Secrets to Efficient Time Management
By: Daniel Walsh
An economy mired in recession forces business owners to do more with fewer resources. To do that, they need to determine how best to manage their resources – and most importantly, time.
When businesses ask Jan Yager, a Connecticut-based consultant, for time management help, he lays out a series of simple, straightforward strategies that include delegating tasks (not relationships) and grouping similar tasks together. "If you have a skill that's unique and your strength, that's what you're doing," says Yager, author of several books, including Creative Time Management for the New Millennium.
Translation: Play to your strengths and delegate your weaknesses or the tasks that don't require you to personally perform them. In addition, on the subject of relationships, Yager says they typically can't be given to someone else to maintain in the same way that you built them, because trust is a person-to-person enterprise. "You want to be the one who's creating and managing those relationships," he says. Tasks, on the other hand, can be done in different ways by different people; if they're qualified, they'll still get the job done. If someone proves good at a task, give them similar ones. They may prove good at those, too.
Mark Ellwood says setting goals clearly is important. His Toronto-based firm, Pace Productivity, has advised Fortune 1000 companies in numerous countries, and his book, A Complete Waste of Time, includes all sorts of humorous anecdotes geared toward helping people avoid wasting time. That starts with clarity in addressing goals. "Managers tend to not be as clear as they would like in quantifying their goals," Ellwood says.
Ellwood uses the word "smart" as the catch point, with each letter of the word representing a key aspect of the goals.
- "S" is for specific, selective and substantial. Pick one good, big goal that will move your business forward.
- "M" is for measurable. An objective outsider should be able to measure whether you and your staff achieved your goal.
- "A" is for appropriate. The goal must be appropriate to you and your staff and must clearly benefit you.
- "R" is for realistic. The goal must be attainable with your current resources and skill sets.
- "T" is for timely. Create a reasonable timeline to achieve your goals, and hit your deadlines. "If you can start out with a clear goal to go toward, that will determine what you do," Ellwood says. "Planning makes a difference."
So too does eliminating minor administrative tasks and time wasted on e-mail. Ellwood is a fan of administrative assistants, who can ease the burden on business owners and other management-level individuals. He's not so much a fan of e-mail, which can sap tons of time. In his eyes, there's not enough return on the time investment, which is in part why his second book is titled Cut the Glut of E-Mail. Bottom line: The boss (or you, as the business owner) doesn't need to be included on every e-mail. "Bosses will inevitably tell you they're overwhelmed by e-mails, but they don't want to cut that out because they're afraid to," Ellwood says.
Finally, take a vacation. Rest matters, because it improves creativity that drives innovation in business. Don't chastise your people for taking a break. Make it happen, so that the hours they put in for you have a higher quality of productivity. "Time management has really become a crisis issue in America, especially because people are less willing to take vacations because of concern they'll be replaced," Yager says. "Vacations are important, even if it's a ‘staycation.' Children grow up fast. Vacations are the cement of the relationship. It's a chance to get to know each other. You come back replenished."
DANIEL WALSH is a staff writer for Stitches. Contact dwalsh@asicentral.com.