PD-001 The Gray Zone

Danielle considers herself a pretty good time manager. She’s organized, punctual, and keeps her goals, objectives, and to-do lists up to date. But like anyone, Danielle sometimes falls behind or forgets to write down a deadline in her planner.

Yesterday afternoon, Danielle had planned to work on her presentation for today’s meeting, but she was sidetracked by several phone calls she needed to take. Now, it’s 8:00 a.m., and Danielle has only one hour left to complete her presentation. Unfortunately, that hour is filled by an all-employee meeting in the conference room. While her supervisor talks about some new company policies, Danielle appears to be taking notes, but she’s really putting the finishing touches on her 9:00 a.m. presentation. There are so many people in the conference room that she’s positive no one will notice what she’s doing.

Danielle smiles—she’s pretty sure that getting work for one meeting accomplished during another meeting is making great use of her time. It’s multitasking! What do you think? Is Danielle managing her time wisely? Or is she acting unethically?