Planning, prioritising and efficiency: a Time Management Workshop

Planning, prioritising and efficiency

Facilitated by Ian J Seath

V2

Today’s workshop…

Learning objectives: • To enable participants to become more proactive and use a

range of techniques to prioritise, plan and control workloads more effectively

• To commit to a personal improvement action plan

Explore:• The difference between “important” and “urgent”, and how to deal

with each• The “time stealers” – what they are and how to avoid them• What is “quality time” and how you can create it• Dealing with the e-mail mountain – the 4 Ds

Let’s talk about time…

The Earth has been in existence ~4.54 billion years.

The Human Race (as we know it) has existed for about 5 million years

If one hour represents the earth’s existence, we have been around for 6 seconds!

Let’s talk about time…

A year on Pluto lasts 247.7 earth years

An Earth year lasts 365.26 days

An Earth day lasts 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4091 seconds

How long is a working day?

How effectively do we use our working day?

Could we use our working time better by working smarter?

Think small and the results could be big

A 10% improvement in your use of time could free 6 minutes in every hour…= 45 minutes a day= 3.75 hours or

half a day per week

45 MINUTES PER DAY 3.75 HOURS A WEEK

A minute of your time costs…

9 pence per £10k of salary (excluding NI/PAYE) Assuming 37.5 hours/week and 48 weeks per year

Time to be honest?

Do you waste time? Do you waste other

people’s time? Do you spend time

on the things you should?

Do you take time out to reflect on how you should spend your time

Where are you starting from?

Time Management Self-Assessment

Step 1: By yourself, rate the 30 statements and calculate your score

Step 2: By yourself, identify 3 or 4 key issues arising

Step 3: In your group, share and prioritise the key issues

Step 4: Present your findings

Activity vs. Action

Efficiency vs. Effectiveness

Perfection vs. Excellence

Urgency vs. Importance

Activity vs. Action

ACTIVITY

Being busy Too many jobs at once

Unplanned approach

Helping everyone with their problems

Not delegating enough

ACTION

Getting things done Completing jobs, even if it

means one job at a time and finishing it

Recognising priorities

Able to say no

Using others to get things done

Efficiency vs. Effectiveness

EFFICIENCY

Doing things right

EFFECTIVENESS

Doing the right things

Wrong things - Right things

Wrong things Desire to make an impression Involved in everything Blaming others

Right things Wanting to achieve results Delegating and not interfering Working out how we will collaborate and work

together

Perfection vs. Excellence

PERFECTION Work planning

preventing work Too much detail Too high standards Need to be seen to

suffer for the organisation (arrive early, stay late)

EXCELLENCE Enough planning to make

the best use of time Enough detail to achieve

objectives Time allocated for

priorities Need to work hard and

still have your own life

Urgency vs. Importance

HIGH

LOW

LOW HIGH

IMPORTANCE

URGENCY

List the priority of each quadrantand decide what proportion of your time you should allocate to each

HIGH

LOW

LOW HIGH

IMPORTANCE

URGENCY

The priority of each quadrant…

3Distraction?

2Plan

4Waste!

1Manage

HIGH

LOW

LOW HIGH

IMPORTANCE

URGENCY

Exercise: Urgency vs. Importance

Identify 10-15 “things to do” from your current workWrite each one on the Urgency/ Importance grid…Do them in the sequence you suggested!

4 Steps for Time Management

1. Record your use of time now

2. Analyse how you spend your time

3. Do something about it

4. Repeat your Time Log

For how long should you record your time?

One day? One week? Several weeks? One month? Several months? One year?Log your

activities as they happen, not at the end of each

day

Time Log Example:DAY ____________________________ DATE __________________________________

Describe what happens in detail - the subject of meetings, phone calls, letters, reading, conversations. Note the duration of each activity. Include any other relevant comments which will help your analysis.

Time Activity Duration Comments

Time Log Example:Categorised by Results that have to be achieved

Project XProject

YTask A Task B Task C

Staff Comm

Staff Devp.

etc. etc.

9.009.30

10.0010.3011.0011.3012.0012.3013.0013.3014.0014.3015.0015.3016.0016.3017.0017.30

Time Log Example:Categorised by types of work/activity done

Time Activity MTG 1-1s TRG TEL PS RDG WRT PC TRV OTH

KEY:MTG = Meeting 1-1s = 1-1 Discussions TRG = TrainingTEL = Telephone PS = Problem Solving RDG = ReadingWRT = Writing PC = Computer TRV = TravelOth = Other

Pareto Principle: The 80:20 Rule

20% of the time leads to 80% of the results

20% 80%

TIME RESULTS

How to analyse your Time Log

How much of your time was spent:

Activity Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Total %

Planning

In Meetings

Beinginterrupted

Telephoning

Writing

Travelling

Time Log AnalysisTime Time

Invested est. act.

Activity % EffectivenessHow can I handle it

more effectivelynext time ?

Put first things first

Schedule your priorities,not prioritise your schedule

If something is reallyimportant, make the time for it

Scenario – where are the time stealers? Ian gets into his office, starts his computer and logs on to

check his e-mails. After 10 minutes he has a quick look through his Twitter stream and checks his Facebook page. He then spends 30 minutes preparing the first part of a report which is due tomorrow. After attending a 45 minute meeting he grabs a cup of coffee and chats with some colleagues. Back at his desk he notices he has 5 new e-mails which he decides to read and he replies to 2 of them. Returning to his report he spends 10 minutes collecting his thoughts and another 30 minutes writing before deciding it’s nearly time to break for lunch. He makes a couple of quick ‘phone calls, then goes off for lunch.

Time stealers

1. Procrastination/indecision

2. Ineffective meetings

3. Interruptions - visitors, telephone, e-mail

4. “Never say no”

5. Lack of delegation

6. Lack of planning before starting tasks

7. Waiting time - between meetings

8. Starting too many things and not finishing them

9. Changing priorities

10. Communication failures

11. Unclear responsibilities

12. Unnecessary Travelling

etc.

Dealing with your time stealers

• Step 1 - Individually, select the top 3 time stealers that affect you, day-in and day-out

• Step 2 - Share your thoughts with the group

• Step 3 - As a group, identify and share some possible solutions

What is “quality time”?

• A person’s average uninterrupted time at work is usually less than 10 minutes!

• Respect your colleagues’ quality time by not interrupting them unnecessarily!

Creating quality time

How often do you… Frequently

Occasionally

Seldom

Never

Have trouble finding things on your desk?        

Procrastinate & delay tasks?        Get side-tracked with conversations with other people about non-work topics?

Get side-tracked by reading ‘interesting’ rather than ‘important’ information?

Catch yourself day-dreaming?        Jump from task to task without finishing anything?        

If you have answered “YES” to any of the questions, you are guilty of interrupting

“YOURSELF”

Dealing with the e-mail (or paperwork) mountain

Is dependent on….

1.The number of items received

2.The number of times you pick up/shuffle the same item without positive action

The four Ds…

Do it

Delegate it

Delay it

Dump it

Does it require action?

No action?

The 2 minute rule

Less than 2 minutes? Do it

More than 2 minutes? Delegate it Delay it

Delegate it…

“Tell me what you want me to do and why,

then let me get

on with it.

If I make a mess of it, coach me so I know

where I went wrong.

But, don’t fuss !!!”

A Subordinate’s Prayer

Delegation - Brief those involved• What is to be done?• What has already been done?• Why is it being done?• When is it to be done by?• What the output should be?• What standards are expected?

…..and check back for understanding

If it doesn’t require you to DO something…

Dump it File it“I might need this later”

Exercise: Managing your time - ideas

Individually, identify which of the following practical guidelines you would want to subscribe to?

Place a tick against all of those you want to do something about (hold these and any other ideas for your personal action planning)

Practical guidelines (1)

1. Think first, then act. It is always more effective to plan your time than to react to events.

2. Make a “Flying Start” to the day - get going with a task you can accomplish.

3. Have a daily routine where you plan specific times for routine activities such as meetings.

4. Have a daily “To Do” List. Prioritise items into “musts”, “shoulds” and “coulds”, e.g. A, B, C. Don’t overload your day. Build in some flexibility. Review your achievements each day.

5. Do things which need most effort at times when you know you will be at your best, mentally.

6. Don’t procrastinate. Doing the unpleasant task will make you feel less stressed. Tasks rarely get more pleasant by being postponed.

7. Have deadlines for your tasks and stick to them.

8. Try ignoring things which aren’t important - many “urgent problems” may simply disappear.

9. Analyse, plan and act to reduce your interruptions

Practical guidelines (2)

10. Do one thing at a time - finish jobs that you start, if possible.

11. Arrange “do not disturb” times for yourself.

12. Take regular breaks to ensure that you don’t become stale or over-stressed.

13. Keep all your ideas, plans, appointments, etc. in one place. Don’t become a “Time Fanatic” who is a slave to forms and systems.

14. Say “no” if you can’t do something or aren’t the right person.

15. Don’t take work home unless you definitely will do something with it.

16. Analyse your use of time regularly. Compare it with earlier time analyses.

17. Avoid interrupting colleagues by planning fixed meetings with them.

18. Plan your telephone calls for maximum effectiveness - group several calls together.

19. Go for excellence, not perfection. Perfection takes too long !

PERSONAL ACTION PLANS

Say it, see it, write it…

Identify from all of today’s inputs and colleagues’ ideas, what you plan to do differently

Be specific and ensure the improvements are measurable

Be prepared to share your plan with the group

Do it…

Facilitated by Ian J Seath

ian.seath@improvement-skills.co.uk

07850 728506

@ianjseath

uk.linkedin.com/in/ianjseath