Sleeping Duty

There once was a maid who was hired to clean house. The home owner wanted her to clean the four bedrooms, make the beds, and vacuum the carpets. Plus, she was told to clean the bath tubs, the sinks, the counters in the kitchen and to sweep out the garage. In addition it was desired that she wash the dirty dishes, do the dirty laundry, water the flowers and walk the dog.

She took the job and set about her work. Working all day to mop the floors, clean the counters, and walk to the dog. From all that hard work she became very tired and decided to lie down.
When the home owner came home he saw that the furniture had not been dusted and that the garbage had not been taken out. The home owner called for the maid but she did not appear. Then the sound of snoring came  from a nearby bedroom. To the home owner’s surprise the maid had collapsed onto a freshly made bed and fallen fast asleep.

The home owner shook the maid awake and said, “You need to dust the furniture and take out the garbage.” The maid opened her tired  eyes and focused and replied, “I don’t like taking out the garbage, isn’t that your job? And I don’t recall you mentioning any dusting when we reached our agreement for my services.”

The home owner had to think about that as the work that had been done was good work. “OK, I will take out the garbage, but I would  like for you to dust and I expect to come home to a clean house and a happy dog every day for the sum that we agreed upon for three hours of your services.” The maid agreed. “Plus, when you are done, please do not sleep in my house.” The maid agreed as she knew that the cleaner she kept the house the easier it would be.

The Moral of the fable: Sleeping on the job is never a good idea, determining the scope of the job is what will benefit and please ya’.

NOTE: Understanding the tasks involved in doing a job, or a project, is what managing a business is all about. Knowing the tasks to be effective or the steps to achieve certain goals is one thing, but it is also important to practice efficient methods applied to saving time and effort, as then the benefits start to appear.