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Five Quick Ways to improve how you manage your time, Mr & Ms Manager…
To do or not to… the sixty minute question with multiple answers. Want to call a friend? Pick the box? Well everyday under normal circumstances we have to make choices as to how best we deploy the time at our disposal in relation to tasks in hand. Especially in South Africa, many of our fellow citizens are known to put off to the last minute to comply for example with submission of national requirements – take RICA as a case in point. Years in the making, there was a huge rush of applicants that left it to the very last day – even hours – before the deadline complying with gazetted communication rules.
Is this yet another symptom of how we individually manage time? In a business environment time is commonly referred to as ‘time equates to money'. This is where managers need to lead by example and ‘manage' their time productively. I wish to explore some universal issues that impose on time-management on a regular basis –
- One of the most common time-wasters for a manager is probably not knowing ‘what' and ‘when' or ‘how' to delegate mundane or non-strategic tasks. Ask yourself – is the task that landed on your desk really your direct responsibility? If it fits into the job description of a peer or another department, or a subordinate – delegate and let them revert to you when it is resolved as appropriate.
- A close second as prime contender in a race as ‘prima management time waster' is normally referred to as ‘the meeting syndrome'. Managers too often have to attend or schedule ‘unproductive meetings.' Be critical of who called a meeting, its purpose and insist to receive an Agenda beforehand with times allocated per topic. Diarise your time. Be discreetly assertive with feedback to the chairperson if a meeting is a ‘tea party' instead of a productive session that fails to result in valuable deliverables.
- Another negative contributor is time wasted by non-performance – this is a well known concept in total quality management (TQM). It simply seeks to quantify the time and effort that it takes to re-do something that is not properly done the first time. Even when you peruse a mail in your inbox without resolving it; a similar effort the second or third or umpteenth time around is measurable in the context of the cost of non-performance. Deal with all correspondence decisively and delegate as appropriate.
- Idle talk and unplanned telephone or corridor conversations are often aggregated by an ‘open door policy'. If you allow peers and subordinates to walk into your office at any time when you are alone, it will infringe upon your concentration or focus and even a few quick minutes can upset your chain of thought or routine. Avoid disruptions. When you set doing your planned/scheduled tasks keep the door closed and the phone of the hook until you are finished.
- Appreciate that ‘time is limited and time wasted is irreversible'. Plan your day and week ahead and stick to it as far as practically possible. Be conscious of minutes and hours wasted by unplanned interruptions on an hourly / daily basis. Avoid such situations and be assertive.
In conclusion – this list is not exhaustive – with repetition these little time-waste jackals become more easily identifiable and your skill as to how to effectively avoid and manage similar situations all together will improve. You cannot manage what you do not measure; and what gets measured gets done. And understand that time is intangible – so enjoy every second of it!
Tick Tock, Tick Tock Time Out Management… by Johan Bester
About the Author
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The author is an entrepreneur and business owner; this article sponsored by Intu-Afrika Business Consultants –
For more information to subject matter in the article, or any business management consulting, performance audits, risk – transportation and logistics management service or advice, contact us – send an email to bestconsut@lantic.net
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