Parkinson’s law is the idea that work takes as long as the time you are given to finish it. This law, which is rather more a theory, was first published in The Economist in 1955 by C. Northcote Parkinson. In this article titled “Parkinson’s Law,” Parkinson stated, “It is a commonplace observation that work expands as to fill the time available for its completion.”1 In other words, if you're only going to work for an hour, then the project you’ve been tasked with will fill that hour. But if you give yourself all day, the project will likely take all day. One reason why this might occur is our human tendency to procrastinate. Another possibility is how we often find ways to complicate a task, therefore taking up more time. Let’s learn more about how Parkinson’s law works and the impact it has on business.
How It Works
Parkinson’s Law has many impacts on the world of business. One impact is the tendency for business leaders to overwork themselves. Once leaders feel that they have reached burnout, they hire employees to pass tasks onto. The irony? Now they have management duties that will add more tasks to their plates, and eventually lateral hires may be needed to help with workload. Those hired to complete the original tasks of the leader will eventually feel that they have also reached max capacity, and so the cycle continues.
Now we know that leaders and employees often create more tasks for themselves without meaning to. Employees feel that we are busy and will create more tasks for ourselves while trying to stop the problem. Now, let’s find out if perception of specific tasks affects the speed at which we complete them.
In “Timeless Demonstrations of Parkinson's First Law” published by Laura A. Brannon, Paul J. Hershberger, and Timothy C. Brock, scientific experiments found that how interested we are in a task and how difficult we find it do not determine how long it takes us to finish a task. Given more time, subjects of the experiment still took as much time as they were given to complete a task. In fact, subjects took more time to complete tasks previously done faster if given more time.
Those in the study were given four tasks to complete. However, the final task was suddenly cancelled. When the final task was cancelled before the third task was finished, subjects stretched out that third task to fill the extra time they now had.
What should we do with this information? If interest, perceived difficulty, and feelings of burnout don’t impact the time it takes to finish a task, why do we always find a way to fill the time we are given? We could easily put this down to “being what it is”. Or we could attempt to fix the problem and create a productive and engaged workplace.
How to Help Your Team Stay Engaged and Beat Parkinson’s Law
In Genaro J. Gutierrez and Panagiotis Kouvelis’ “Parkinson's Law and Its Implications for Project Management”, they don’t prove nor disprove Parkinson’s law. Instead, they come to an important realization about project management. When no deadline is given for a task, work becomes expanded and takes a very long time. In fact, employees delay starting the project by either procrastinating or completing other pressing tasks. However, when unrealistic deadlines are set, employees reach burnout and struggle. Keeping employees busy is a great way to keep employees engaged. But keep in mind, setting unfair deadlines will only negatively impact employee morale.
The study also brought up the idea that activities should be sequenced. Break projects down into individual tasks and set specific deadlines for each task. If the work being worked on is prone to project delays, deadlines for each task can be assigned after the former task is complete. This concept decreases burnout, while still setting concrete deadlines. Again, it is worth emphasizing that reasonable deadlines should be set.
One way we prevent burnout for our team is by assigning a book of business. Each of our accounting employees are given specific clients to work on not to exceed a specific number. This keeps our team from reaching burnout and also sets the expectation for how many tasks they have. We do not want our team members working more than 40-45 hours each week, and so they can configure their schedules to finish tasks for each of their clients based on that expectation.
These tips help you keep employees engaged, but what can we as leaders do to keep ourselves engaged and conscientious of time?
How You Can Improve Your Engagement as a Leader
Effectiviology has this to say, “This research suggests that when people are given a task to perform, they often think in terms of “how much time do I have to complete it?”, rather than in terms of “how much time do I need to complete it?”. This mindset can cause people to waste time needlessly, and work in a relatively inefficient manner”. By simply changing our mindset from how much time we have been given to do a task to asking how much time we need to complete a task, we can boost our efficiency. To determine how much time you would need to complete a task, consider similar tasks you have done in the past and the time you needed to complete it.
Once you know how much time it would take to complete a task, ask yourself if you’ve provided yourself with enough time to complete the task without compromising on quality of the work. If you feel that you’d have to compromise on the quality of your work given a self-imposed deadline, just add time to your estimate. If you find at the end of the task that you did not provide yourself with enough time, make sure you add time to your deadline the next time you work on a similar task.
It can also be helpful to outline important tasks. In “Parkinson’s Law: Why Setting Shorter Deadlines is Crucial”, Ivaylo Durmonski suggests the following: “I tackle the hardest tasks first thing in the morning because I’m most productive then. For the evening, I leave the to-dos that don’t require a lot of mental energy.” We each have different times of day when we have the most energy and are able to work most efficiently. Arrange your day so that you can complete the most difficult tasks during times when you have the most energy and allow yourself to complete simple tasks when you have less energy. This will help your mind stay engaged and beat procrastination.
Conclusion
Through many studies in the past several decades, evidence has been found to support Parkinson’s law. Tasks truly do take up the time given for its completion. However, emerging tips have been given to demonstrate how we can become more diligent and efficient with our time. Measuring the time it takes to complete similar tasks, setting self-imposed deadlines, and breaking projects up into smaller tasks, can help keep our minds engaged and moving forward at a faster rate. Also, making sure that deadlines are not too strict can help prevent employee burnout. Being aware of suggestions can also help us create better environments for our employees where they feel engaged with their work but also have a healthy relationship with deadlines. Ultimately, Parkinson’s law is more than an observation of human behavior, but an insight that can help us become better leaders and employees.
Sources: 1. Economist: Parkinson’s Law