Archives January 2023

Parkinson’s Law says that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” In that sense, the same task could take either 20 minutes or 2 hours, depending on how much time a person believes they have to complete the task.

Parkinson’s Law is often referenced to emphasize the importance of setting deadlines for personal accountability or for managing a team. If a person is given more time to complete a task, they will likely take just as long as the time they were given, rather than less time or more time. The element of urgency creates a sense of importance in the present moment, encouraging one to focus on the task at hand rather than delay or procrastinate. 

Parkinson’s Law is more relevant to certain tasks and people than others. The reason why effort correlates to the time allotted to it is also influenced by scope. The scope can expand or contract given how close or far a deadline is set. The scope of a project determines the deliverables, which then dictate how resources will be allocated to complete the deliverables. Defining the scope of a project is the most important stage as the relationship between deliverables and resources is that of giving and taking. 

With a closer deadline, the scope of a project must be relatively compact to focus on priorities. The scope and deadline of a project must align together. Too large of a scope within a short deadline will cause stress and raise unreasonable expectations. A small scope within a roomy deadline may not be an efficient use of resources, to begin with. 

Likewise, the design of the office space should be congruent with the nature of the tasks and priorities of the workers who are there. Cubicles here can help to significantly improve productivity by helping workers concentrate more effectively with visual and physical boundaries between one another. The new cubicles are easy to ship and assemble, making it easy for office teams to redesign their space with relative ease.

While open office layouts may boost collaboration and morale, the design leaves room (no pun intended) for minor to major interruptions. When there are no barriers between anyone or anything, everyone and everything is just within earshot to discuss business projects as well as weekend plans. As Parkinson’s Law would suggest, a worker would most likely engage in office banter if a lose enough deadline allowed them to do so while also accomplishing their assigned tasks, thereby expanding the total time of completion from start to end.

Offices in California order cubicles from here to provide privacy, compartmentalization, and space efficiency. Concentration does not have to be sacrificed in pursuit of collaboration, in fact, cubicle separation can enhance single-tasking.

The concept of Parkinson’s Law is especially important to managers who are measured by their ability to allocate resources for maximal efficiency. A lack of mental or physical structure on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis is likely to allow for distractions to permeate into one’s schedule and hinder their ability to fulfill responsibilities.