mr time management
TRANSCRIPT
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Time Management Tips for Market Researchers Real-world Lessons for Market Research Success
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ontents
Welcome ............................................................................................................................... 2
How most researchers spend their time ................................................................................. 3
How they wish they could spend their time ........................................................................... 4
1. Use To-do Lists................................................................................................................... 5
2. Set Realistic Goals Each Day ............................................................................................... 6
Prioritization Questions ............................................................................................................................ 6
3. Try a New Tool ................................................................................................................... 7
4. Know Your Daily Rhythm ................................................................................................... 8
5. Keep a When Time Permits Folder.................................................................................. 9
6. Deal with Email................................................................................................................ 10
7. Work Backwards .............................................................................................................. 11
8. Plan Ahead to Mitigate Risk Factors ................................................................................. 12
9. Embrace Dictation ........................................................................................................... 13
10. Set Reminders ............................................................................................................... 14
11. Set Deadlines ................................................................................................................. 14
12. Avoid Insanity ................................................................................................................ 15
Job Priorities Exercise: Replace Yourself ............................................................................... 16
13. Ask for Help ................................................................................................................... 17
14. Set Important Meetings Early in the Day ........................................................................ 18
15. Avoid Analysis Paralysis ................................................................................................. 18
16. Have a Theme of the Day ............................................................................................... 19
17. Hire an Intern ................................................................................................................ 20
Thanks for reading! ............................................................................................................. 22
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Welcome
A recurring challenge I hear from Research Rockstar students is that of time
management. Too often, deadlines converge, fires erupt, or clients need it
yesterday. So based on my 25 years of market research reality, I have put together
17 time management tips. I hope you find them useful!
Kathryn
Kathryn Korostoff
President & Lead Instructor
Research Rockstar LLC
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How most researchers spend their time
Documenting
10%
Data entry
10%
Troubleshooting
20%
Explaining
schedule slips
20%
Managing
client
expectations
15%
Boring
meetings
25%
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How they wish they could spend their time
Helping
clients apply
research
15%
Crafting
powerful key
findings
30%
Designing
cool projects
20%
Testing newtools &
methods
20%
Attending
training &
conferences
15%
Okay, maybe that was a little facetious. But
you get the point.
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1. Use To-do Lists
A written task list has 4 benefits:
1. Minimizes the risk of forgetting something important2. Provides a senses of accomplishment when items are checked off3. Reduces stress since you now have one place to look4. Eases the task of prioritizing
I use a special notebook that has numberedrows. I update the list every 3 or 4 days. I also
have a code to indicate when I have started
an item, when it is half done, and when it is
completed.
On especially busy days, I will color
highlight tasks that must be done that day.
I prefer a physical notebook versus online,
but thats just me!
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2. Set Realistic Goals Each Day
Save an hour a day for ad hoc, time-sensitive tasks Make careful, conscious prioritization decisions at the beginning of each
day
Is that hard? See prioritization questions
Prioritization Questions As you look at your overall to-do list, ask yourself the following questions.The answers will help you to logically prioritize items.
What items need to be done so that others can do their work? (Doingthese items prevents you from being a bottleneck)
What items are risky? (Doing these items sooner will give youbreathing room for troubleshooting if there are problems)
What items require collaborating or communicating with others to bedone properly? (Doing these items earlier in the day is usually a goodchoice, so that you have time to coordinate with other peoples
schedules)
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3. Try a New Tool
If you havent looked at new project, task or time management tools in afew years, its time to look again
Lots of new tools are available, many with free starter plans Asana Do.com RescueTime Smartsheet Trello + Many more!
Using a new tool doesn't mean marrying it for
life. I have sometimes used a tool
temporarilyto get through a particularly
overbooked month, to help transition team
members, or to manage other workload
fluctuations
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4.Know Your Daily Rhythm
When do you do your best thinking? Best detail work? Make an appointment in your calendar to block off those times
Some people do their best analysis in the morning. Tasks like writing aManagement Summary, an article, or something else that requires deep
reflection
When it comes to doing cognitive work, for example, most adultsperform best in the late morning, according to research by University
of Southern California asquoted in the WSJ
Personally, I prefer meetings before 2 PM
whenever possible. I am susceptible to the 2
PM slump, which makes afternoon
meetings less effective for me.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544 -
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5. Keep a When Time Permits Folder
A catch all folder ensures that you capture the less urgent items that canstill be important
The folder becomes a simple, handy tool during commutes or while waitingfor meetings
Contents for a WTP folder: Articles to read Products to check out Blogs and podcasts to catch up on
My WTP folder is filled with sticky notes and
scraps of paper where I have quickly jotted
down products, people or book titles I want to
look-up when I have more time
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6. Deal with Email
If you can set specific blocks of time each day for email, great!
For many market researchers, especially those managing projects, this isunrealistic. We need to receive and send time-sensitive information. BUT
we can still prioritize. Heres one method:
Step 1: Quickly scan new incoming messages Step 2: Respond quickly to those that NEED responding to right away. Step 3: Any that can wait, color code or toggle a flag. That way you
can sort your inbox at the end of the day by flag status, and catch
up.
Step 4: Any that were never coded can be scanned and deleted atanother time, or can be moved in bulk to a folder titled TPO email
TPO = Time Permitting Only
Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is
important.
Stephen R. Covey
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1538.Stephen_R_Coveyhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1538.Stephen_R_Covey -
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7. Work Backwards
In a time crunch to get that next report done? Try working backwards
Planning project subtasks and interim milestone datesbackwardscan oftenforce us to be more efficient
Start with an end date, and work backwards to fill out your projectschedule
Tip: Know your end deliverable (be specific about success criteria),and create a series of steps working backwards to the start
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8. Plan Ahead to Mitigate Risk Factors
All market research projects have them. No exceptions. And most areknown.
At the start of every project, document your risk factors What are the top 3 risk factors for this project? How can we mitigate them?
Risk factor example: unknown quality of list to be used for recruiting In-depth Interview (IDI) participants
Possible mitigation steps: Build in time for a soft launch, identify afallback list, document risk factors for client (advising of specific
benchmarks that need to be met)
I can avoid schedule slips by mitigating risk
factors. And clients appreciate the proactive
approach.
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9. Embrace Dictation
Voice memos, voice recorders, or dictation apps make it easy to dictatenotes and ideas
When working on longer written pieces (management summaries,articles), add on transcription and you get a first draft
Dictation allows you to use your time efficiently, and also helps pass thetime when doing boring tasks (like sitting in traffic!)
I use SpeakWrite. I dictate in the car, when
walking the dog, even on the treadmill.
Sometimes just the process of talking out loud
helps me to clarify my thinking about complex
topics.
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10. Set Reminders
Set up meetings with yourself for important tasks. That way you can haveboth a visual and an alarm reminder.
Use recurring meetings for those tasks that need to be done regularly.
11. Set Deadlines
Parkinson's lawobserves that, "work expands so as to fill the time availablefor its completion.
As Market Researchers, we often manage our time better if we haveseveral interim deadlines leading to a project deliverable date.
Without deadlines, many market research tasks can expand needlessly Another famous adage related to this, attributed to Daniel Kahneman,
is the planning fallacy; a tendency to underestimate how long we
need to complete a task, even when we have experience with the type
of task in question.
http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/the-planning-fallacy-and-the-i/http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/the-planning-fallacy-and-the-i/ -
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12. Avoid Insanity
Recall the tragically over-used, but decidedly applicable, quote: Thedefinition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting
different results.
When pinched for time, our tendency is to do things the way we always dothem, because its seems less risky. But sometimes, change is good.
Do you always proofread your own reports? Have someone else doit. You may get better results and you can use the time to QA your data
or do another task.
Do you always recycle the same question formats and scales? Maybeits time to refresh on scale options. You may find yourself reenergized
to the point where your analysis actually goes faster because your data
is more interesting!
Need help thinking about how to change
your work habits? Try the following exercise.
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Job Priorities Exercise: Replace Yourself
Step 1: Imagine you have just been promoted! But first, you have to hiresomeone to replace yourself. Your task is to write a job posting. How would
you define your job? Your key responsibilities? Write down this job
description
Specify the top 5 responsibilities Note: Step 1 should take you at least 15 minutes. Be sure to think
carefully and precisely about your top 5!
Step 2: Now look back at your last week: how much of your time was spenton those five items? What percent was spent on otheritems?
What are you spending time on that really is not a good use of yourtime and brain power? Do you really have to do those things?
Many people realize that they are spending as much as 50% of theirtime on things they wouldn't want their replacement wasting time
on!
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13. Ask for Help
There is no shame in asking for help
Possible sources of help: Colleagues: having colleagues do a mock pre-test of a survey design,
or having them sanity check a report, can be a quick task for them that
will give you some relief
Outsourcing: Low-cost sites like Fiverr can be a great way to get helpwith simple tasks
Professional Association members: Member of CASRO, ESOMAR, theMRA, or QRCA? Associations like these all have online forums (some
on LinkedIn) where you can ask qualified peers for advice
I have found low-cost proofreaders and
graphic designers on Fiverr and Guru.com
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14. Set Important Meetings Early in the Day
A morning meeting FORCES you to be ready the day before Reducing the temptation to complete preparation the same day
which is a recipe for disaster
15. Avoid Analysis Paralysis
Market researchers often have piles of data to work with, and it can be hardto judge when the analysis is done
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Analysis can be a never-ending activity. How do you know if you aredone?
Focus on the projects documented objectives. If you are spending more thanX hours (your call as to what X is for you) on analysis that is notdirectly
related to your primary objectives, stop
You can always do more later when the client isn't waiting impatientlyfor your report
16. Have a Theme of the Day
The theme is a recurring focus that may take as little as 5 minutes or asmuch as an hour per event, but is something you need to do consistently.
Here are my themes: Salesforce Monday (review and catch up on CRM reports) Twitter Tuesday (write tweets for the week, schedule for time
release)
Class Prep Wednesday (prep materials for upcoming classes, refreshcontent as needed)
Social Media Thursday (write posts or comment on articles, LinkedIndiscussions, etc.)
Favor Friday (send thank-you notes/gifts, make calls to new clients,send discount or free sample codes to new contacts)
By having recurring tasks scheduled, I don't
stress about if and when I will do them.
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17. Hire an Intern
A sharp, motivated intern can easily be trained to help with many marketresearch tasks:
Coding of open-ended survey responses Selection of verbatim quotes from focus group and IDI transcripts Data checking Incentive management Basic charts & graphs Writing articles and memos based on your transcribed dictation (see
#9!)
I have found many excellent interns at local
colleges and via Internships.com
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In the world of market research,
time management = stress management
Knowing all about methodologies and tools is great; but add in solid time
management skills, and the market researchers success potential soars.
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Thanks for reading!
Please send any comments or questions [email protected]
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