Audrey had been silent for almost thirty seconds, eyes deep in thought. “So, identifying the Time Span for a project is pretty easy, because it has a deadline. Does Time Span apply to other jobs that are not quite so defined?”

“Of course. We always have some timeline in mind for any task. Elliott Jaques called it the Timeline of Intention. Time Span can be used to define not only specific tasks, but also to define specific roles inside the company.

“Let’s take payroll, for example. Every week, the payroll clerk prepares the timesheets, calculates the additional elements of each paycheck, like 401(k) and such. You might say that payroll has a one week Time Span. In reality, payroll is a bit more complicated because of its reporting at the end of every three months.

“Payroll clerks know that every payroll transaction has an impact on that quarterly report and if something gets screwed up on a payroll run, it is going to be screwed up when it comes time to prepare that quarterly report.

“Even though payroll may be run once a week or once every two weeks, the payroll clerk is always focused on the quarterly report. The Time Span for payroll is three months.

“Here, take a look at this. It’s a list I put together. I collected a number of roles in a typical company and identified the Time Span for each position. You might find this helpful.” -TF

If you would like to see the list I showed to Audrey, just drop me an email and I will send you a copy. It’s a couple of pages, quick read.