Time Management And Effective Meetings Gtz

Course Outline & Agenda Day One 9.00- 9.15 Introduction and overview of workshop  Paradoxes about time 9.15-11.00 Section 1- Analysis • Course Objectives • Time wasters • Stress and energy 11.00-11.15

Coffee Break

11.15 - 1.00 Section 2 - Principles • Key principles- Pareto Principle • Efficiency and effectiveness • Important v urgent • Prioritization 1.00-2.00 Lunch 2.00-3.30 • Planning short medium long term goals • Time logs 3.30-3.45 Coffee Break 3.45-5.00 • Tools and techniques for managing your time

Day Two 9.00-9.15 Recap Day One 9.15- 11.00 Section 3 - Solutions • • • • • • •

Dealing with interruptions Dealing with procrastination Desk management File management Meetings Crisis management Delegation

11.00-11.15 Coffee Break 11.15-1.00  Section 4 –Running and Organising Effective Meetings  Time Quiz  Troubleshooting Meetings 1.00-2.00 Lunch 2.00-3.30 Make Meetings more productive:  Minimise Time wasting  Understand the importance of planning and overcome common planning problems  Create an effective meeting agenda  Prioritise agenda items and allocate time appropriately  Manage and control a meeting as the chair  Successfully record the notes of a meeting 3.30-5.00 • • •

 

Self analysis and action plan Handout on common problems and possible solutions Summary and close

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Paradoxes about Time “No one has enough time; everyone has all the time there is.” “We cannot save time. We can only spend it. We must learn to spend it wisely.” “Time cannot be managed. We can only manage ourselves within time.” “Those who don’t take the time to do something right, must make the time to do it over again.” “Doing the right job is effective. Doing a job right is efficient. Doing the right job right is excellence.” “The more hours’ people work, the more time they assume they have to finish.” “No one has enough time to do everything he/she would like; therefore we must choose.” “Most people spend more time planning their holidays than they do their lives.”

TIME MANAGEMENT…THE SIMPLE SOLUTION To manage our time effectively all we need to do is constantly ask ourselves: “Is what I am doing right now the best use of my time?” If it is…GREAT…keep doing what you’re doing! If it isn’t…decide what is, and do that!

 

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Section 1: Session Objectives: By the end of this session, you will be able to: • Understand the benefits of time management; • Make changes to suit your own work style.

Benefits of Time Management: 1. 2. 3.

Your commitment: - Stop wasting time - Try to do some things differently - Try not to do some things at all - Try to do some things less well

Exercise:

Your Objectives for attending: 1. What are your objectives ?

2. What do you hope the outcomes will be?

What is Time? What is Time Management?

What are you paid for?  

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Exercise:

How do we waste time?

Exercise:

Time Thieves

“Time is Money - so why is it a criminal offence to steal money, but not a crime to steal time?”

 

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TIME WASTER PROFILE These are some of the most common time wasters. How many do you recognise?

FREQUENTLY IDENTIFIED TIME WASTERS

R Rarely

1.

Lack of objectives, deadlines, priorities, daily plans.

2.

Attempting too much at once.

3.

In ability to say "no".

4.

Office procedures not established, equipment problems, inadequate filing system.

5.

Socialising, idle conversation.

6.

Procrastination, indecision, daydreaming.

7.

Cluttered desk and office, personal disorganisation.

8.

Leaving tasks unfinished, jumping from task to task.

9.

Interruptions, drop-in visitors, distractions, telephones.

10. Mistakes, ineffective performance, poor training. 11. Lack of independence, over-control by manager. 12. Switching priorities, confused priorities. 13. Unclear instructions, incomplete information. 14. Not being kept informed by manager. 15. Interruptions by manager, working for disorganised manager.

 

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A N Sometimes

K Frequently

16. Ineffective communication, failure to listen.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Exercise: Eliminating Time Wasters Group One – Time wasters Time savers and solutions

Group Two Time wasters

Group Three Time Wasters

 

Time savers and solutions

Time savers and solutions

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Time and stress

performance

pressure

Briefcases. “Why does daddy always have to do homework” asked the little girl. “Because he has too much work to finish at his office,” said Mum. “Then why don’t they put him in a slower group?” asked the little girl.

Time and Stress: 1. Know your best performance times 2. Be realistic, you can’t perform at high levels all of the time, you need time to switch off, relax etc 3. Give yourself rewards 4. Have a positive attitude 5. Learn how to be assertive.

Exercise: Charting Your Energy Cycle Use the graph below to chart your daily energy cycle. +100%

2am 4am 6am 10pm 12pm

8am

10am

12am

2pm 4pm

6pm

8pm

What can you do to better schedule your daily activities around your Energy Cycle?  

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Section 2 Session Objectives: By the end of this session, you will be able to: • Implement ideas to help you gain control, plan, prioritise and organise your workload. To get control we need to analyse: - What is your personal view of time? - What we do with our time currently - We can then identify any problems or areas for improvement - Set an Action Plan. Key Principles: 1. Efficiency and Effectiveness 2. Important Vs Urgent 3. Prioritisation

Efficiency and Effectiveness: Efficiency

Effectiveness

Excellence

“Doing things right is not enough; You must do the right things right”

 

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Objective Setting Process Objectives are important because, they: • Link the employee with the organisations goals • Help motivate people • Are specific to individuals area of expertise/service • Are specific to their development • Helps them plan their work and time and concentrate on priorities Supervisor/Manager Role • Set realistic standards that challenge the employee • Define measures for results • Suggest alternative courses of action • Obtain commitment from employee and give commitment to him/her Employee Role • Set standards for their job • Agree what measures should be used • Suggest a course of action • Agree on course of action and commitment to objectives An objective should be something which is to be achieved to a pre-determined level of quantity/quality, within a specified time period. A good objective will: • Be ‘over and above’ the job (be ‘stretching’) • Be linked into the organisations objectives • • • • •

S M A R T

- SPECIFIC - MEASURABLE - ACHIEVABLE (but challenging) - RELEVANT - TIMELY

Some typical objectives:Improve communications with clients/customers Improve ………………..e.g. record keeping skills Evaluate new …………..e.g. system Learn …………………..e.g. piece of equipment Improve…………………e.g. handling difficult customers Prioritise………………...e.g. workloads Improve…………………e.g. dealing with multiple requests Implement a new………..e.g. recording system Train new staff in……….e.g. how to operate the telephone system Draft out one or two for yourself for the coming 12 months

 

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Once you have your objective you need to make it Ask yourself is it:-

S.M.A.R.T.

Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely So for example if we had the following objective “Improve dealing with multiple document requests” we would need to add some details of how we would achieve this Improve dealing with multiple requests by • ensuring everyone gives me clear instructions on what is needed and by when. I will record this on the top right hand corner of the documents • allocating a priority code to each item by the end of each day • re prioritising the work as new work comes in daily • keeping individuals informed of the expected completion times • requesting help when workload exceeds agreed levels • informing supervisor of unreasonable requests To be reviewed in two months time Does this meet the SMART guidelines?

Now have a go at putting more details to your objectives.

 

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Important Vs Urgent -

If If If If

a a a a

task task task task

is is is is

not important and not urgent, then leave; not important but urgent, then delegate it; important but not urgent, then plan when best to do it; both important and urgent, do it now.

Important

Not urgent

Urgent

Not important

Prioritisation: • Ordering events

Deadlines. A project without a deadline is only a game. Parkinson’s law says that work expands to fill the time available.

 

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Planning - The 80/20%Rule: Pareto’s law Time available

Results 20%

80% 80% 20%

the pareto principle (pareto's law) The Pareto 80/20 Rule is commonly used (and ignored at considerable cost) in many aspects of organizational and business management. The principle is extremely helpful in bringing swift and easy clarity to complex situations and problems, especially when deciding where to focus effort and resources. The Pareto Principle (at a simple level) suggests that where two related data sets or groups exist (typically cause and effect, or input and output): "80 percent of output is produced by 20 percent of input." or alternatively "80 percent of outcomes are from 20 percent of causes" or alternatively "80 percent of contribution comes from 20 percent of the potential contribution available" The Pareto Principle is a model or theory, and an extremely useful model at that. It has endless applications - in management, social study and demographics, all types of distribution analysis, and business and financial planning and evaluation.

 

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In actual fact the Pareto Principle does not say that the 80:20 ratio applies to every situation, and neither is the model based on a ratio in which the two figures must add to make 100. And even where a situation does contain a 80:20 correlation other ratios might be more significant, for example: • •

99:22 (illustrating that even greater concentration than 80:20 and therefore significance at the 'top-end') or 5:50 (ie, just 5% results or benefit coming from 50% of the input or causes or contributors, obviously indicating an enormous amount of ineffectual activity or content).

The reasons why 80:20 has become the 'standard' are: • • •

the 80-20 correlation was the first to be discovered 80-20 remains the most striking and commonly occurring ratio and since its discovery, the 80:20 ratio has always been used as the name and basic illustration of the Pareto theory.

Here are some examples of Pareto's Law as it applies to various situations. According to the Pareto Principle, it will generally the case (broadly - remember it's a guide not a scientific certainty), that within any given scenario or system or organisation: • • • • • • • • • • • •

80 percent of results come from 20 percent of efforts 80 percent of activity will require 20 percent of resources 80 percent of the difficulty in achieving something lies in 20 percent of the challenge 80 percent of revenue comes from 20 percent of customers 80 percent of problems come from 20 percent of causes 80 percent of profit comes from 20 percent of the product range 80 percent of complaints come from 20 percent of customers 80 percent of sales will come from 20 percent of sales people 80 percent of corporate pollution comes from 20 percent of corporations 80 percent of work absence is due to 20 percent of staff 80 percent of road traffic accidents are cause by 20 percent of drivers and so on..

Remember for any particular situation the precise ratio can and probably will be different to 80:20, but the principle will apply nevertheless, and in many cases the actual ratio will not be far away from the 80:20 general rule. Pareto's Law is a tremendously powerful model, all the more effective because it's so simple and easy.

 

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Vilfredo Pareto first observed the 80/20 principle when researching and analysing wealth and income distribution trends in nineteenth-century England, in which, broadly he noted that 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth.

“Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”

Q.

Q.

What are Maintenance Tasks?

What are Progress Tasks?

Keeping A Time Log HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR DAY NOW? Memory is a very poor guide when it comes to assessing how you spend your time – it is too easy to forget time spent talking to colleagues, making coffee, eating lunch, etc. It can also function poorly when you are at a low ebb during the day. You may also be unaware that your energy levels may vary through the day – most people function at different levels of effectiveness at different times. This may be caused by the amount of sugar in their blood, the length of time since they took a break, routine distractions, stress, discomfort, etc.

WHY KEEP A TIME LOG The most important reason is to make you more aware of TIME as a precious resource. Becoming “time conscious” is the first step in changing the way in which you use your time. Keeping a log can also bring more specific benefits to help you manage your time. It can highlight: • • • • •  

How you allocate your time between projects What causes interruptions in your pattern of work The nature and frequency of your contacts with other people The unexpected – could it have been foreseen How much time you spend in planning the future 15

•

The decisions you have made – or deferred

Most people feel confident that they know how their time is spent. Research has shown however that this is not borne out by the facts. For instance, they tend to over-estimate time spent on paperwork and the specialist parts of their job. Similarly, they underestimate time spent in conversation and dealing with “human relation” matters. The most frequent reaction of people to their completed activity log is – “I didn’t realize how much I drifted from one job to another in the course of a day.”

HOW TO USE A TIME LOG A revealing technique is to keep a time log for several days. Without modifying your behaviour, note down the things you do as you do them, from the moment you start working. Every time you change activities, whether opening mail, working, making coffee, dealing with colleagues, gossiping, going to collect paper from a printer, etc., note down the time of the change. As well as noting activities, it is worth noting how you feel, whether alert, flat, tired, energetic, etc. This should be done periodically throughout the day.

ANALYSING TIME LOGS Once you have logged your time for several days, analyze the log. You may be alarmed to see the length of time you spend opening mail, talking to colleagues, dealing with disruptions, or doing low value jobs! You may also see that you are energetic in some parts of the day, and flat in other parts. A lot of this can depend on the rest breaks you take, the times and amounts you eat, and quality of your nutrition. The activity log gives you some basis for experimenting with these activities.

Analyzing Your Time Log

Part I Using the following questions, analyze the Time Logs you recorded to identify patterns in your use of time: 1. Each day, what time did you start on your #1 priority? Could you have started sooner? 2. Each day, did anything distract you from your #1 priority? Could you have avoided the distraction? Once distracted, how long did it take to get back to your #1 priority? Explain. 3. Each day, did you completely achieve your #1 priority? If not, what percentage did you complete?

 

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4. Each day, did you completely achieve your #2 priority? If not, what percentage did you complete? 5. Each day, did you completely achieve your #3 priority? If not, what percentage did you complete? 6. Each day how many hours did you spend on #1, 2, 3 etc. 7. What was your longest period of uninterrupted time? 8. What things did you do that you should not have been doing? What could you do to rectify this? 9. What tasks could be done more efficiently? How? 10. How many of the interruptions were for items more important than the interrupted task? 11. How many of the interruptions were for items less important than the interrupted task? 12. During the total logged time, count the interruptions by each of the following and total the time in each category. Phone: E mail: Visitors: You (include daydreaming): Co-workers: Manager: Unplanned Meetings: Clients: Crises: Looking for things: Paperwork: 13. How much time was spent in meetings? How productive were these meetings? 14. How much time was spent waiting? What did you do while you waited? 15. Which kind of interruption occurred the greatest number of times? 16. Which kind of interruption wasted the greatest total amount of time?

 

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17. Which kind of interruption do you think had the greatest impact on your top priorities? 18. What specific changes does your time log suggest you should make in order to accomplish your top priorities?

Part 2 Based upon this evaluation, look at one of the days from your log, and determine what changes you would now make in order to have made better use of your time during that day.

Part 3 Based upon the analysis of your time log: a. What changes will you make to improve the way you manage your time at work? b. What steps do you need to take to accomplish these changes and when will you begin implementing them?

Tools and Techniques:

Exercise:

Planning:

Long range Planning:

Short-term Planning:

Daily Planning:

 

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You may be performing a task that no longer is necessary or following a procedure that could be simplified. To make sure that you are not using time unnecessarily, use the news reporters standard questions; who, what, why, when, where and how. 1.

Ask why it is being done, and you may be able to eliminate it.

2.

Ask where it is being done, and you may find a better place to do it.

3.

Ask when and you may be able to schedule it to a different, more convenient time.

4.

Ask who and you may find the best person to do that particular job.

5.

Ask what and you may discover you’ve been working on the wrong problem.

6.

Ask how and you may find a better way to do it.

To Do List Highligh t

Item

Priority Code

Other Tools:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Add other tools you find useful in planning: 8. 9. 10.

 

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Time Estimate s

Transferre d √

“When timing is vital - plan backwards”

Section 3 Session Objectives: By the end of this session, you will be able to: • Handle interruptions, work with a cleaner desk and save time in meetings; • Demonstrate effective use of time management principles and tools; • Analyse your own use of time and formulate and action plan for improvements.

“Recovering from interruptions, takes more time than the interruption itself” Q. How can you deal effectively with interruptions?

Procrastination: Q.

Do you tidy your desk before you start working in the morning?

Q.

Do you often put off difficult or lengthy tasks?

Q. Do you often put off starting, because you might make a mistake? Q.

Do you leave difficult things till last?

Q. Do you struggle to meet deadlines because you like working under pressure? How do you change this?

Tips on Clearing your Desk and desk management:

 

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File Maintenance:

• We spend 9.2% time searching for information in the filing system • People ignore up to 85% of documents they retain • 45% of the documents we file are already filed elsewhere

Effective Meetings. Test Your Meeting IQ

.

See how many of the following questions you can answer correctly. Please select the BEST answer of the options provided. Knowing the answers to these questions will help you successfully plan and lead your next meeting.

To get an accurate picture of the meeting's effectiveness, ask participants for their written opinions. If the meeting finishes on time, the meeting was successful. Count how many people are still awake in the room. The more open eyes, the more successful the meeting.

7 Tips for Efficient Meetings

As web workers, we probably have to endure meetings less often than our cube-dwelling counterparts. When you do hold a meeting with a client or with your teammates, either face-to-face or as a teleconference, you want to make it as effective as possible so you get the outcomes that you want, without wasting anyone’s time.

 

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Here are some tips for making sure that your meetings are less of a chore, go smoothly and have outcomes that are favorable for everyone. Decide if the meeting is required My No. 1 meeting rule is not to waste anyone’s time. Companies hold too many meetings. Don’t hold the meeting if you don’t need to or just because you’ve held meetings for this purpose before. Can you achieve the same outcome via more efficient means instead; maybe through a phone call or email? Decide what type of meeting you are holding There are three types of meeting: 1. Information. This is a meeting where attendees are informed about what is happening (with or without their blessing). While there may be a facade of conversation, it’s primarily designed to inform. 2. Discussion. This is a meeting where the leader actually wants feedback or direction or connections. You can use this meeting to come up with an action plan, or develop a new idea, for example. 3. Permission. This is a meeting where the other side is supposed to say yes but has the power to say no.

There is a danger of meetings suddenly changing from one type to another, during the meeting, without everyone being aware of it. You need to decide what type of meeting you are holding and make sure everyone knows what it is beforehand. Have an agenda and stick to it Nothing is more frustrating than a meeting that has no clear purpose and meanders from topic to topic. All meetings should have an agenda distributed to all attendees beforehand so that you know what you’re going to be discussing and deciding upon. Everyone needs to be aware of what they should bring to the meeting so that they don’t feel ambushed on the day. Finally, an agenda is not clearly defined if it has “Any Other Business” on it. Only invite people to the meeting who need to be there People should only be invited to the meeting if they are required — if they will have important input or be involved in decision-making. Be rigorous when pruning the list of invitations: attendees who don’t feel like they are contributing or required will be bored, resentful and inattentive. It’s OK to have people only attend for the part of the meeting that they’re needed for. Have someone chair the meeting  

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This may feel stuffy and formal, but with no chairperson, you’ll have a hard time making sure that the meeting sticks to the agenda. The chairperson should also ensure that everyone contributes. Start on time and do not overrun People are giving up valuable time out of their working day for the meeting. Therefore it is vital that meetings start on time and do not overrun: this is the chairperson’s responsibility. If you cannot finish your meeting on time, you should schedule another. Follow up afterwards It’s important to follow up afterwards. Thank everyone for their time, distribute outcomes and action points as appropriate. What tips do you use for holding an effective meeting

A prescription for action. A meeting provides a special opportunity to achieve organisational outcomes, and also to help the attendees in a variety of ways, so approach all meetings keeping in mind these two different mutually supporting aims. The aim and test of a well run meeting is that whatever the subject, people feel afterwards that it took care of their needs, as well as the items on the agenda. 1. Invite people in writing or e mail being specific about what is to be decided, never just listing items to be covered.

 

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2. Start on time and stick to the agenda – never include “any other business.” 3. Try to reach a decision on every item. 4. Restate at the end every decision made, and the responsibilities for action, and the deadlines to be met. 5. Confirm what has been decided, by memo, e mail the same day. 6. If you go to meetings that go wrong – speak up. Volunteer to keep the minutes and interrupt to ask what the decision was. Keep the meeting on track and suggest the next one is held at 4:30 p.m.! 7. State the allotted time for the meeting and try and stick to it.This will concentrate the minds of those attending. Chairman should keep meeting momentum with eye on the time

Dealing with a Crisis: Delegation: • • • •

Upward delegation Downward delegation Keeping control Being Assertive

Action Plan

• List 3 things from today’s course that you are going to action plan on and work to achieve over the next 3 months:

 

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“Your commitment now” Stop Wasting time Try to do some things differently Try not to do some things at all Try to do some things less well Good Luck! The final word. Above all else, good time management is an awareness that today is all we ever have to work with. The past has gone, the future is a concept. Few of us ever fully grasp this.

Appendix 1 Additional Exercise: Self Diagnosis

Good

Averag e

Poor

Action

Time analysis general Balancing work/home  

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Priority

Knowing and working to your optimum performance time Being assertive Dealing with time robbers Getting the efficient V effective balance right Getting the important V urgent balance right Prioritizing Dealing with interruptions Planning – 80/20 rule Dealing with my procrastination Planning – short term, long term, daily, project Modifying your availability Desk management and clearing your desk Meetings management Delegating more effectively

Common Problems and Possible Solutions Excessive Telephone Time Causes Discussion too lengthy. Wish/need to be available to outside interruption. Lack of priorities – all calls get through.

 

Possible Solutions Separate the chat from information required. Train switchboard operator, secretary, colleague to be selective. Discuss problems with secretary, etc; make a plan. 26

No secretary. Unstructured conversations.

Ask a colleague to cover phone for a set time. Make a plan beforehand of the items you want to discuss.

Lack of Priorities Causes No system. Lack of time to plan. Lack of self-discipline.

Would rather be doing than thinking. No job description. Can do the job better myself.

Possible Solutions Use some of the ideas we’ve discussed. Planning does take time; invest some, as it saves time in the long-run. Establish your key result areas; know the important work. Try out an idea for better time management every month. Use your planning aids. Managers need time to reflect and plan ahead. Planning is the key to success. Write one. Base it on your key areas. Keep it up to date. Have confidence in your staff.

Poor Communication Causes Unaware of colleagues need for information. Wrong channel of communication. Poor timing. Indecision or delay in providing answers.

Possible Solutions Ask them what they need. Agree the method, i.e. meetings, memos, phone, e mail. Put yourself in the receiver’s position. Think about the timing carefully. Give deadlines on correspondence; use the technique “unless I hear from you by…”

Inability to Say No Causes Wish to help and please others. Need to feel important and involved in everything. Fear of causing offence. Not knowing how to say “No.” Ambition/desire to be busy. Others quite simply assume that you will say yes. Unclear priorities. Wish to be important and involved in everything. Unrealistic time estimates. Overwhelming pressure and large piles of paper.

Possible Solutions Saying yes all the time means others will take you for granted; break the habit. Concentrate on important areas of your work. Show results. Learn to say “no” without offending; be assertive, offer an alternative suggestion. Train yourself. Go on a course for assertiveness skills. You may be busy but are you achieving what you should be – concentrate on important tasks. They always will unless you start saying no. Define your tasks and goals. Know your key result areas. Be selective. Use your time and energy wisely. Plan more. Recognize that most things take longer. Agree time estimates. This does not mean that you are effective. Lots of activity does not necessarily mean the right results.

Lack of Self-Discipline Causes Lack of performance standards.

 

Possible Solutions So, set your own standards. Ensure they are achievable. 27

Postponing the unpleasant. Lack of direction in your work. Responding to urgent matters, postponing the important. Not following up. Not making use of techniques available. Unrealistic time estimates. I cannot say no.

Do these first. They won’t go away. Break unpleasant tasks into chunks if possible. Know your key areas. Say no to the unimportant. What are you there for? Delegate problems. Concentrate on only those you can deal with. Build in management control. Write down follow up dates on your project plans and in your diary. Which techniques will help you? Try them out. Too many unrealistic estimates will make you frustrated and stressed. Discuss estimates. You will be walked over. Start saying no.

Interruption by Visitors Causes No plans to avoid drop-in visitors. My door is always open. Frequent interruptions by my subordinates.

Too Much Routine Work Causes Lack of priorities. Fear of subordinate’s mistakes. Fear of losing influence. Can do the job better myself.

Possible Solutions Try to insist on appointments. Be assertive. Establish, say, a quiet hour when your door is closed and you are not to be disturbed. If you keep solving their problems they’ll always come to you. Decide in what situations they should interrupt you. Have regular meetings which are planned. You go to their office. Keep standing. Say things like “To finish off,” before I leave.” Set time limits for visits/meetings. Possible Solutions What are you there for? Establish priorities. Trust them. Learn from mistakes. Maintain an overview of what is important. Know your key result areas. Have confidence in your staff.

Inability to Finish Things Causes Lack of deadlines. Lack of respect for your time/interruptions by other people. Overworked…too much to do. Laziness.

Possible Solutions Put deadlines on all jobs. Stick to this rule. Fix a time when you do not want to be disturbed. Discuss your time management with boss/colleagues; stand up for yourself against their lack of respect. Delegate. Let go of some old responsibilities. Continually prioritize your work. Impose deadlines on yourself. Break the task up.

Indecision and Delay Causes Unrealistic deadlines. Postponing the unpleasant and difficult. Fear of what may happen when even small mistakes are made. Ignorance of what the decision will lead to.

 

Possible Solutions Most things take longer than you think. Agree deadlines. Allow your staff to suggest them. Do them first – you’ll feel much better. Break a task into chunks; give yourself a treat when you have completed them. Be more positive. We’ve all learned from mistakes. Ask “how can we avoid a repetition?” Work to achieve a more trusting environment. Relate decision to key result areas; find out the implication. 28

Crisis Management Causes Lack of priorities. Trying to do too many tasks at the same time. Lack of foresight. Overreacting and treating small problems as full crisis. Overlooking possible negative consequences of a decision.

Possible Solutions How do you spend your time now? Distinguish between urgent and important tasks. Priorities work. Learn how to say NO. Do one job at a time. Try to prevent this. Build in time for thinking ahead. Plan more. If anything can go wrong it will. Try to prevent this. Build in time for thinking ahead. Ignore those problems which are not important – delegate to your staff. Build in management control to avoid crises. Think about what could go wrong. Plan an alternative.

Too Much Paperwork Causes No system. Poor communication. Poor administration routines. Poor organization.

Possible Solutions Use the techniques we’ve discussed. Which method is the best and the most time saving (short and long term). Questioning procedures. Are you being effective? Is a system controlling you rather than you controlling the system? Standardize written communication; review procedure. Use a computer.

Too Much Reading Causes Unclear and poorly edited material. Poor reading skill. Lack of self-discipline when reading.

Possible Solutions Persuade bosses/staff to produce information in a more easily read format. Insist on concise reports and summaries. Take a course on rapid reading; train yourself. Set yourself an objective. What are you trying to achieve?

Personal Organization Causes Lack of system. Giving people the impression that I am busy. Fear of forgetting things. Cannot delegate. Indecision.

 

Possible Solutions Use a system for managing time. This does not mean you are achieving results. Ask yourself why you feel you need to do this. Write things down, use diaries, daily planning sheets, lists of jobs to do. Have confidence in yourself. Probably 80% of matters which come to you can be handled immediately.

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Appendix 2

 

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