TRAINER PROFILE- LEELA MENON Ms Leela Menon is an English Language expert with several years of training experience in this field. She has been in education for 27 years. She possesses a Masters in English as a Second Language (MESL). She was awarded the Excellent Service Award (2006) during her service as an educationist. Leela has an in-depth knowledge necessary to respond to participants’ needs and wants. Her specialty is in Communication, soft skills, team building, identifying training needs, and Time Management. She has conducted various English courses and soft skills training in various isati its~Times™ " 5 Bernama, Texcam-Pack, Palm Oleo Sdn Bhd, Finesse Moulding Sdn Bhd, etc.She has conducted training programs for several companies in Selangor, Pulau Pinang, Kuantan, Seremban and Melaka. Having worked with working adults of varying levels of English proficiency, she is a specialist in helping people grow and develop their potential, as well as getting them to put across their messages with impact. Leela is approachable in her ways and believes in the personal touch when delivering any training programme. She strives to conduct innovative and results driven workshops to bring positive changes to individuals and their performance. She is also a Certified Practioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Time Line Therapy recognized by the American Board of Neurolinguistic Programming and the Time Line Therapy Association, USA and is currently pursuing a course on Hypnosis .TRAINER: MS LEELA MENON The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot. Michael Altshuler - 1 | Time Managenent-Ms Leela Menon 2011INTRODUCTION ‘Time management starts with the commitment to change. Time management is easy as long as you commit to action. The key to successful time management is planning and then protecting the planned time, which often involves re- conditioning your environment, and particularly the re-conditioning the expectations of others. In terms of time management, you are at your most efficient the day before you start your annual leave. Your time management and efficiency on this day is probably awesome. If you really want to, you can be that well-organized every day... 1. TIME AS A FINITE CAPITAL WHAT IS YOUR VIEW OF TIME? Gosh! Where did my time go? just don’t have enough time! Iwish I had more time to do this. I'm too busy, sorry no time! TIME AS FINITE CAPITAL- EVERYONE HAS 24 HOURS A DAY ~ THE REALITIES OF TIME + Why doesn't effort always gain results? + Why do we behave in this way «But Ido my best. Once the motivation to manage time is established and once there is a proper sense of urgency about it, the ways of managing it can be acquired, both in one’s relationship to oneself and in one’s relationship to others. Exercise 1 List down what you consider are the benefits of time management. (increase mt op rol wotpar Hs imiprrce “decition moking @ bnpnvet “perrrnal tine @ lwpnvre _ergani sehen © tduas Bress 2 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Time management starts with the commitment to change. Time management is easy as long as you commit to action. The key to successful time management is + planning * protecting the planned time, which often involves re-conditioning your environment © re-conditioning the expectations of others. In terms of time management, you are at your most efficient the day before you start your annual leave. Your time management and efficiency on this day is probably awesome. If you really want to, you can be that well-organized every day. Time management enables each of us to improve and be more productive and fulfilled individually, so logically the effects across whole organizations of good or poor time management are enormous. 2. DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE OF MIND Read the case study below; ‘Mohan is an Accounts Executive for an Advertising Agency and has worked in advertising for five years, after graduating with a good university degree. He is personable, likeable and enthusiastic and by his own admission is good at his job. However, he admits to ‘mounting anxiety over what he calls his ‘chronically disorganized lifestyle’ ‘Imust be the world’s worst. People are always telling me I’m earmarked for big things in the advertising world, and this scares me. I'm ambitious and I want to get on, but the job is already eating up my life. | work harder than anyone else in the agency: I get there earlier in the mornings, I say later at night, I'm forever taking work home with me, and I've a feeling my health is beginning to suffer. Being promoted and taking on even more responsibility will mean that things can only get worse. But if I turn down promotions 1 know I'm going to hate myself. I keep trying to organize my time more effectively, but I can’t keep it up. just don’t have that kind of mind.’ Sit with a partner and discuss the issues Mohan is experiencing and how you would help him see things clearer. What ‘kind of mind’ is necessary to manage time? What qualities would Mohan have to possess in order to be recognized as the most effective time manager around? 3 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Now try this exercise to answer this question: Exercise 2. Qualities of a good Time-Manager Imagine for a moment that you are the most effective time-manager ina highly efficienc office. Your colleagues all admire you and take you as their role model. One day, out of interest, they decide to list the qualities which make you the way you are. What qualities would this list contain? In other words, what qualities would you have to possess in order to be recognized as the most effective time-manager around? TH Fesponse to Exercise Z, Mohan wrote down without much hesitation: © Clarity of thinking Decisiveness Single-mindedness Good memory Determination A systematic approach Punctuality Calmness Objectivity Rationality Leadership eee e wrens Now ask yourself, is Mohan’s list similar to your own list. Now go through your list and underline all those qualities which in your professional life you have never been able to show. Now that you have got a fair idea of the qualities of a good time manager, it is time to believe in your abilities because ‘AS YOU THINK, SO YOU ARE’ 3. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING is influences the way we behave, our self esteem and our self-identity. Think positively about your ability to manage time ifyou: ‘* Note your successes rather than only your failures; however small these successes may be, congratulate yourself each time they occur and write them down so that you have a concrete record of them. 4 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011ic time management targets each day * Give yourself a few small reali (for example, 10 minutes for coffee break instead of 15 minutes, no phone call to last beyond a set period of time, no social chatting in the corridors) and add each success to your record. * Catch yourself each time you make a negative comment about your time-management and change it into a comment about how you intend to improve (for example, change;'ve wasted so much time this morning’ to ‘Tomorrow morning I'l save time by not...’) "Replace regret for opportunities lost through time-wasting in the past (‘If only...”) with concrete resolutions not to let it happen again (Nexctime"7 In short, Negative thinking can become a destructive habit! ‘So make positive statements about your time-management abilities which can be translated into actual behaviour. Right motivation + right frame of mind + right techniques= good time management [| | | Good time managers can’t make time but they can find time, for the simple | reason that they try never really to lose it in the first place. Va —_ 5 | Tine Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011So what is time management? Let's strip away all this complexity and get back to basics for a moment. What is time management? The essence of time management is the following: 1. Decide what to do 2. Doit Deciding what to do = Identify your roles, goals, and mission is the level of context * Whats your current understanding of reality as well as your role within it The First Steps towards etfect tme-management is tO 4.IDENTIFY YOUR CURRENT USE OF TIME Learn to identify the differences in time 1. essential time - time necessarily spent due to the demands of the job 2. peripheral time ~ time which is not actively wasted but which is spent on tasks e.g, ‘hunting for something’ often rendered necessary by our own inefficiency. 3. non-essential time - time clearly wasted Give examples of your own life for the three types of time. 6 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Brian : Case study in time loss Let's look at Brian's logged details for a single day, just in one of the categories namely ‘hunting’. Hunting Object lost Whyneeded Where found Why Lost Letter urgent reply needed top offiling cabinet put down randomly (Time lost; 6 mins) when phone rang —________1eport____attendance at meeting __not found _thrown away inerror? | (Time lost; 20 mins) Task: Plan and present your Time Record Chart. Identify how your time is used in a typical day at work. After that analyze what are your essential time, peripheral time and non-essential time, and make a decision towards changes you think should be done for effective time management. TRY THIS QUESTIONNAIRE ON TIME-MANAGEMENT ON-TASK Work done on essential time does not necessarily mean it is effective time. Its purpose is to help you identify where your current on-task working habits are losing time for you and what these urrent on-task working habits actually are. The 60 questions are divided into three areas, You and your tasks, You and yourself and You and others USE OF TASK TIME This exercise helps you to look at some issues relevant to your time on-task. The exercise provides you with a set of general questions designed to help you reflect upon your own particular situation. ANSWER YES OR NO ONLY The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: "I did not have time.” Franklin Field 7 | Time Manogement-Ms Lela Menon 2011You and your tasks Goo you keep any kind oftime-planner for each week showing how you are going to allocate yourkind uring the days ahead? 2. Do you often have feeling of panic when you think of how much you have todo? V > plan 3. Do you frequently find yourself trying to attend to several jobs at the same time? ¥ (i tale clerp breath, 4, When you set out on a task, do you have clear objectives as to what you want to achieve? “ 5. Are you constantly struggling with a long backlog of work waiting to be done? 4 6. When you've been out of your office for a while, do you frequnetly return to find a list of telephone callers who want you to ring them back? 7. Do you have time to plan ahead, or are you frequnetly overtaken by 8. Do you often have to stay late in order to finish work? “t 9. Do you regularly have to take routine work home with you in order to complete it? 4 10. When you've been away on duties connected with your work, is your desk i piled high on your return? N 11. Are you constantly rushing to meet deadlines? 4 12. Do you review your activities at reasonable intervals, in order to monitor your performance and discard unnecessary duties? 4 13. Do you know where to look up ( or ask for ) the information you are likely to need in your job? lave you procedures for(keepin necessary records (as opposed to relying mainly on your memory)? 15. Have you strategies for helping your remember the things that have tobe keptin mind? 4 Chuman banger) 416, Dayou keep nckes of meetings and fle them methodically? “4 17. Are you clear as to the priorites in your job? 18. Can you find routine things like files, telephone numbers, lists and addresses as soon as you want them? 19. Do you group tasks together, so that your mind isn’t forced frequently to switch from one kind of job to another? N 20. Do you sometimes wake up at night remembering things you should have done during the day? “| 1 8 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011You and yourself 21. Do you frequently find yourself putting off jobs until later’ 7 22. Do you usually start the working day ina positive mood? J 23. Do you usually finish the working day in a positive mood? Zo ggvou easily distracted from the task in hand? 4 “an you remember, in a reasonable detail, how you spent your working day yesterday? 4 26. Ae you aware of the time (during the day, week or month) when you are likely to be at your best of tackling particular tasks? “4 Gdwould you (and your colleagues) describe you as a punctual person? ZS. )Are you aware of any particula s or idiosyncracies in your working style which you recognize objectivel 9s gecomermpaetive? (ifso, list them) Y, iernet browmpsng , down 29.Do you frequently feel over- aed ‘when at work? we 30. Do you often have difficulty in getting started on a new task or on the 31. Are you able to gy your mind back quickly to your work after interrruptions? 32. Do you frequently take on tasks at too short notice? J 33. Are you determined to finish a task whenever possible once you have | taken it on? 34, Are you constantly making lists on scripts of paper of things awaiting your attention? ‘) 35. Do you sometimes find notes or names or number in your own handwritng without remembering what they are about? 4 }o you sometimes find yourself trying to recall that ‘brilliant’ idea you had recently but which has song asyn out of your mind? Y 37. Are you confident that you av 1g unnecessary work for yourself? A 38, Can you relax when you have free time in the office or at home, or is your mind constantly returning to yourwork “J 39. Are you rather slow in making decisions? ¥ 0. Do you pride yourself on always being busy? (41)Do you spend time on minor details, in spite of the fact that tasks obey the (ofdininshing returns? ‘able to identify the principles underlying tasks and intra ier thar{feghently becoming lost in the minor details?_Y 43. Can you recognize those tires when a short break will improve the efficiency with which you're working and act accordingly? 44. Do you often ‘forget’ to tackle unpleasant task at the right time? 4 45. Do you often find yourself having to make resolutions to tidy your office, clear your desk or generally manage time more effectively? A/ 9 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011You and others re you able to delegate to colleagues when necessary? “J G3 you have ways for (politely) terminating intéraplews and conversations once you have obtained the information you need? “J 48. Can you help others to stick to the point? 49. Do you frequently lose time wondering aboutother people's motives? A” 50. Do you frequently lose time fuming or fretting after clashes with difficult colleagues or clients? 51. Can you say ‘no’ when necessary and stick to it? 52. When you brief others, do they frequently need to come back to seek clarification or additional information? 53. When others brief you, do you frequently need to go back to seek clarification or additional information? YJ )Are you often engaged in tasks that could be done by Goepple without our qualification and training? N Ing OVEF CONICS On IneRPST TUN YOUF—~ yr colleagues? =i Youfy dint Uke the tu, Bary thes ity Jer ore J 56. Are you confident that you avoid creating unnecessary work for others ? J 57. Have you proper channels of communication for keeping others informed (So that they aren’t constantly coming to you with requests for information)? 9 10 you inform othersof your plans in good time? “I (Shre you able to deal with interdppilons from others courteously but firmly? N 60. Do you know the people to go to for information and guidance when necessary? Y Each time you identify a response to one of the questions which in yourview reveals an unsatisfactory working practice, ask yourself three questions; 1. Why do I do that, or behave like that with myself or with my tasks or with others? 2. What changes might I be able to make in order to correct this particular unsatisfactory procedure Pe 4, do ne prcerhirate 3. How can I bring these changes about? fates rol» plon uBry toot, do eccerdiig the len In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking. —— john Lubbock 10 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011ARE YOU IN THIS CATEGORY: FIVE TIME MANAGEMENT ERRORS EXECUTIVES SHOULD AVOID = Don't Delegate Don’t Spend Your Time On Independent Reading ‘Take The Short Term View Get Out Of Balance Don't Be Considerate Of Others Some habits that causes problems. Does anything of these thoughts that leaves you thinking? - 1am not sure how do to this —lilldo the report next week I'll postpone the meeting - Lwon't discuss this issue until next week. - That job is just too big and twisting to look at now. - What if I get it wrong? Is this you? . The reports difficult - what if it's not up to standard? - The telephone keeps interrupting you - You see too many unexpected visitors. - You cannot seem to delegate effectively. Never leave ‘till tomorrow which you can do today. Benjamin Franklin 11 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE IN THIS CATEGORY??? 5. The Principles of Time Management J ‘A) One organizer to rule them all. * Putall your organizing tid-bits in one place. + Conserve your brain power for what's important. © Getall the little things out of your head and into external storage, 0 you can concentrate on the goal at hand. + Develop routines and stick with them. B) The Cycle System Calendar. © Aplace to record recurring meetings, appointments, holidays, and soon, D> Life-goals list. © A few blank pages to keep our long term goals and other notes. 2 Aday-by-day section. Fran powli, pe | eck forp © For each day we have: © Todo list. A prioritized list just for that day. © Schedule. An hour-by-hour schedule for that day. + 365 to do lists per year. © One to- do list for each day of the year. © Today's to do list records the tasks you need to do today. © Ifyou know something needs to be done ona particular day, write iton that to do list. © Items left over at the end of the day will be moved to the next day's list. + Today's schedule. © Each day we'll plan our day in one-hour increments. + Anappointment calendar. o Record appointment, meetings, etc. + Notes. (other notes and lists) Using the Cycle System + Create today’s schedule © Block out time for all meetings and appointments. * Create today’s to do list. + Prioritize and reschedule. © Estimate how much time each item will take. © Total the times and move items as needed to the next day's list. © Work the plan. 12 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011© Stay focused. © Mark off items as finished. + Finish the day. © Move unfinished items to the next day's list. + Repeat. The Cycle System: To Do Lists and Schedules + Take the time to plan first; checking your email can wait 10 minutes while you plan out your day. + Create today’s schedule. + Create today’s to do list. + Prioritize and reschedule © Thereare really only three priorities in life: tre deri ts totam reatly Trees tobe torre now. + The deadline is soon. + Everything else. © Dealing with overflow. + Move the lowest-priority tasks to the next day. + Bite off today’s chunk. + Bite off more manageable portion of the task today and move the rest to tomorrow. + Shorten the task. + Sometimes you can find a way to make the task take less time. + Change the time schedule. + Delegate. + Ask your boss for help prioritizing. = Delay a meeting or appointment. + Work late. © Dealing with long-term projects. + Break the project up into parts and create milestones, and put those milestones on the to-do list for the day you are supposed to start working on them. © Work the plan. © Once you finish with one task, start the next task; keep the momentum going. + Finish the day. © Move any unfinished tasks to the next day's to-do list. ‘+ Schedule time for Request Tracking Tickets, so you can do them, and in case one of them becomes an unexpected priority. + Schedule time for interruptions; they're going to happen, so you might as well deal with them, ‘+ Use the same to-do list for personal tasks; that way you get practice using the system, and you won't forget anything you were supposed to do on the way home. 13 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011The Cycle System: Calendar Management + Use your calendar for: © Appointments and meetings. o Milestones. © Future to do items. + Transfer appropriate items to today’s to do list. ‘The Cycle System: Life Goals _- The truth is that you will achieve more if you set goals. + Ask the big questions: What do I want my IT organization to be like two years from now? What do I want to have accomplished in my career five years from Tow? © Where do I want to be socially and financially 10 years from now? © What do I want my life to be like when I retire. + Write the goals down. + Share the goals with others. + Make the goals concrete. © What do I want to achieve? © When do I want to have achieved it? + Setting goals Prioritize goals (A,B,C). © List goals. (seperate professional from personal) + 1 month: smaller projects. + Lyear: bigger projects. + 5 year: life changing goals. © make sure goals are measurable. © Toachieve these goals determine the steps required to get there, © Schedule your steps. + Revisit your goals regularly © Oncea month. © Goal review: review/update your goal list. © Step reivew: review/update your next step list. At the start of the day, before I've even checked my email, | review my to do list and set priorities for the day. + Develop habits and mantras. © They help remind you to reuse previous good decisions. = Maintain focus during “project time”, © You will work better when you focus on one thing ata time. + Manage your social life with the same tools you use for your work life. 14 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011C) Eliminating Distraction A messy desktop (both physical and on the computer) is full of distractions. + Have an uncluttered work environment. + Turn offall distractions: instant messenger clients, music players, and close your email client. Ifit is so urgent that the world will end, I'm sure someone will walk by my office and tell me... D) Multitasking + Know when to multitask and when not to. © Tasks that are “fire and forget” (like downloading that latest Matrivert 0) are goat things torrratitca sl © Your top priority tasks though should get your undivided attention. o Don’t try and multitask when you are tired or stressed. + Organize your windows with a virtual window manager. + Organize your windows the same way every time. E) Peak Time for Focus ZA Find the part of the day where your brain works the best. AX + Rearrange your day so that you work on projects during peak time. The First-Hour Rule ‘The “first-hour rule” is that the first hour of the workday is usually the quietest hour in an office. + Check your email for subject lines that look important, or that are from your boss; read those, and then shut off the email client. + Now spend that first hour on a project. F) Directing Interuptions + Inform people before they get to you of where they should go for help. o Signs, web sites, etc. + Adjust physical layout so a formal chain of support can be followed. + Havea formal, tiered support system. * Open monitoring system so customers can see what's going wrong without coming to you to see if you know something is broken. Interruption Shielding. + Get someone to take on non-emergency interruptions, so that you can work on projects without interruption. 15 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011+ Make sure interruptions go through lower tier support first. + Ifpossible arrange physical location so that interruptions must pass by lower tier support first. + Arrange mutual interruption shielding and take shifts for who can take everyone's interruptions. Saying "Go Away” Without Being a Jerk Fundamentally, customers will be satisfied if they feel they have been acknowledged. + Acknowledge the customer's request and delegate, record, or do. Delegate, Record, Do Delegate if some ore ets car tt ther et egatt * Record © Ifonly you can do it, but itis not urgent, then record it. © Also a good spot for ‘Request Tracking’ software. + Do © Truly urgent tasks. Hallway Ambush reminder. + Record it if you can; otherwise ask them to send you an em: Taming your telephone time Use an answer phone or voice mail when you do not want to be interrupted. If possible, delegate the job of answering to someone else. If you regularly find yourself taking messages for someone else, explain politely the costs in time this involves for you. Suggest they use answer phone or voice mail. Conversations with talkative people should always start by you defining how much time you can spare. Try to get them to do the speaking. Give only yes / no responses. Before making a call, set your own agenda and stick to it. Dealing with 'visitors' on your terms - Ifyou do not want to be disturbed, shut the door or in an open plan office, face away from the point of access. - If you are asked whether you're free and you are not, politely but firmly say so and set another time. - Use body language - if someone comes in unexpectedly, stand up, look them in the eye and make it plain that now is not the right time. Do not give them an opportunity to sit down - remove extra chairs beforehand if you want. + Say straight away that you're too busy, and that you'll come to them as. soon as you can. It is easier to leave their workspace to get them out of yours. 16 | Time Managements Leela Menon 2011Analyze the kind of things that hit your desk regularly and allocate each to the correct category. Now look at your current workload. Have youa stack of Urgent / Important tasks piling up and threatening to overwhelm you? Get started on them right away. Be ruthless; Use above system to categories every thing, Ifit's urgent / Non-important, make sure you have the time to tackle it today or delegate it. Ifit's non-urgent, / important, be aware of looking deadlines and plana realistic start date and stick to it. G) Beat Procrastination WHY DO WE PROCRASTINATE? Here are 11 common causes of procrastination and corresponding tips to help yor find-the pace you're tooking for Complicated-task anxiety: Break big, complicated tasks into smaller pieces. Complete a starter task, no matter how small. Fear of imperfection: Accept that perfection is rarely attainable and seldom necessary. You're a person, not a robot. Use the 80/20 rule whenever appropriate. Indecision: Determine your decision-making criteria, then set a deadline for your decision. Ask a friend to hold you accountable. Priority confusion: Distinguish obligations from options. What are you really responsible for? List and prioritize tasks. Boredom from minutiae: Automate simple repetitive tasks whenever possible. Lack of focus: Minimize distractions. Check e-mail and voicemail only twice per day instead of every 5 minutes. Find a quiet room where you can concentrate. Resist the urge to keep taking breaks. Poor organizational skills: Clean your work area. Put tools and utensils their proper place so you can find them when you need them. Laziness: Remind yourself of the consequences of procrastination. Resist the urge to be a couch potato. Try to complete several small tasks to provide a feeling of accomplishment. Reward yourself. Lack of energy: Maintain a regular sleep routine. Eat healthy. Exercise regularly. Do not skip breakfast. Early morning lag: Before you stop working each day, make a list of the tasks you want to begin first thing the following morning so you can hit the ground running the next day. Post-lunch fatigue: Before leaving for lunch, make a list of the things you plan to do when you get back so you can pick up where you left off. Avoid eating a heavy lunch. 17 | Time Monagement-Ms Leela Menon 2011Tips for beating procrastination. . Visualize the task you are dreading as an opportunity - imagine the benefits to you of doing the job well. + Set targets for when you will finish a job and broadcast this deadline to those around you. . Promise yourself a reward for getting that dreaded job done. - Make start as soon as you can. Do not allow yourself to delay because you don't yet have all the information or the tools to hand - think ahead and get whatever you need in advance. H) Prioritization + Prioritizing based on customer expectation. Ifyou do your tasks in an order that is based on customers’ ‘Expectations, your customers will perceive you as working faster. Some requests should be quick. “Hurry up and wait’ tasks will start soon. + precursors to other tasks (ordering hardware, etc.) © Some requests take a long time. © Allother work stops to fix an outage. + Project priorities. © Prioritize for impact. + find projects that will have the biggest positive impact on your organization's goals. Superficial impact ‘+ most projects fall into “B” or “C’; successful companies train their management to reward workers who take on “B" projects. + Managing your boss. © make sure your boss knows your career goals. © Upward delegate only when it leverages your boss's authority. © Understand and help accomplish your boss's goals. 18 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Dealing with Email Filter © Use filters to pre-proccess email and automate tasks. Delete Unread © Certain messages require no attention and can be safely deleted without reading. Read and Proccess © Take the necessary action, do not let it sit in your Inbox. Delete © File co Reply, then delete © Delegate or forward, then delete Do now, then delete, © _Ifa task can be done in a few minutes, then go ahead and do it now; and of course delete the message. Each possibility must end with deleting the message from your Inbox. Your Inbox is a lousy way to manage your to do lists. Pareto Principle 80/Lo - tof go Most people are already familiar with Pareto and his famous 80/20 rule. 20% of our actions help us achieve 80% of our objectives or as the famous saying goes “80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients”. The idea is simple but very effective in action. By identifying and focusing on those important 20%, you avoid spending valuable time and energy chasing unimportant tasks. Parkinson Law dab atte egaad temguted pine perad Parkinson Law is usually stated as “Work expands to fill the gap available to it’, We see this time and time again that if we assign longer durations to activities, those activities take just as much time to finish. We tend to pace ourselves based on the allocated time available to us rather than based on the complexity of the task. In effect, this means to get things done faster you need to pace yourself faster. It’s a very simple rule, but not many people follow it. I) Delegation The following points may help you in delegating jobs: Deciding what to delegate: One way of deciding what to delegate is simply to list the things that you do which could be more effectively done by someone either more skilled ina particular area, or less expensive. Alternatively you may decide to use your activity log as the basis of your decision to delegate: this will show you where you are spending large amounts of time on low yield jobs. 19 | Time Managemenc-M Leeta Menon 2011Select capable, willing people to carry out jobs: How far you can delegate jobs will depend on the ability, experience and reliability of your assistants. Good people will be able to carry out large jobs with no intervention from you. Inexperienced or unreliable people will need close supervision to get a job done to the correct standard. However if you coach, encourage and give practice to them you may improve their ability to carry out larger and larger tasks unsupervised. Delegate complete jobs: It is much more satisfying to work on a single task than on many fragments of the task. If you delegate a complete task to a capable assistant, you are also more likely to receive a more elegant, tightly integrated solution. Explain why the job is done, and what results are expected: When you delegate a job, explain how it fits into the overall picture of what you are trying to achieve. Ensure that you communicate effectively: othe results thatare needed the importance of the job the constraints within which it should be carried out the deadlines for completion internal reporting dates when you want information on the i progress of the project Then let go! Once you have decided to delegate a task, let your assistant get on with it. Review the project on the agreed reporting dates, but do not constantly look over their shoulders. Recognise that your assistants may know a better way of doing something than you do. Accept that there may be different ways of achieving a particular task, and also that one of the best ways of really learning something is through making mistakes. Always accept mistakes that are not caused by idleness, and that are learned from. Give help and coach when requested: Itis important to support your subordinates when they are having difficulties, but do not do the job for them. If you do, then they will not develop the confidence to do the job themselves. Accept only finished work: You have delegated a task to take a work load off you. If you accept only partially completed jobs back, then you will have to invest time in completing them, and your assistant will not get the experience he or she needs in completing projects. Give credit when a job has been successfully completed: Public recognition both reinforces the enjoyment of success with the assistant who carried out the task and sets a standard for other employees. oo00 20 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Why do people fail to delegate Despite the many advantages OF detegation, some managers do not delegate. ‘This can be for the following reasons: + Lack of time: Delegating jobs does take time. In the early stages of taking over a job you may need to invest time in training people to take over tasks. Jobs may take longer to achieve with delegation than they do for you to do by yourself, when coaching and checking are taken into account. In time, with the right people, you will find that the time taken up reduces significantly as your coaching investment pays back. + Perfectionism - fear of mistakes: Just as you have to develop staff to do jobs quickly without your wolvement, you will have to let people make mistakes, and help them to _ correct them. Most people will, with time, learn to do jobs properly. + Enjoying ‘getting my hands dirty’: By doing jobs yourself you will probably get them done effectively. If, however, your assistants are standing idle while you do this, then your department will be seriously inefficient. Bear in mind the cost of your time and the cost of your department's time when you are tempted to doa job yourself. + Fear of surrendering authority: Whenever you delegate, you surrender some element of authority (but not of responsibility!) This is inevitable. By effective delegation, however, you get the benefits of adequate time to do YOUR job really well. + Fear of becoming invisible: Where your department is running smoothly with all routine work effectively delegated, it may appear that you have nothing to do. Now you + have the time to think and plan and improve operations (and plan your next career step!) + Belief that staff are not up to the job’: Good people will often under-perform if they are bored. Delegation will often bring the best out of them. People who are not so good will not be effective unless you invest time in them. Even incompetent people can be effective, providing they find their level. The only people who cannot be reliably delegated to are those whose opinions of their own abilities are so inflated that they will not co-operate. J) Tactics for downsizing meetings and the time you waste in them, . Make every one aware of the cost of meetings. Take the hourly average salary of those attending, multiply it by the time spent annually at such events and calculate the total cost . Chase the agenda to ensure it is set well before hand and circulated. The agenda should be stuck rigidly. Ensure that the meeting is properly chaired. If necessary, chair it yourself. 21 | Tine Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011- Use new technology to avoid face-to-face meetings wherever possible. Can the same results be gained by teleconferencing/video conferencing? K) Routines + Develop a routine that solves your problems. Perform your routine on a predictable schedule, and others will plan their schedules around you. Schedule one hour a week of reading time to keep up with those computer industry magazines; find a quiet place to hide, read as much as you can, and throw out what you weren't able to finish. L) Practice thinking positively. Repeat the following phrases to yourself until they become instinctive. thts time ttt gerterighe I stop that happening ag: -How - Next time I'll know what to expect -1CAN do it. ' Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever. ‘Samuel Si 22 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Time management activities examples and management methods * real major emergencies and crisis issues + significant demands for information from superiors or customers + project work with imminent deadline |[Not urgent | 2-PLAN TODO + planning and | preparation + project planning and scheduling © research and investigation + networking | important + meetings and appointments + reports and other submissions + staffissues or needs + problem resolution, fire- fighting, fixes * serious urgent complaints “Subject to confirming the importance and the urgency of these tasks, these tasks need doing now. Prioritize tasks that fall into this category according to their relative urgency. -Iftwo or more tasks appear equally urgent, discuss and probe the actual requirements and deadlines with the task originators or with the people dependent on the task outcomes. -Help the originators of these demands to re-assess the real urgency and priority of these tasks. -These tasks should include activities that you'll previously have planned in box 2, which move into box 1 when the time-slot arrives. -If helpful you should show your schedule to task originators in order to explain that you are prioritizing in a logical way, and to be as productive and effective as possible. = Look for ways to break a task into two stages if t's an unplanned demand - relationship BUNGIE + thinking and creating + modeling, designing, | testing + systems and process | development + anticipative, preventative activities | or communication identifying need for change and new direction developing strategy ~These tasks are most critical to success, and yet commonly are the most neglected. -These activities include planning, strategic thinking, deciding direction and aims, etc, all crucial for success and development. -You must plan time-slots for doing these tasks, and if necessary plan where you will do them free from interruptions, or ‘urgent’ matters from quadrant 1 | and 3 will take precedence. Work | from home if your normal place of work cannot provide you with 4@ quiet situation and protection | from interruption. 23 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011| often a suitable initial ‘holding’ response | -Break big tasks down into | or acknowledgment, witha commitment separate logical stages and plan | | to resolve or complete at a later date, time-slots for each stage will enable you to resume other planned | - Inform other people of your | planned time-slots and schedules. -Having a visible schedule is the | key to being able to protect these | vital time-slots. tasks. 3 - REJECT (DIPLOMATICALLY) | 4-RESIST AND CEASE + trivial and 'off-loaded’ + unnecessary and | requests from others unchallenged routines | apparent emergencies |__* ‘comfort’ activities; | nero — — “7 ——comiputer games, net Computer games, nel T | | + misunderstandings _ | surfing, excessive | appearing as complaints cigarette breaks | + irrelevant distractions |e chatand gossip face. | | | + pointless routines or | to-face and phone activities | © socialand domestic + dealing with accumulated communications | unresolved trivia | « sillyemailsand text | + duplicated effort | messages | * unnecessary double- || «) daydreaming and | | | checking doodling + boss's whims or tantrums interrupting others | | not | reading nonsense or important | | | irrelevant material | ~Scrutinize these demands ruthlessly, © unnecessary adjusting, | | end your setor meneges reassess tidying updating | the Peal ‘importance ofthese tasks. equipment, systems, | screensavers, etc. Practice and develop your ability to | explain and justify to task originators | why you cannot do these tasks. | -Where possible reject and avoid these | tasks immediately, informing and over-long breaks, canteen, kitchen visits + embellishment and over-production managing people's expectations and + passive world- | sensitivities accordingly; explain why | watching, TV, | you cannot do these tasks and help the | ~—._drink and drug abuse | | originator find another way of achieving «aimless travel and | | what they need, which might involve | delegation to another person, or re- | shaping the demand to be more | strategic, with a more sustainable | solution. | -Look for causes of repeating demands in| driving + shopping or buying for + no purpose 24 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011FJ [ [his area and seek to prevent re | | occurrence. | -Educate and train others, including | customers, suppliers fellow staff and -These activities are not tasks, they are habitual comforters which provide a refuge from the superiors, to identify long-term | effort of discipline and | | remedies, not just quick fixes. | proactivity. | | -For significant repeating demands in -These activities affirm the same | this area, create a project to resolve | ‘comfort-seeking’ tendencies in cause, which will be a quadrant 2 task. | other people; a group or whole Challenge habitual systems, processes, department all doing a lot of this | procedures and expectations, eg ‘we've | quadrant 4 activity creates a ‘always done it this way" | non-productive and ineffective - Help others to manage their own time | organizational culture. | | | and prortes so they don't bounce their) -These activities have no positive | pressures onto you. | outcomes, and are therefore | to see if they are still appropriate. | stress related, so consider why | you do these things and if there's | ‘deeper root cause address it | The best method for ceasing these | | activities, and for removing | temptation to gravitate back to | | | them, is to have a clear structure || or schedule of tasks for each day, which you should create in quadrant 2. “Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal." Elbert Hubbard 25 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Stephen Covey's seven habits of highly effective people Habit 1 - be proactive This is the ability to control one's environment, rather than have it control you, as isso often the case. Self determination, choice, and the power to decide response to stimulus, conditions and circumstances Habit 2 - begin with the end in mind Covey calls this the habit of personal leadership - leading oneself that is, towards what you consider your aims. By developing the habit of concentrating on relevant activities you will build a platform to avoid distractions and become more productive and successful. Habit 3 - put first things first Covey calls this the habit of personal management. This is.about organizing and _____ implementing activities in line with the aims established in habit 2. Covey says that habit 2 is the first, or mental creation; habit 3 is the second, or physical creation. Habit 4- think win-win Covey calls this the habit of interpersonal leadership, necessary because achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. He says that win-win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a co-operative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win-or-lose. Habit 5 - seek first to understand and then to be understood One of the great maxims of the modern age. This is Covey’s habit of communication, and it's extremely powerful. Covey helps to explain this in his simple analogy ‘diagnose before you prescribe’ Simple and effective, and essential for developing and maintaining positive relationships in all aspects of life. Habit 6 - synergize Covey says this is the habit of creative co-operation - the principle that the whole is greater than the sum ofits parts, which implicitly lays down the challenge to see the good and potential in the other person's contribution. Habit 7 - sharpen the saw This is the habit of self renewal, says Covey, and it necessarily surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow. Covey interprets the self into four parts: the spiritual, mental, physical and the social/emotional, which all need feeding and developing. The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. Stephen R. Covey 26 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011Task. Plan your weekly, monthly and yearly calendar, including your routine work, other workload, not forgetting to include any activity that will eat into your essential time and time for recreational activities and outings. Taking it from here... Make the most of your time - know its worth. Here's what to do. - Work out and write down where your time is going during the day. - Identify where you can make savings and decide what you'd rather be doing with that time. . Put your ambitions right of the top of your personal agenda. - Set yourself realistic targets in your quest for change - goals that can be achieved gradually and then built on. Decide to change right now - there's no time like to present. - Live the concept of ‘opportunity cost’ always looks at what you could be doing instead, - Recognize the drain on your time caused by other people. Should you be more assertive? EOODLUCR This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will, Tan waste it or use it for good. What Ido today is important, because Tam exchanging a day of my life for it Whea tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that Ihave traded for it I want it to be gain, not loss: 00d not evil: success not failures in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it. Author Unknown 27 | Time Management-Ms Leela Menon 2011