Assignment A

Q1) Explain the meaning and significance of time management.

Ans. Time Management contributes to the best possible use of time. It is a concept that deals with
the effective management of time. It means the practice of using the available time in a useful and
effective way, especially at work. It is to be noted that time is limited for everyone to fulfil unlimited
wants. There are certain characteristics of time; it is measured in units, and every individual gets the
same amount of time each day (fixed 24 hours) to efficiently carry out her/his work, duties and
responsibilities. Time management is an important tool that helps to succeed in work and other
personal endeavours. By following time management an individual or employee can achieve more
success, meet deadlines, utilise opportunities, develop a better professional reputation, contribute
to greater productivity and efficiency, lead a balanced life, have more leisure time, reduce stress
levels, overcome procrastination, and achieve personal and professional goals.

Time management provides an opportunity to prioritize tasks based on their importance and make
the best use of important limited resources; enhances an individual’s knowledge and skills to
perform constructively; and promotes delegation of responsibilities. It contributes to enhancing the
happiness and success of those individuals who strictly follow time management.

The significance of time management for an individual/employee has been enumerated below.

 In an organisation, every task has deadlines. In this regard, time management necessitates
planning for specific time slots in To-Do Lists for day-to-day important tasks at the workplace, which
help employees to finish their assigned tasks within the time frame and enhance productivity.

 Disciplined, dedicated and punctual employees become the favourite of superiors. They don’t keep
work pending and finish off tasks as per requirement. In case of critical issues, they discuss them
with their co-workers or immediate reporting boss and find out a solution to achieve targets and
save time.

 Time Management encourages an employee to remain productive and prioritise important tasks.
Since staying overburdened at work leads to frustration and eventually affects productivity,
therefore employees are advised to pick up all that is important and urgent at the start of the day
and finish it off. In this regard, effective monitoring creates an environment where employees work
as per their To-Do List and stick to the same.

 The team leader generally identifies the time wasters at the workplace and discourages employees
from wasting time on unproductive tasks that yield no results.

 Well-organised employee plans her/his career effectively and completes the assigned tasks on time
that contribute to reaching the top of her/his career within the shortest possible time.

 An individual/employee keeps herself/himself updated, and assigns some leisure time in the daily
schedule to check updates on her/his organisation’s website, social networking sites or calling up
colleagues or friends. In this context, time management allows her/him to keep a check on time
wasters and spend only a fixed minimum time on this activity.

 Above all, time management inculcates the habit of discipline and makes an employee more
disciplined and punctual. As a result, s/he gets in the habit of reaching work on time and working
efficiently which enhances productivity and reflects growth in the organisation.
Q2) Examine and suggest any five significant techniques of time management that can be adopted to
achieve success.

Ans. The five significant techniques of time management that can be adopted to achieve success are-

i) Positive Thinking
Several scholars have studied the favourable results of positive thinking, positive feeling,
positive emotions and positive behavioural qualities on psychological as well as physical
well-being. Positive thinking is viewing the brighter side of circumstances, making a
person constructive and creative and is associated with positive emotions. There is an
association between positive thinking and stress reduction. For example, Cognitive
restructuring is a technique that has been effectively utilised to assist individuals to
modify the way they think. When applied to stress management, the objective is to
substitute stress-creating thoughts (cognitive distortions) with more balanced or
objective thoughts that do not produce stress. The occurrence of daily positive emotions
serves to moderate stress reactivity. Further, research on coping with stress has
revealed, that resilient individuals were less likely to experience depression and more
likely to report an increase in psychological growth after September 11, 2001, terror
attacks in the United States.

ii) Learned Optimism

Learned optimism is a non-negative thinking style used by people to explain the good
and bad events in their lives to themselves. As demonstrated by Seligman (1998),
optimistic individuals prevent distress by attributing the adverse events in their life to
external, temporary, and situation-specific factors and they interpret positive events as
internal, permanent, and global causes. In contrast, a person with a pessimistic
explanatory style would interpret positive events with external, temporary, and
situation-specific attributes, and explain negative events in terms of personal,
permanent, and pervasive causes. However, learned helplessness and pessimism can be
changed through cognitive training techniques and individuals can learn optimism.
iii) Time Management Constantly working under time pressures to achieve tasks over which
there is restricted control can be especially stressful for some individuals (Cartwright &
Cooper, 1997), and therefore, training that facilitates them in making better use of their
limited time can reduce some of the pressures. Some of the principles of time
management include:  Identifying time robbers  Making a daily y list of activities to be
done  Prioritising activities by importance and urgency  Scheduling activities according
to the priorities set  Knowing your daily cycle  Doing highhighlyanding jobs when you
are alert and active
iv) Leisure Time Pursuits Leisure-related pursuits offer employees an occasion for rest and
renewal from various happenings at work or some people, to use their leisure time in
different ways such as cleaning the house or engaging in some hobby like gardening,
cooking, painting etc. These activities are good, f the person gets the benefit of stress
reduction dederivesleasure from them, as enjoyment is the answer to the effective use
of leisure time. Leisure time actions can be used for spontaneity, happiness, and bonding
with others in our lives.
v) Meditation Meditation is an effective stress management technique that can arouse an
intense state of relaxation and quieten the mind. It is an added relaxation technique
which focuses on a mental instead of the physical process and helps to control or
remove the negative thought patterns which are frequently the primary source of stress.
 Additionally, it helps to improve a person’s resilience level, while also decreasing a
reactive inclination to stress.

Q3) Describe the General Adaptation Syndrome with the help of a diagram.

Ans. General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): Hans Selye put forth three stages that are experienced by
an individual when s/he is in a stressful situation.

Stage one: The first stage is that of an ‘alarm reaction’ that is denoted by a decreased resistance to
stress. This stage is similar to that of a fight-or-flight response. During this stage, the autonomic
nervous system and endocrine system are activated by the hypothalamus. Further, epinephrine and
norepinephrine are released by the adrenalin glands. This can be termed a counter shock, where the
defence mechanisms of an individual are activated. Thus, similar to a fight or flight response, the
body is prepared to face the threatening situation.

Stage two: In the second stage, that is ‘resistance’, the adaptation is maximum and the equilibrium is
restored. During this stage, there is an adaptation on part of the individual and s/he resists the
stimuli that create stress, though resistance to other stimuli decreases. During this stage as well, a
lot of energy is required, thus, the nonessential functions related to digestion, the immune system
and even the reproductive system do not receive any energy. Thus, the individual continues
experiencing physiological changes such as increased pulse rate and blood pressure, rapid breathing
and so on.

Stage three: The last stage is that of ‘exhaustion’ where there is a collapse of adaptive mechanisms.
Exhaustion occurs as a result of the collapse in adaptation mechanisms and due to a decrease in
physiological resources. When an individual experiences stress for a long period, the individual’s
physiological resources deplete and this can harm the physical health of the individual and the
individual may become susceptible to various illnesses and health-related issues. Refer to the figure
for stages in GAS.

Perceived Alarm
Stress Resistance Exhaustion
Reaction

Stages in General Adaptation Syndrome

Q4) What are the main sources of workplace stress?

Ans. The main sources of workplace stress are

i) Role Demands: An employee is expected to perform a variety of roles, which s/he has to
fulfil. The organisation hires a person to do certain things. However, the expectations
placed on the individual are very stressful. Studies have concluded that role-demand
stressors impact employees’ lives both at the workload and at home.
ii) Information Overload: Never before this time, people have received so much
information. The pandemic is considered an infodemic period! The information includes
both the personal as well as professional domains. Thus, information overload refers to
 the exposure to too much information or data. Getting away from information is also not
that easy.
iii) Work-life Tradeoffs: One of the most common work-life tradeoffs is a work-family
conflict or work-life conflict. There being 168 hours in a week, and how these hours are
being spent in maintaining a balance between the work and family areas is a challenge
for many of us. Work-family conflict arises when demands from the workplace and non-
work domains negatively affect one another.
iv) Interpersonal Challenges: Many times, people quit their jobs because they want to quit
their managers. The role of a manager is to assign work, set up a schedule or create a
working climate. The interpersonal stressors can be also of mild level like just as simply
not liking the person. But the interpersonal stressors that can be serious are workplace
bullying and abusive supervision.
v) Evaluation Apprehension: When people are concerned about being evaluated or judged
by others, it can also be a source of workplace stress. Being evaluated can help create
arousal and be motivated, however, high levels of evaluation apprehension have been
shown to reduce employees’ willingness to share knowledge in the workplace.

Q5) Distinguish between the Efficiency Approach and Effectiveness Approach to time management

Ans. i) The Efficiency Approach Efficiency means getting the most out of the available resources. This
notion also applies to time management. In this context the following concerns gain importance and
deserve consideration:

a) Well-organised management systems use time rationally and leave little scope for time-wastage.
In such organisations, time-savers are employed intelligently.

b) The procedures employed in organisational functioning are simplified; emails are sent and
responded to promptly, and phones are used as instruments of time savers.

c) Technology is used optimally to enhance productivity. Technology for saving time is employed
skillfully.

d) Work is delegated to competent personnel and its proper use is ensured through monitoring and
supervision.

e) Wherever needed, outsourcing of services is undertaken. This saves the time of regular
executives, which can be utilised for more crucial purposes.

ii) The Effectiveness Approach This approach relates mainly to the process of goal management. The
salient aspects of this approach are as under

a) The vision and mission of an organisation are clearly defined, and in their backdrop are
formulated the goals of the organisation. These goals are related to important segments of the
organisation, which may be long-term, middle-term and short-term in duration.

b) Priorities are drawn for various objectives and tasks from time to time. The principle followed is:
“First Things to First’.

c) The stress is evident on SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound-
goals.
d) There is great stress on scientific methods of plan formulation, plan implementation and plan
evaluation.

e) For the achievement of goals, responsibilities are specified by various functionaries in the
organisation. f) Deadlines for the achievement of various goals are fixed. g) There is great emphasis
on ‘results’ rather than ‘activities’.

Q6) What are the five stages of burnout?

Ans. Five stages of burnout are-

i) Honeymoon stage: As an employee takes up a new job he/ she is excited and
enthusiastic about it. However, dysfunction may creep in when an individual’s reserves
of energy get depleted as he/ she is coping with the challenges of the new environment
that he/ she finds himself/ herself in and the strategies that the employee used to cope
with the stress experienced fail or are not useful in the coping process.
ii) Full shortage stage: The employee will experience feelings of loss, exhaustion and even
confusion. He/ she may also display a lack of job satisfaction, sleep disturbances,
ineffectiveness and fatigue.
iii) Chronic symptom stage: The employee at this stage may also display varied physiological
symptoms that call for immediate attention.
iv) Crisis stage: When the physiological symptoms and the feelings discussed in the previous
stage continue then the crisis stage begins.
v) Hitting the wall stage: This is the last stage and here the employee may experience
complete exhaustion which can have a grave impact on the productivity and
performance of the employee.

Q7) Does work orientation affect the performance of employees? If yes, how?

Ans. Yes, work orientation affects the performance of employees.

i) Negligence in Preparing To-Do Lists ‘to-do lists’ are key to sound time management.
These lists help in systematising the job schedule during the day. However, there are
certain flaws generally observed regarding such to-do lists.
ii) A clear understanding of Prioritisation of Tasks Right prioritisation of tasks is necessary
to understand wrong prioritisation. In this regard, right prioritisation is a key to good
time management.
iii) Right Job at Wrong Time Can there be a ‘right’ time or a ‘wrong’ time for certain jobs?
Yes, truly so! Just as the students study difficult subjects in the mornings and do practical
work at night, crucial and complex administrative decisions should be made before
lunchtime, while routine matters should be disposed of in the afternoon when the
receptivity and energy level are relatively low.
iv) Hard Work Rather than Smart Work It is generally believed that hard work is the most
important requisite to attain success in any profession. In personal as well as
professional life, however, hard work pays only when it is done methodically,
systematically, intelligently and perceptively.

Q8) Explain the model of Allostatic Load.

Ans. The concept of the allostatic load was put forward by McEwen (1998), to describe the wear and
tear that the human body undergoes owing to recurrent and long-standing exposure to stress.
According to the model of allostatic overload, there are damaging consequences of stress on our
physiological systems when a huge number of stress mediators are discharged to help us adjust, but
their disproportionate, persistent, and frequent overuse and dysregulation could eventually cause
harm. In essence, the allostatic load is shown by the inefficient switching on and off of what aimed as
stress mediators and, in certain instances, their inability to produce an acceptable response when
required, for example, when the body discharges too little or excessive cortisol when confronted
with an acutely stressful situation. long-term term impact of exposure to stress distresses the body
at the cardiovascular, metabolic, neural, behavioural, and cellular levels and increases the risk of
developing diseases (MEwen,1998) as the biological systems are unable to function effectively.

Q9) Highlight the benefits and features of e-Office.

Ans. The e-Office aims to support Governance by ushering in more effective and transparent inter
and Intra-Government processes. The vision of e-Office is to achieve a simplified, responsive,
effective and transparent working of all Government Offices.

Benefits of e-Office:

 Enhance transparency – files can be tracked, and their status is known to all at all times.

 Increase accountability – the responsibility of quality and speed decision-making king is easier to
monitor.

 Assure data security and data integrity.

 Provide a platform for re-inventing and re-engineering the Government.

 Promote innovation by releasing staff energy and time from unproductive procedures.

 Transform Government’s work culture and ethics.

 Promote greater collaboration in the workplace and effective knowledge management.

Features of e-Office:

 e-File

 Knowledge Management System

 CAMS

 leave

 e-Tour

 SPARROW

 PIMS

Q10) What are the benefits of conducting a stress audit?

Ans. The benefits of conducting a stress audit include using a diagnostic tool as a practical approach
to stress management; identifying organisational and individual strengths and weaknesses to help
the organisation focus on limited budgetary and time resources; offering a baseline measure to
appraise any successive interventions and also to help create awareness about stress-related issues
in the workplace. The components of a stress audit include identifying the sources of stress; stressor
outcomes; identifying individual differences, which may be moderating or mediating the stress
response (such as age, gender, occupation, education level or socio-economic status); recognise
predictors of stress; and finally, ascertain and measure staff attitudes, i.e., what employees need and
want to reduce stressors in their workplace, However, the audit should preferably be conducted by a
designated group, such as a senior manager trained in stress management.