FAQ-2: How Much of My Time Will This Really Take?

The Stop-Watch Edition – 30 Minutes a Week, Proved

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The Fear That Kills HR Projects

CEOs love results; they hate calendars being hijacked. When we first meet finance or operations heads, the most common push-back is: “I don’t have three months to babysit consultants.”

We listened. Then we strapped on a stop-watch and tracked every minute of 23 recent Grow People engagements.

The data is clear:

• Average total executive time: 6 hrs 15 min over 90 days
• Longest single meeting: 1 hr 45 min (Day 1 diagnosis)
• Weekly upkeep after launch: 27 min

Read that again. You can fix half your exit problem in less time than a single board committee meeting.

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What “Time” Actually Looks Like

We break the 90-day project into four phases. Below is a minute-by-minute ledger taken from Elgon Cafe (1,100 staff) and RV Dairy (320 staff).

PHASE A – DIAGNOSIS (Week 0)

Task	Who	Minutes	Format
Scope call	MD + HR	30	Phone
Diagnosis workshop	Exec team (6 ppl)	105	On-site 08:00-09:45
Floor walk	Ops Dir	30	Plant tour
Data drop	HR officer	15	Email CSV export
TOTAL EXEC TIME		180 (3 hrs)

PHASE B – DESIGN (Week 1)

Task	Who	Minutes
Review 1-page plan	MD	45	PDF, comments
Quick approve	WhatsApp voice	5
TOTAL EXEC TIME		50

PHASE C – PILOT (Week 2-6)

Weekly action	Who	Minutes/week
Reply to 3 voice notes	MD	6
Sign off dashboard screenshot	Ops Dir	12
15-min huddle with managers	Whole team	15
WEEKLY AVERAGE		27
Over 5 weeks = 135 min ≈ 2 hrs 15 min

PHASE D – LOCK-IN (Week 7-12)

Task	Who	Minutes
Final review meeting	Exec	60
Board slide approval	MD	30
SOP sign-off	HR	30
TOTAL EXEC TIME		120 (2 hrs)

GRAND TOTAL: 180 + 50 + 135 + 120 = 485 min = 8 hrs 5 min
Even if we add a 20 % buffer for chit-chat, you remain under 10 hours across three months – or 27 minutes a week.

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Calendar View – What It Feels Like

• Tuesday 08:00-08:15 – Reply mood prompt voice note while car is warming up.
• Thursday 10:30-10:42 – Scan Excel dashboard, WhatsApp “Approved” screenshot.
• Friday 04:00-04:15 – Quick huddle with line managers (we bring the agenda).

That is literally it. Most executives do these micro-tasks between meetings without leaving their office.

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Who Does the Heavy Lifting?

Us:

• 42 staff interviews
• Excel build & updates
• Manager coaching sessions
• Report writing

You:

• Decisions (yes/no)
• 3 short reviews
• Broadcast our mood prompt on the internal WhatsApp group

We even draft the CEO broadcast message, so all you do is copy-paste-send.

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“What If I’m Out of Country?”

All approvals happen on:

• WhatsApp voice/text (works on 2G)
• Email PDF ( <500 KB)
• Excel via OneDrive mobile app

No laptop needed. One client approved final slides from a hotel lobby in Dubai.

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Micro-Meeting Rules We Follow

1. 9 AM cap – never touch your revenue hours.
2. 15 min default – phone timer visible.
3. Agenda sent 24 hrs prior – 3 bullets max.
4. One decision only – if we need two, we book a second slot.

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Buffer Month (Optional)

After day 90 we offer a light support month:

• 1× 20-min call
• 1× dashboard refresh
  Time cost: 20 min total – you can decline with zero hard feelings.

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Printable “Executive Time Budget”

Hang it on your notice board:Table

Week	Task	Minutes
0	Diagnosis workshop	180
1	Plan review	50
2-6	Micro-checks weekly	135
7-12	Final sign-off	120
TOTAL		485 min ≈ 8 hrs

Bottom line: You spend less than one working day to cut exits by half, save millions, and sleep better. The rest of the hours are on us.

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NEXT ARTICLE DROP

“Will staff speak the truth to outsiders?” – We share the anonymity script that gets 93 % honest replies.

Ready to block 27 minutes?
Book your first 30-minute slot here → Click here to Book (we’ll even send you a calendar invite).