Harvard ManageMentor

Defeating Common Time-Wasters

Harvard ManageMentor: Defeating Common Time-Wasters

Discussion Topics
Being on alert for time-wasters
Controlling time-wasters

Copyright 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.

Harvard ManageMentor: Defeating Common Time-Wasters

Being on Alert for Time-Wasters

From your own experience, what are some common timewasters with which we have to deal with?
Where are the natural bottlenecks in our work
processes that can lead to wasted time?

Copyright 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.

Harvard ManageMentor: Defeating Common Time-Wasters

Controlling Time-Wasters
What steps can we take to improve specific business
processes that are currently sources of wasted time?
Activity:
1. Take 5 minutes to write down your three biggest
personal time-wasters.
2. Pair up with someone to brainstorm and discuss
ideas for overcoming your time-wasters.

Copyright 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.

Harvard ManageMentor: Defeating Common Time-Wasters

Next Steps
Consider some of the specific
steps you can take to help
your team overcome and
eliminate time-wasters,
including bottlenecks in work
processes.
Consider working through
the Worksheet for
Indentifying and
Evaluating Time-Wasters
found in the Harvard
ManageMentor topic Time
Management.

Copyright 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School.