Time management is an essential skill for successful company leaders and managers. Everyone has the same number of hours in the day. But how you spend that time can make the difference between a successful career or stagnating where you are. Whether you are a new manager or want a refresher, learning and applying proper time management skills can carry you far up the company ladder.
Effective Time Management Skills for Managers
Time management is the ability to use your time effectively and productively, particularly in your job. Managing your time well can involve coordinating activities and tasks to maximize the effectiveness of your efforts.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower developed The Eisenhower Matrix, which breaks time management into four groups. All time management skills fall somewhere within this matrix. These four groups include:
- Do First
- Schedule
- Delegate
- Don’t Do
Understanding how to effectively break up your time and tasks can help you accomplish goals and successfully lead your employees.
Some of the most critical time management skills for managers and company leaders include the following:
- Knowing how to plan out your goals properly
- Communicating clearly
- Organizing your tasks and workspace
- Delegating various duties to others
- Scheduling the proper tasks at the right time(s)
- Recognizing multitasking traps
- Prioritizing your time and helping employees to prioritize theirs
- Keeping up appearances
- Knowing what to do when there isn’t enough time
- Understanding the 80/20 rule
- Taking breaks when they are needed
Knowing How to Plan Out Your Goals Properly
Knowing how to plan out goals for yourself and your team properly is critical to time management and job success. You should set goals:
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly, and
- Yearly
Once you have set your goals, you can break them down into individual tasks for accomplishing them. Next, you should do the same with your employees’ goals. For instance, you could provide them with assignments that lead to achieving the company’s short- or long-term objectives. Then, give them deadlines and measurable milestones to keep the employees and their tasks on track.
Communicating Clearly
Clear communication is vital to all relationships – both business and personal. Therefore, you should ensure you are taking time to listen to and communicate with employees, as this can make a big difference.
For example, clear communication can help workers understand their assignments and meet the deadlines you’ve given them. Communicating with customers is also essential for growing your business.
Organizing Your Tasks and Workspace
Solid organization that involves delegated duties and your physical workspace is also critical for effective time management. Likewise, the company’s goals will suffer if your employees are disorganized and unclear about what assignments they must complete.
If you keep your physical workspace free of debris and organized, you will also be able to manage your time better. Otherwise, you could spend many hours a week searching for files or other items. Doing this takes away time you could spend on more meaningful job duties.
Delegating Various Duties to Others
Managers often feel they should take on all the important tasks, such as “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” However, this is bad advice. Doing everything yourself is a terrible way to manage your time, especially if employees or other team members can do the job.
Next, it is your responsibility as a manager to assess who on your team is best suited for each task and to assign the responsibilities that go with them. In addition to taking some items off your plate, delegating can also help your employees to be less needy of you when getting their jobs done.
Scheduling the Proper Tasks at the Right Time(s)
You need to break down each task and schedule the order of the processes. For instance, if you were building a car, you wouldn’t begin with installing the seats. You should also prioritize each day’s most important task(s) and how much time to spend on each.
Recognizing Multitasking Traps
While some people may be impressed if you juggle multiple tasks at one time, doing this can lead to making mistakes. Therefore, focus on one activity at a time, and move on to the next one when that is complete.
Prioritizing Your Time and Helping Employees to Prioritize Theirs
Learning to prioritize your time and your employees is essential for success. Set aside one day where your employees track what they do and how long they spend doing it. This can help determine what is currently working and where the lags may be.
Keeping Up Appearances
Good time management also involves you appearing calm and available for employee needs. In this case, if you always seem frazzled, workers will be less likely to come to you for advice, which could lead to them completing tasks incorrectly.
Knowing What to Do When There Isn’t Enough Time
While deadlines can often be powerful motivators, you could make mistakes on projects, budgets, hiring, or other managerial responsibilities if you have too much on your plate. Therefore, don’t try to do every task on your list. Good managers know how to use their employees to help meet goals. They also know when to ask for assistance from employees and other company leaders when necessary.
Understanding the 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule refers to the Pareto Principle, where 80% of results come from 20% of actions. The opposite is also true – the other 20% of results come from 80% of people’s actions.
As a manager, you need to focus on the most important items on the to-do list that you must do. While these might only represent 20% of your overall job, they will likely produce the most significant results. You can delegate the other 80% to your employees.
Taking Breaks When They are Needed
You might think you are accomplishing a lot if you work all day and night. But if you do not take any time to recharge, you could end up getting burned out and losing your focus entirely. So, scheduling downtime for yourself is essential and is a critical component of doing a good job.
Are You Effectively Managing Your Time?
Although getting caught up in your job’s day-to-day activities is easy, managing time better can often help you produce more with less effort. If you would like to improve your time management skills, resources can give you step-by-step instructions on how to do so.
