should be encouraging them to bring him
solutions that he can approve. Al’s problem has just added another urgent, yet unimportant
task to Chet’s day and has taken time away from the creative and strategic thinking he
should be doing.
Lack of procedures to deal with absent employees. Chet was confronted by multiple
foreman concerning missing employees and how to fill their positions. Rather than bothering
chet there should be a set procedures follow when an employee doesn't show up for his or
her shift.
Lack of organizational structure. There was no mention of an assistant manager to help
field problems and complaints to the manager (Chet). This causes a huge waste in
productive time management and the ability to have productive planning and goals.
Lack of department heads for day shift workers. Chet is directly responsible for all the
departments Forman and the night supervisor. There should be supervisors similar to the
night shift supervisor.

Bản tiếng Việt thần kỳ:

3. Đặc điểm cá nhân nào của Chet cản trở việc quản lý thời gian hiệu quả của anh
ta?

Dựa trên những thông tin có trong bài đọc, cho chúng ta biết rằng Chet sở hữu một
số đặc điểm của Type A Personality (Tính cách Loại A). Theo từ điển tiếng Anh
Oxford, tính cách Loại A được đặc trưng bởi tham vọng, sự nóng vội và cạnh tranh,
và được cho là dễ bị căng thẳng

Chet thực hiện một ngày của mình theo một cách có thể gọi là “tăng động” khiến anh
ấy thường xuyên có cảm giác vội vàng. Sự chân thành muốn giúp đỡ những người
khác là nguyên nhân góp phần vào việc Chet không thể xử lý các vấn đề được giao
phó, anh ấy đánh giá quá cao khả năng hoàn thành nhiệm vụ trong tay, nhưng
không, anh ta rất dễ bị phân tâm và có suy nghĩ rằng anh ấy có thể tự xử lý tất cả
các vấn đề thay vì để mọi người làm công việc của riêng họ. Khi kể lại một ngày trên
đường lái xe về nhà, anh ấy đánh giá hiệu suất của mình dựa trên những gì anh ấy
đã hoàn thành so với những gì anh ấy đã học được hoặc những gì có thể cải thiện.
Một khía cạnh khác của tính cách Loại A là một người không thể thoải mái mà
không có cảm giác tội lỗi. Như đã đề cập trước đó, Chet cảm thấy tội lỗi vì không
dành đủ thời gian cho gia đình và không hoàn thành tất cả những gì mong đợi ở anh
ấy với tư cách là một giám đốc điều hành, vì vậy chúng ta có thể suy ra rằng Down
Time (thời gian chết) và Personal Time (thời gian cá nhân) của anh ta bị căng thẳng
dựa trên cách anh ta phân tích những bất cập trong hoạt động của anh ấy. Đi kèm
theo đó chúng ta có thể thấy ở Chet một:

Tính cách tham công tiếc việc: Chet có những đặc điểm của một người nghiện
công việc. Ở cuối đoạn text cho thấy cách anh ấy nghĩ về việc bỏ lỡ thời gian với gia
đình và thời gian đi nhà thờ của mình. Đôi khi Chet đã ưu tiên công việc hơn nhiều
thứ khác trong cuộc sống của mình. Và cuối cùng là

Sự thiếu tập trung: Sự ôm đồm quá nhiều công việc một lúc là một trong những lý
do chính của việc thiếu tập trung trong sản xuất và điều hành. Chet không có khả
năng tập trung vào một nhiệm vụ nhất định. Sự tập trung của anh ta sẽ được chuyển
hướng khi cuộc trò chuyện hoặc nhiệm vụ mới xuất hiện và nhiệm vụ mới đó sẽ luôn
được ưu tiên cho đến khi nhiệm vụ mới tiếp theo xuất hiện.

4. If you were hired as a consultant to Chet, what would you advise him?

As consultants to Chet, I would recommend numerous changes in the way he conducts

himself and his work day. In order to utilize the principles of time management explained in
the text, I would recommend that he have something changed.
Stop using excuses. Chet told his vice president and general manager that he hasn’t had
much time to sit down and think about the idea, but this was brought up to his three months
ago --> ngừng đổ lỗi
Use an agenda or planner. Chet often forgets about certain projects or ideas because he
has so much going on at work. If he writes everything down that needs to be done and
crosses it off when completed, like a checklist, he will be more organized. --> phân chia công
việc và thứ tự ưu tiên
Don’t take on more projects than you can handle. Chet often says yes to everything and
agrees to take to handle every situation that arises. The workload is too much for him to
handle, because clearly he is already backed up on his jobs. --> say 'no' với 1 số tình huống
và không ôm việc
Delegate task and hold those who task are delegated to accountable. Chet mentions
that he delegates but from the reading every employee asked for help. Chet should have an
expectation that those who are in charge of certain task should have the ability to solve
problems as they occur. Chet should also trust those he delegates to do their job. Only
emergency and major decisions should be filtered to Chet. --> uỷ quyền và có niềm tin với
nhân viên
Take a vacation! Yes there are a million things to be done. Rather you take a vacation or
not there will still be a million things to be done. What's the point of working hard if you can't
enjoy the fruits of your labor. Enjoy the family and get some rest. Chet will come back feeling
more refreshed than ever with a clear mind and ready to take care of business. --> sửa lại
(cần nghỉ ngơi nhiều hơn)
Follow up on all meetings and projects. It is inefficient to spend a significant amount of
time creating a great plan with the team on a project and there is no follow up. Following up
on all tasks keeps everyone engaged and up to date. Without a follow up the project will get
lost within the amount of other planned and unplanned things that happen day to day. (Kiểu
người dc uỷ quyền sẽ phải báo cáo với mình đều đặn, để mk biết tiến trình và kịp đưa ra giải
pháp)
mục tiêu dài hạn, ngắn hạn
The Small-Wins Strategy
Life-Balance Analysis
Deep Relaxation
Monitoring and Managing Time

Với tư cách là nhà tư vấn cho Chet, em sẽ giới thiệu một số thay đổi trong cách anh ấy quản
trị bản thân và ngày làm việc để giảm thiểu stress cũng như tăng năng suất công việc. Để
sử dụng các nguyên tắc quản lý thời gian được giải thích trong văn bản, em khuyên anh ấy
nên thay đổi một số điều.
1. Ngưng sử dụng các lý do bào chữa, ngưng đổ lỗi và đừng trì hoãn. Như mọi người
thấy trong Case, Chet nói với phó chủ tịch và tổng giám đốc của mình rằng anh ấy
không có nhiều thời gian để ngồi xuống và suy nghĩ về ý tưởng, nhưng điều này đã
được anh ấy đưa ra cách đây 3 tháng. Anh ấy luôn đổ lỗi về việc anh ấy quá bận
nhưng thực chất là anh ấy đã không chú tâm vào việc đó.
2. Lên kế hoạch cho công việc một cách rõ ràng và phân chia theo thứ tự ưu tiên. Chet
thường quên các dự án hoặc ý tưởng nhất định vì anh ấy có quá nhiều việc phải
làm. Nếu anh ấy viết ra mọi thứ cần phải hoàn thành, sắp xếp các công việc theo
mức độ quan trọng và ưu tiên, gạch bỏ công việc đã hoàn thành, giống như một
 danh sách kiểm tra, anh ấy có thể theo dõi công việc một cách chu đáo hơn. Như
quy tắc Pareto đã nói, nếu bạn muốn tận dụng tối đa thời gian của mình, hãy ưu tiên
giải quyết 20% nhiệm vụ quan trọng nhất trước mà không để bản thân bị làm phiền
bởi 80% nhiệm vụ còn lại. Hoặc khi thực hiện bất cứ việc gì, hãy tập trung phần lớn
thời gian cho công đoạn quan trọng nhất để bạn có thể hoàn thành toàn bộ quy trình
dễ dàng và hiệu quả hơn. Điều đó có nghĩa là trong 10 việc quan trọng mà bạn dự
định thực hiện trong hôm nay, có 8 điều không thực sự quan trọng. Việc bạn cần làm
là xác định 2 điều quan trọng nhất và bắt đầu thực hiện chúng. Nếu bạn không tập
trung vào 20% đó, cuối cùng bạn cũng sẽ lãng phí 80% thời gian của mình. Và nếu
bạn hoàn thành được 20% công việc quan trọng, đồng nghĩa với việc bạn đã đạt
được hiệu suất 80% của cả ngày hôm đó.
3. Đừng ôm quá nhiều việc vào người và học cách say ‘NO’ với một số tình huống.
Chet đã nhận nhiều dự án hơn mức mà anh ấy có thể xử lý. Chet thường nói có với
mọi thứ, ôm đồm hết mọi việc và đồng ý thực hiện để xử lý mọi tình huống phát sinh.
Khối lượng công việc là quá nhiều đối với anh ấy để xử lý, anh ấy đã có những kế
hoạch cho các công việc của mình nhưng lại luôn đồng ý với những lời đề nghị từ
người khác.
4. Ủy quyền và có niềm tin với nhân viên. Chet nên giao bớt nhiệm vụ cho cấp dưới và
có niềm tin với những người được giao trách nhiệm. Chet đề cập rằng anh ta ủy
quyền nhưng từ bài đọc, mọi nhân viên đều yêu cầu giúp đỡ. Chet nên có một kỳ
vọng rằng những người phụ trách nhiệm vụ nhất định phải có khả năng giải quyết
các vấn đề khi chúng xảy ra. Chet cũng nên tin tưởng những người mà anh ta ủy
quyền thực hiện công việc của họ. Chỉ những quyết định khẩn cấp và quan trọng
mới nên được lọc thành Chet.
5. Cân bằng cuộc sống, dành thời gian để relax! Đúng là có một triệu việc phải làm
nhưng làm việc chăm chỉ có ích gì nếu bạn không được hưởng thành quả lao động
của mình, không dành thời gian cho bản thân. Chet luôn lao đầu vào công việc từ
sáng sớm tới tối muộn, thậm chí là thức đêm và không có thời gian dành cho bản
thân, gia đình. Chet nên phân bổ các đầu việc mình cần làm và dành 1 khoảng thời
gian cho những việc khác, ví dụ như: tập thể dục; ăn uống, vui chơi vơi vợ con, …
Theo Lewin, chúng ta luôn chịu tác động của 2 lực: lực thúc đẩy và lực kìm hãm.
Nếu như chúng ta làm quá nhiều (đồng nghĩa với việc chịu quá nhiều lực thúc đẩy)
nhưng không có thời gian nghỉ ngơi, không có lực kìm hãm nào tác động vào, giống
như sợi dây chun nếu bị kéo căng đến một mức độ nào đó thì nó sẽ đứt. Hơn nữa,
nếu không dành thời gian cho bản thân trong việc tập luyện thể thao hay làm những
công việc mình thích, Chet sẽ bị quá tải trong công việc và đến một ngày nào đó anh
ấy sẽ bị stress rất nặng.
 6. Theo dõi tất cả các cuộc họp và dự án. Sẽ không hiệu quả nếu dành một khoảng
thời gian đáng kể để tạo ra một kế hoạch tuyệt vời với nhóm về một dự án và không
có sự theo dõi nào. Theo dõi tất cả các nhiệm vụ giúp mọi người luôn tham gia và
cập nhật được tình hình. Nếu không có sự theo dõi, dự án sẽ bị lạc lõng trong vô số
những việc đã được lên kế hoạch và không có kế hoạch diễn ra hàng ngày. Người
được uỷ quyền sẽ phải báo cáo với Chet đều đặn, để anh ấy nắm được tiến trình và
kịp đưa ra giải pháp.
7. Thiết lập các mục tiêu ngắn hạn và dài hạn cho bản thân và tổ chức. Khi đặt ra các
mục tiêu, anh ta sẽ xem xét thủ thuật “phân nhỏ công việc”. Khi phân tách các dự án,
mục tiêu thành các đề mục nhỏ hơn, công việc có thể được giải quyết vỏn vẹn trong
vòng 1 đến 2 tuần. Nhân viên cũng từ đó mà sáng tạo và làm việc năng suất hơn.
Bên cạnh đó, khi mọi việc có xu hướng tệ đi, cảm giác thất vọng chỉ ở mức độ vừa
phải, có thể chấp nhận được. Ngoài ra, anh ấy có thể thực hiện chiến lược thắng
nhỏ (Small-Wins Strategy) đối với bản thân cũng như đối với nhân viên. Đối với cá
nhân Chet, sau khi hoàn thành 1 công việc, 1 dự án quan trọng, Chet nên tự thưởng
cho bản thân mình 1 phần quà nhỏ, đó có thể là một bữa cơm ấm cúng hay 1 kỳ
nghỉ ngắn ngày với gia đình hoặc mua món đồ mình thích, làm những điều mình
muốn làm. Đối với nhân viên, mỗi khi họ hoàn thành tốt công việc, nhiệm vụ được
giao, Chet có thể thưởng cho họ phần thưởng, ví dụ như lời khen, tiền thưởng,
thăng chức, … để họ thấy được rằng họ đã làm việc rất tốt cũng như công sức họ
bỏ ra đã được đền đáp xứng đáng. Những điều nhỏ nhặt có thể tạo nên những điều
to lớn.
8. Social resiliency: Chet đang có quá nhiều áp lực và cuộc sống của anh ấy luôn luôn
xoay quanh bộn bề công việc. Theo như lý thuyết về quản trị căng thẳng mà thầy đã
chia sẻ ở phần trước, Chet nên có những thay đổi trong các mối quan hệ, học cách
chia sẻ các vấn đề của mình thay vì giữ trong lòng quá nhiều suy nghĩ rồi tự nói
chuyện với bản thân mình. Ví dụ, Chet có thể chia sẻ với những người mình tin
tưởng (đặc biệt là vợ của mình). Ngoài ra, Chet có thể chia sẻ với bạn bè, những
người có cùng chí hướng về những lý tưởng, tầm nhìn, những kiến thức xung quanh
hoặc tạo ra kết nối trong công việc (teamwork), gắn kết với đồng nghiệp hơn để tạo
ra môi trường làm việc thân thiện, mọi người hiểu nhau nhiều hơn, chia sẻ nhiều
hơn thì hiệu suất công việc từ đó được cải thiện.

https://newyorkessays.com/essay-the-case-of-the-missing-time/
https://prezi.com/vv81i_y4t25i/case-of-the-missing-time/
Sau khi tìm hiểu lý thuyết về quản trị căng thẳng cũng như Case Study 2, nhóm chúng
em rút ra được 1 số bài học áp dụng vào thực tế. Trong cuộc sống, mọi người đều có
rất nhiều công việc và áp lực. Mỗi cá nhân cần phải biết cách quản trị thời gian cũng
như là quản trị được stress, căng thẳng, đặc biệt là những người quản lý, người lãnh
đạo. Bởi khi những người quản lý, người lãnh đạo đó gặp stress quá mức, họ sẽ
không thể làm việc hiệu quả cũng như tạo ra rất nhiều áp lực cho nhân viên của mình,
từ đó dẫn đến hiệu ứng dây chuyền là tất cả mọi người đều bị cuốn vào vòng xoáy
stress, áp lực để rồi hiệu suất chung của cả công ty đều bị ảnh hưởng. Chúng ta cần
suy nghĩ tích cực hơn cũng như áp dụng những phương pháp quản trị stress một
cách hiệu quả (thời gian, sức khoẻ, tâm lý, xã hội, …). Nếu như mỗi cá nhân đều có
thể tự tạo cho mình một thói quen, lối sống tích cực thì xã hội sẽ càng trở nên văn
minh hơn, phát triển hơn. Giảm thiểu stress chính là cách tốt nhất để có thể giúp bản
thân có được cuộc sống tốt đẹp hơn. Hãy xây dựng cho mình 1 kế hoạch, 1 thói quen
ngay từ bây giờ và bắt đầu từ những việc nhỏ nhất, đơn giản nhất.

Thứ tự thuyết trình:

1. Tóm tắt: Mai
2. Trả lời câu hỏi (áp dụng cả lý thuyết)
- Câu 1: 2 Hương
- Câu 2: Trang
- Câu 3: Ngọc
- Câu 4: Hiền
3. Kết luận + liên hệ thực tế (bài học): Hiền - mn cùng đóng góp thêm ý tưởng