Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Project Management Chapter 7 Some Factors to Think About in Time Management

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Project Time Management Time Management Challenges Causes of Poor Time Management Personal Time Management

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Time Management Challenges Certain factors/challenges have to be taken into account for effective time management –level of effort and productivity –unrealistic deadlines –monitoring team members –procrastination –people management: the use of resource levelling and loading

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Time Management Challenges Level of effort and productivity How to overcome? Standard time in activity sampling

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Time Management Challenges Unrealistic deadlines How to overcome? Get the deadline extended Try to get more resources Get agreement to change the deliverables to something more achievable May mean you miss deadlines – dissatisfied customers

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Time Management Challenges Procrastination Putting things off – through fear, lack of understanding, laziness, boredom How to overcome? Set deadlines Adopt a ‘do it now’ or ‘just do it’ approach

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Time Management Challenges Monitoring team members How to overcome? Give clear instruction and guidance Set short term deliverables Monitor against these deliverables

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Time Management Challenges People management: the use of resource levelling and loading Not being able to get the right people (human resources) at the right time to do the work Often a few people end up overworked and stressed – and eventually unproductive

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Resource levelling & loading How to overcome? Add people when you need more Overtime and improving productivity Look for opportunities to overlap tasks

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Common Causes of Poor Time Management Some people achieve more in the same time as others. Reasons for the difference in performance can be the following: fear - miscalculation where to start - stress too many tasks - approval bottlenecks - interruptions poor organisation

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Personal Time Management Personal time management = application of common sense strategies that lead to the effective use of time Use time management strategies like: –Delegation –Setting goals –Planning –Learning to prioritise –Making a master schedule –Avoiding interruptions, –Using waiting/travelling time effectively.

Dr. Jana Jagodick Polytechnic of Namibia, 2012 Class exercise 1.What is the source of project errors arise in a project specification? 2.List the time management tools and explain what they are 3.List and explain some common causes of poor time management 4. Explain what you understand by the term critical path analysis