Task-Based or Time-Based?

You do your best work when your back is to the wall.

 

As an entrepreneur, you know you can get more done in 34 minutes–make that 33, and counting–than most people working a 9-to-5 can accomplish all day. “If you want something done, give it to a busy person” is a truism that every entrepreneur nods along with. Entrepreneurs are task-oriented: we work until the work is done, not until the clock chimes 5.

 

That’s not to say that every employee is Homer Simpson or Fred Flintstone, hitting the parking lot while the end-of-shift whistle blows. And I’m not saying anyone is lazy; we’re all taught the same lesson (punch in, make widgets to spec, punch out) from kindergarten through college. But when your groceries are on the line, your focus shifts from time-based to task-based.

 

This isn’t only true of entrepreneurs. Every worker’s goal is to collect their pay and get home.

 

For example, before the postal union in Canada had a mandatory workday, many postal workers would finish their routes by 1:30pm. They’d have to hustle to do it, but several would succeed. Their last stop would be the personal training gym where I worked before checking out at the post office next door. No corners were cut: every person on their route got their mail before 1:30, and the postal worker would simply drop off their bag and enjoy their afternoon. It was a win for everyone.

 

Then the union–one of the most powerful in our union-friendly country–decided that everyone should stay until 3pm, regardless of when the mail was delivered. The result was predictable: the carriers finished right at 3pm, nearly 25% slower than before. There wasn’t more mail (heck, there’s probably less now than ever) but the carriers moved from a task-based job to a time-based job. Everyone got their mail a bit later, and the system slowed in the mud of bureaucracy.

 

Work always expands to fill the time you have available.

 

We all procrastinate. We all try to multi-task, and it kills our productivity. But an entrepreneur has an advantage: the responsibility for finishing a task on time instead of merely filling a workday. Deadlines are positive constraints. And they only exist for task-based work.

 

For example, paying a staff person to call ten clients is more powerful than paying a staff person to call clients between 1pm and 2pm.

 

Paying a virtual assistant a fixed rate to find and book a seminar venue is more powerful than assigning the same task to a salaried staff person. The VA has an incentive to get the job done fast. And the incentive of future work means he’ll also do it well.

 

At TwoBrain, we define roles (the hats worn in your business) and tasks (the checklist for each role) in the Incubator. Then we identify the lowest-value roles (the places where the owner is most easily replaced) and assign them to others. We do this by role and task instead of telling the owner to hire people, pay them a salary, and hope for the best.

 

Paying staff by role instead of a flat salary gives them the incentive to finish the job fast, and–as long as you’re evaluating them–an incentive to do it well, because they want to keep that role.

 

For example, I might pay a staff member $20 for a client goal review, to a limit of ten per week. I might commit to testing the process for three months. I might tell them that as long as we see an ROI of at least 33%, we’ll continue the program after the trial period. The staff member now has the opportunity to earn an extra $200 per week; they’ll set their calendar to meet the client’s preference; and when the ten sessions are done, the staff member can go home. If it fits the clients’ preferences, the staff member could even do all ten sessions in one day, and take other days off to relax. And if they do a great job, the role will continue.

 

The new “gig” economy is an obvious example of the benefit of task-based work. If you drive an Uber, you accept fares until it’s time to go home, right? You don’t sit around and kill the clock, or run errands between rides: you pack them in tightly and sign off as early as possible.

 

BUT WAIT!!!! What about employee loyalty?! What about their need to make a living?!? What about traditionnnnnn?!?

 

Salaries were desirable for our parents’ generation, because they sought stability above all else. THEIR parents were the first generation to see a “middle class”, and probably had to fight to make a living. Our parents were eager to choose predictability over opportunity, and they created a foundation on which we could take a few risks. My parents even told me to go into teaching because I’d “never find a better pension anywhere else.” If my goal was to patiently survive 30 years and then retire to boredom, I’d have taken their advice.

 

But survey data shows most workers no longer place job security above all else. What DO they want? Well, they need to make enough to match the happiness index. But they also want continuing education. And they want the chance to control their own earnings or position. Many might even want to feel entrepreneurial, but without all of those real-world risks. If you do it right, you can make your staff feel fulfilled and–gasp!–happy without a salary.

 

We teach entrepreneurs how to mentor their staff toward their own Perfect Day in the Incubator.