© absl power solutions 2007 © stm quality limited stm quality limited time management total...

© ABSL Power Solutions 2007© STM Quality Limited

STM Quality Limited

Time Management

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Time Management

© STM Quality Limited

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What is the aim of ‘Time Management’?

To identify the necessary skills to manage time effectively.


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The Objectives ofTime Management

Understand what ‘time management’ means to you.

Identify your own work goals and put them in priority order.

Understand the potential problems in managing time and how to deal with these.

How to deal with interruptions effectively.Compile an action plan to improve your

time management.


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What Does Time Management Mean To You?

Time management helps you to work more efficiently – when you want to.

If there are other parts of your job where

efficiency is not at a premium (such as when you walk about the workplace to see for yourself how everything is going) then your time management will help make space for them too.


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Time management helps you choose the right things to do and work through them quickly, giving you more time at your disposal.

You can use that extra time for things you enjoy taking advantage of: new opportunities; thinking of promotion and so on.


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Time management reduces the burden on you by helping to choose the tasks which will contribute most effectively to your goals.

Your effectiveness is not measured by the number of hours you work, but what you achieve. The greater the pressure you are under, the more you stand to gain from getting the most out of the time available.


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Managing your time better can help you gain more control over your time.

How you spend it is up to you!


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Why Manage My Time?

Some people may feel resentful about working overtime and anxious about uncompleted work.

They may feel undervalued and put upon.

All these feelings tend to result in stress – a common result of poor time management.


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Why Manage My Time?

Many first line managers have to respond to frequent, unpredictable demands on their time.

In extreme cases they can find themselves plunging from one emergency to another.

Such crisis management leads to stress and to missed opportunities.


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Why Manage My Time?

Time management means gaining more control over your

time and using your time as you want!


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Why Manage My Time?

You may have chosen to catch up with some routine tasks that you never seem to get around to – clearing your desk, filing, etc.

Or you may have simply chosen to think – to review where you and your department are going.

Either way, there are things that, given more time, you could be doing, or doing better.

Time management aims to give you that extra time.


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Remember…

Poor time management leads to stress and missed

opportunities!


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How Can You Prepare For Better Time Management?

Managing time means gaining more control over your time and using it in the way you want.

Two important steps towards this are:

1. Working out what you want to achieve.

2. Identifying problems which waste or disrupt your time at the moment.


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Work S.M.A.R.T.

SpecificMeasurableAgreedRealisticTimed


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Goals

To be able to achieve what you want,

you need clear goals!


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Look At This DiaryTask Start End Minutes. CommentsPick up Mr.Smith from the station 8.15 9.00 45 Someone else do this?Coffee and chat with Mr.Smith 9.00 9.16 16Sort mail 9.16 9.30 14Go through procedures with staff 9.30 11.30 120 Can someone else do this?Speak to colleagues on way back 11.30 11.48 18 Difficult to avoid in open Start report for review 11.48 11.52 4Phone call from Dick 11.52 12.06 14Back to report 12.06 12.18 12Harry asks for figures for meeting 12.18 12.24 6Ask Tom to look at figures 12.24 12.30 6Phone Fred about report 12.30 12.43 13Fill in expense claim 12.43 13.00 17Lunch 13.00 13.30 30 Need a longer breakChat to colleagues 13.30 13.44 14Sort in-tray 13.44 13.54 10Tom brings figures 13.54 14.06 12Double check figures again 14.06 14.33 27 Figures ok don’t checkPhone call from Bill 14.33 14.39 6Back to figures 14.39 14.43 4Julie phones for figures 14.43 14.47 4Finishing check 14.47 14.55 8Plan training session 14.55 15.13 18Mr.Smith phones re: budget 15.13 15.16 3Compile breakdown 15.16 15.28 12Wait for meeting to start 15.28 15.36 8Dept. Meeting 15.36 16.45 69Start report again 16.45 16.50 5


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Analyse The Diary

By analyzing the diary, there are problems:

He put off jobs he did not enjoy.He spent too long on the telephone

because he liked chatting to colleagues.He spent a lot of time doing jobs he

could have delegated, or not done at all.He laboured too much over each report,

when the people receiving it may have preferred just a brief report in note form.


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Analyse The Diary

We can also see how much time was taken up by unnecessary tasks (such as picking up Mr.Smith from the station), frequent interruptions and meetings.

With this information we can work out ways of improving his time management.


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Keep A Diary

Keeping a time diary helps to identify the management

problems.


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Time Management

How do you realise what your priorities are?


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Time Management

What do you do with the low priority tasks?


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Pareto Analysis

80% of results come from 20% of jobs.20% of results come from 80% of jobs!

The skill lies in picking the 20%.

Delegate the low priority jobs or consider whether they need to be done at all.


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Recognise and Tackle Priority Jobs

Less urgentMore

important

More urgentLess important

Less urgentLess

important

More urgentMore

important


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Important

Tasks are those which will contribute significantly to your goals – those which will have a

large effect on your job.


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Urgency

Tasks are those with imminent deadlines.

An urgent task may be unimportant in

terms of overall success in your job but still needs to be done immediately.


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Planning

When planning your tasks, distinguish between urgent tasks and important

ones!


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Planning

Having established your priorities you can plan.

How long will each task take?

When will I do the tasks?


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Planning

Plan your workload by estimating the time required for each task.

Then schedule the tasks.


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Planning & Estimating

To estimate the time required for each task:Use your own experience of previous tasks;Ask the people who do the work;Consult colleagues;If all else fails, make your best guess;Build in some contingency time.Keep records on how long each task takes,

therefore next time round accurate estimates can be given.


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Scheduling Your Work

There are many aids for scheduling:

Month/Quarter/Year planner;Computer Software;Wall PlannerDiary;


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Whichever method you choose, schedule tasks beginning with the most important, not the most urgent.

This may entail reorganisation of previous tasks if the most recent, most important task outranks those previous.


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For each task in turn:Insert the deadline;Schedule amount of work that you have

identified before the deadline, allowing for interruptions and other tasks you may be doing at the same time.

Check this is realistic and does not conflict with other tasks.


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Monitor plans and adjust them accordingly.


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Allocating Times To Tasks

At what times of day are you:Most productive?Least Productive?Some people take time to get going in

the morning, others are at their best then.

It may be helpful to recognise your most productive times and use them for priority tasks.


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Allocating Times To Tasks

Realistic daily plans help you get through priority tasks.


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Putting Off Jobs

The reasons for putting off jobs are usually variations of two fundamental problems:

The job is unpleasant;

You are not sure how to do it well.


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Putting Off Jobs

You may also find it difficult to do jobs which seem pointless or counterproductive.

Conversely you may find it easy to start tasks which are pleasant in themselves, which are worthwhile and which you are confident of doing well.


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Putting Off Jobs

The jobs that get put off are the difficult and unpleasant ones.


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Putting Off Jobs

The important thing is to identify what will assist you to overcome

your reasons for putting things off.


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Putting Off Jobs - Attitudes

Admit you have been wasting time;Decide that the job is not necessarily

unpleasant – adopt a positive attitude;Separate your feelings about the job

from your decision on what to do about it;

Putting off the job is futile – you will have to face it one day;

Face unpleasant jobs square on. Get them over with.


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Putting Off Jobs - Techniques

Decide to do the worst job first;Break the job down into small tasks;Start anywhere, if starting is a problem;Set a deadline;Schedule start times for jobs;Stick to high priority jobs;Consider the consequences of putting it

off;Do one job at a time.


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Interruptions

The other kind of problem you have in managing your time is in handling interruptions and

telephone calls.


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Techniques for Dealing With Interruptions

Reduce the number of interruptions by:

Having someone else take messages and deal with routine matters;

Making yourself less available - close the door!

Saying ‘no’ to some interruptions.


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Reduce the length of interruptions by:

Setting a duration for the visit or call;

Ending conversations politely, but firmly.


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Control the timing of interruptions by:

Getting someone to take messages, then deal with them all in one go;

Telling people that you welcome interruptions at certain times only;

Defer the interruption if it is not important.


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Interruptions

Reduce the number of interruptions;Reduce their length;

Choose when to take them.


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Your Team And Your Time

As your team manage their own time better, they will naturally make fewer demands on your time. You can help this process by:

Not being too accessible, so that they get used to dealing with their own problems;

Not doing their work for them.


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Your Team And Your Time

Help your staff to manage their time by giving them the space to do it

in.


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Summary

Time management means gaining more control over your time and using your time as you want.

Poor time management leads to stress and missed opportunities.

To achieve what you want you need clear goals.

Recognise and tackle priority tasks.


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Summary

Distinguish between important and urgent tasks.

Avoid putting off difficult or unpleasant tasks.

Reduce the number of interruptions, their length and choose when to take them.

Help you staff to manage their time by giving them space to do it in.

© absl power solutions 2007 © stm quality limited stm quality limited time management total...

Documents

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aim of time management

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crisis management leads

work goals

uncompleted work