208 - Time management, Improving efficiency at work

AUA Manchester 2012Session no 208

Time management: how to improve your personal efficiency at work.

James CraigFaculty Accountant

The University of Leeds

Two facts

1. There are 168 hours in a week, every week!Sleep – 48 hrsWork – 40 hrs? – 80 hrs

2. The brain is incapable of multi-tasking

Engrained habits.Break theseUnderlying causes?

Objectives (1)

• Purpose; direction; framework; focus on results

• A written objective.• States what you want to achieve, and by

when.• Use templates to hold regular meetings with

your manager/ subordinate – eg once week or once a fortnight.

Objectives (2)

• Specific• Measurable• Achievable• Relevant• Time-bound

• SMART!

Your priorities at work.Your boss’s priorities for you.Priorities from others at work (peers/ colleagues in other depts/ students).Discuss regularly with your boss.Pin up near your desk.Priorities at home.

Prioritisation Exercise

• In groups of two or three, discuss what priorities you might establish for yourself over the coming few months.

• Remember: SMART• Would you be happy presenting this to your

boss (or to other colleagues?)

Prioritisation model

Important and UrgentImportant and not UrgentUrgent but not ImportantNeither Urgent nor Important

1. Important and Urgent

Carry out when you have most energy, eg first thing after you arrive at work.

Avoid the after-dinner dip (assuming you have one!)

2. Important but not urgent

Not yet urgent, so don’t allow to become urgent!Schedule a time to do them, or delegate to others(more on delegation later)

3. Urgent but not important

Potential time-wasters: interruptions requiring our attention but which don’t help us with our objectives.

Time-stealers. Break bad habitsSelf-discipline

4. Neither urgent nor important

!!

Social networking during work timeTimes Higher Education?

AUA Perspectives?

Urgent interruptions

• Break off• Deal with now• Schedule a time in your calendar or diary to

re-commence your important work

Overcoming Procrastination

Bad habits

Realistic, bite-sized goals (manage expectations)The ‘tolerable ten’Switch email off

Prioritisation

• David Rock – ‘Your Brain at Work’ HarperCollins 2009

• The brain is like a theatre• Actors make up the audience; like pieces of memory

which can be called up onto the stage in an instant • The stage is the prefrontal cortex (4% of the volume

of the brain); ie v small• The stage in the theatre: very energy-intensive and a

limited resource.

Email/ Outlook tips

‘Always on’ can be an addiction!Set hours each day(If not possible in your job, perhaps turn off

notification symbol and bleep)Triage system to clear out in-box each day:• Really need attention• Get rid• File – reference – later action

More on email/ Outlook

TemplatesOut-of-office assistant (when you’re actually in

the office!)Meetings calendar – dittoFAQs - post on website and send the enquirer a

link

Management Time: Who’s got the Monkey?

William Oncken and Hal Burrows, Harvard Business Review

Ken Blanchard: ‘The One-Minute Manager Meets the Monkey’, Harper Collins, 1990.

ISBN 978-0-00-711698-0

Four rules of monkey management:

1. Descriptions (plan with boss)2. Owners (assignment)3. Insurance (responsibility)4. Feeding and checking (managing performance)

Delegation/ Coaching

Assigning involves a single monkey.True delegation involves a family of monkeys at

once.Coaching gets you into a position to delegate –

aircraft analogy: taking off/ reaching cruising height.

Common barriers to delegation (discuss):

1. The task won’t be done as I want it.2. I feel guilty about handing out dull or repetitive work.3. They say they won’t do it: haven’t got the time.4. I feel uncomfortable about confronting a poor performer.5. I don’t have anyone to whom to delegate.

Delegation issues – comments from delegates (1)

• Satisfaction a problem (control freak): will my colleagues provide work of sufficiently high quality?

• There are different ways of achieving a task: yours isn’t necessarily the best. Be prepared for your colleagues to do things “their way” provided the outcome is what’s expected of them.

Delegation issues (2)

Fear of their success may be a barrier to delegation (your colleagues could outshine you which will reflect not so well on you). Stand back and ask whether that’s in the best interests of your unit/ department; not to mention your colleague who would benefit from a developmental opportunity.“We’re all in this together” – inform your staff of the context of the work: make it more meaningful in terms of where it fits in with the broader picture.

Delegation issues (3)

• “No chance of doing that now” – agree ‘protected time’ with your colleagues; eg 3.00 on Tuesday afternoon. Relates again to the objectives and priorities established abovr.

• Build or re-building trust where the colleague has a history of not delivering, or has an ‘attitude’ problem.

• Confidence can take time to develop.

Delegation issues (4)

• No-one to whom to delegate. Try delegating upwards and sideways, as well as down.

• Perfectionism can be an issue. Often perfectionism is not needed, or not desirable.

• Discuss and share as a team - delegate to a team and let them decide how to allocate the work. This gives them greater ‘say’, more job satisfaction etc, and produces the end-result required provided you have provided the necessary coaching/ training in the first place.

Monkey management – Imposed Time

• Boss-imposed time• System-imposed time• Self-imposed time– ‘Good’ self-imposed time – more time for

performing the core of your job; more time for life outside work

– ‘Bad’ self-imposed time – subordinate-imposed

Lifestyle (whole lifestyle: work and non-work)

• Clean, tidy desk and clean, tidy home• Clear desk at end of each day• Good sleep habits (eg regular bed time)• Proper breaks away from your desk• Doze off somewhere after lunch (seriously!)• Cycle or walk to work • Walk about at work (eg avoid using the lift)

More Monkey Management

• Saying ‘no’, tactfully.• Investing time in getting to know someone, eg

a regular contact in another dept, or the PA of someone senior.

• An hour for coffee. A friend as well as a colleague.

Living Life to the Fullwww.llttf.com/

llttf.com has ‘ten top tips’, including:

Eat plenty of bananasEat breakfast every day (porridge or muesli)ExerciseWear ‘wow’ glasses!MusicDo a good turn

Other activities (the 80 hours)

• Be extremely selective about TV viewing (like junk food – for the most part)

• More Radio (Radio 4) • Pastimes• Pastimes requiring a minimum standard, eg

choral society, advanced driving• Mothers with young children – regular

evenings out (persuade your spouse to stay in)

Delegates’ concluding contributions

• “Their stress is not your priority”• Don’t try and do everything. Concentrate on a

few activities your enjoy most.• Change your working hours if it suits your boss

and your team, eg 8-4. Flexible working for all team members, can suit the team as a whole.

• Pilates is beneficial and easy to do.

References

Ken Blanchard et al: ‘The One-Minute Manager Meets the Monkey’, Harper Collins, 1990.

ISBN 978-0-00-711698-0David Rock: ‘Your brain at work’, Harper

Business, 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-177129-3Living life to the Full – www.llttf.comLeeds University Bicycle Users’ Group –www.leeds.ac.uk/leedsbug/