School Leadership Development Second Quadrant March, 2010

URGENT = IMPORTANT ?? Both are independent parameters – hence we can have a 2 * 2 matrix , resulting in four combinations or quadrants

Time Management IV Not Urgent and Not important III Urgent but not important NOT IMPORTANT II Important but NOT urgent I Urgent And Important IMPORTANT NOT URGENT URGENT Important / Urgent

Quadrant I Urgent and Important quadrant MUST BE DONE …. JUST NOW Current issues / problems Items beyond ones own control Reactive - lack of planning / ineffective implementation of plan. Crisis management / trouble shooting Stressful

Quadrant II Important but not urgent quadrant Must be done …. But not now .. Can be looked at later on Our dreams and visions Health, Fulfillment of potential, ‘arriving in life’, time with family / children Proactive effort needed… since not a MUST Needs to be slotted through Planning Planning is the process by which we predict our future Planning is the process by which we realize our dreams and not let that be a result of luck QII activity delivers results / high value

Quadrant II Items move from Quadrant II towards Quadrant I. If we can tackle the item in the QII stage itself, it will not become a crisis at a later point in time (submitting assignments well in time avoids last minute stress) We are better equipped to handle an item in QII since it has not yet become a cause for stress. Cooler mind will result in better solutions. QII can allow us to sharpen our own skills and fulfill our potential by meaningful and thorough exploration of possibilities in any project, while in QI, we would like to quickly complete the tasks without getting the best of the experience

Not Important Quadrant III – Urgent but not important Has to be done NOW … (is it really required??) Irritant, Stressful Unintentionally, many spend significant time here Need to question any activity we take up – what is the real justification / value of the activity? Opportunity cost Quadrant IV – Not urgent, not important Trivial tasks that could provide mind a rest should not become cause for stress.

Current / typical spend of time 15 – 20 10 – 20 QIV QIII 0 – 20 60 - 80 QII QI Result – stressed out individual, ineffective work

Ideal spend of time ? 10 – 20 0 – 10 QIV QIII 40 - 80 0 - 20 QII QI

Important People who neglect QII will spend significant time juggling with crises. Each crisis will be supplanted by a bigger one. People who devote time to QIII will be ineffective, though they are doing crisis management. A successful person would spend significant part of time in the second quadrant.

QII for School Develop competencies and skills in School staff Teacher professional development Develop specializations within each member Curricular material - local/contextual Self Assessment processes Members find satisfaction and happiness in activity and delivery

THINK QII If you have 20 hours to cut a tree… spend at least 18 hours sharpening your axe …