© ABSL Power Solutions 2007 © STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Time Management TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT Time Management

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited What is the aim of ‘Time Management’? To identify the necessary skills to manage time effectively.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited The Objectives of Time 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited What Does Time Management Mean To You? 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited What Does Time Management Mean To You? 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited What Does Time Management Mean To You? Managing your time better can help you gain more control over your time. How you spend it is up to you!

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Why Manage My Time? Time management means gaining more control over your time and using your time as you want!

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Remember… Poor time management leads to stress and missed opportunities!

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Work S.M.A.R.T. Specific Measurable Agreed Realistic Timed

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Goals To be able to achieve what you want, you need clear goals!

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Look At This Diary Task StartEndMinutes.Comments Pick up Mr.Smith from the station Someone else do this? Coffee and chat with Mr.Smith Sort mail Go through procedures with staff Can someone else do this? Speak to colleagues on way back Difficult to avoid in open Start report for review Phone call from Dick Back to report Harry asks for figures for meeting Ask Tom to look at figures Phone Fred about report Fill in expense claim Lunch Need a longer break Chat to colleagues Sort in-tray Tom brings figures Double check figures again Figures ok don’t check Phone call from Bill Back to figures Julie phones for figures Finishing check Plan training session Mr.Smith phones re: budget Compile breakdown Wait for meeting to start Dept. Meeting Start report again

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Keep A Diary Keeping a time diary helps to identify the management problems.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Time Management How do you realise what your priorities are?

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Time Management What do you do with the low priority tasks?

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Recognise and Tackle Priority Jobs Less urgent More important More urgent Less important Less urgent Less important More urgent More important

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Important Tasks are those which will contribute significantly to your goals – those which will have a large effect on your job.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Planning When planning your tasks, distinguish between urgent tasks and important ones!

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Planning Having established your priorities you can plan. How long will each task take? When will I do the tasks?

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Planning Plan your workload by estimating the time required for each task. Then schedule the tasks.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Scheduling Your Work There are many aids for scheduling: Month/Quarter/Year planner; Computer Software; Wall Planner Diary;

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Scheduling Your Work 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Scheduling Your Work 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Scheduling Your Work Monitor plans and adjust them accordingly.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Allocating Times To Tasks Realistic daily plans help you get through priority tasks.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Putting Off Jobs The jobs that get put off are the difficult and unpleasant ones.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Putting Off Jobs The important thing is to identify what will assist you to overcome your reasons for putting things off.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Interruptions The other kind of problem you have in managing your time is in handling interruptions and telephone calls.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Techniques for Dealing With Interruptions Reduce the length of interruptions by: Setting a duration for the visit or call; Ending conversations politely, but firmly.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Techniques for Dealing With Interruptions 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Interruptions Reduce the number of interruptions; Reduce their length; Choose when to take them.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited Your Team And Your Time Help your staff to manage their time by giving them the space to do it in.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.

© STM Quality Limited STM Quality Limited 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.