Topic 1 - Time and Task

Management

Higher Administration & IT

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Learning Intentions / Success Criteria

Learning

Intentions

Time and

Task

Management

Success Criteria

By end of this topic you will be able to explain various aspects to do with the

time and task management:

• skills required: planning, delegating, organising, directing and controlling

• setting targets for the individual and the organisation such as:

- personal development planning

- action plans and to-do lists

- gantt charts

• dealing with changes in priorities

• monitoring and evaluating progress

• time stealers and strategies to minimise their effect in independent and

group working and meetings

• benefits of good time and task management — to the individual and

organisation

• consequences of bad time and task management — to the individual and

organisation.

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The Effectiveness of Administrative

Practices within Organisations

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What is an Administrative Assistant?

An Administrative

Assistant is an

individual who

provides various kinds

of administrative

support to people and

groups in business

enterprises.

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Duties Undertaken by an

Administrative Assistant • Plan and organise events, such as meetings and conferences.

• File information and documents (manually and usually computerised databases).

• Ensure confidentiality of private and sensitive information.

• Recording information in e-diaries and organising meeting and events.

• Organise travel and accommodation for staff on business trips.

• Creating and updating databases and spreadsheets.

• Preparing a range of business documents.

• Dealing with requests for information from colleagues or customers.

• Reprographic tasks including photocopying documents and booklets, and binding

and scanning documents.

• Overseeing the maintenance of non-computing office equipment to ensure it is in

good working order.

• Ensuring office supplies are replenished as and when necessary.

• Operating a petty cash system to reimburse staff if they have used their own money

to pay for business items.

• Reception duties. 5

Qualities and Skills of an

Administrative Assistant

Qualities

• Hard-working

• Enthusiastic

• Reliable and dependable

• Honest and trustworthy

• Flexible and willing to learn

• Accurate and careful

• Polite

• Able to get on wells with others

• Able to cope with pressure

• Tolerant of others

Skills

• Effective communicator

• Computer literacy and IT

• Problem-solving

• Teamwork

• Planning and organising

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Time and Task Management

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Time and Task Management

• Time management is a very important

skill for all employees.

• Many employees and themselves

frustrated with their workload and this

often leads to stress as they try to catch

up on tasks that they have not managed to

complete.

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Why is it Important to Manage Time

and Tasks?

• Time is limited

• Accomplish more with less effort

• Make better decisions

• Be more successful

• Reduce stress

• Higher quality work

• Creates discipline

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Skills Required for Effective Time and

Task Management • Prioritisation: deciding on what tasks are important, which tasks

should be carried out first and which tasks are less important.

• Resource management: making effective use of time, staff and equipment.

• Organisation: being able to look ahead and plan tasks that need to be carried out.

• Delegation: deciding when it is appropriate to ask someone else to so some of your tasks.

• Assertiveness: being able to say ‘no’ when necessary when you have taken on too much work.

• Negotiation: being able to negotiate deadlines and resources.

• Control: tackling tasks calmly and in order of priority.

• Evaluation: being able to look at tasks, seek improvement and identify the causes of any problems.

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Other Skills Required for Effective

Time and Task Management

• Planning: employees planning their time and resources by using tools available, such as daily to-do lists to more long-term action plans or development plans.

• Directing: some employees will be required to direct other employees to get the word done. This will involve leadership, communication, motivation and delegation.

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Effects of Good Time and Task

Management

Effective time and task management will bring benefits

to both the individual and the organisation, including:

• increased productivity and better quality of work

• increased morale and motivation

• increased job satisfaction and lower staff turnover

• lower stress levels among staff, which will reduce

absenteeism

• better relationships with colleagues and management

• good customer relations as deadlines will be met.

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Consequences of Poor Time and Task

Management

If time is not managed effectively this will have a negative

impact on both the individual and the organisation, including:

• staff being stressed, which leads to absenteeism

• lower productivity and poor quality of work

• lower staff morale and motivation

• poor job satisfaction and high staff turnover

• poor customer relations and an increase in customer

complaints

• poor relationships with management

• increased costs to the organisation.

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Time Stealers

• Time stealers are time-

wasting activities that

eat away at time and

reduce effectiveness in

the workplace.

• Employees need to be

aware of time stealers

and what they can do

to improve these

situations.

Examples include:

• lack of forward planning

• interruption from the telephone

• interruption from visitors

• taking on too much work

• desk stress

• procrastination (putting off)

• meeting overrunning

• making unnecessary journeys

• crisis management

• unclear or poor communication. 14

Delegation

Causes for managers

finding it difficult to

delegate:

• believe they can do

the job better

themselves

• their standards are

too high

• they are afraid of

losing control.

Result of managers failing:

• suffer from stress due to managing a heavy

workload

• often miss deadlines for tasks

• their work may not be of the highest standard

• fail to develop staff

• cause their team to suffer from low morale and

job satisfaction

• spend more time recruiting and training new

staff

• miss out on promotional opportunities.

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Delegation is where responsibility and/or authority is given to another person

(usually from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out certain activities/tasks.

Setting Targets for the Individual and

the Organisation

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Why is it Important to Set Targets?

There are a number of reasons why targets should be set

for both individual employees and the organisation as a

whole. Setting targets helps:

• measure the success of an organisation

• managers organise their resources (both financial and

human)

• all employees to understand their role in the

organisation

• employees to measure the success of their work

compared with the original targets set.

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‘SMART’ Targets

When targets are set they need to be SMART:

S

Specific

Is the target well defined and does it state exactly what is

required?

M

Measurable

What will be the measurement unit to see whether or not

the target has been achieved?

A

Agreed

The target must be discussed and agreed with your line

manager as part of your personal development

R

Realistic

Do you have the necessary skills and knowledge to

complete the target or are you being over-ambitious?

T

Timed

A time should be set as to when the target will be

completed.

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Planning / Recording Aids

The following methods can be used to record tasks that need to be completed to achieve the targets and help them keep track of their own progress:

• Personal development plan

• To-do list

• Priorities list

• Action plan

• Electronic diary

• Gantt chart

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Personal Development Plan

• A document that allows employees to formally record

areas of strengths and areas for training and

development.

• Employees should discuss the plan with their line

manager on a regular basis and it is often discussed

annually.

• This allows the employee to focus on aspects of their

job, identify skills they have that could be shared with

others, identify their training needs and prepare them

for promotion.

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To-do List

This is a document that an

individual could use on a

day-to-day basis to remind

them of the tasks that need

to be completed.

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Priorities List

The same list of tasks but

this time put in an order

showing which tasks

needs to be tackled first.

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Action Plan

This is a document that could be prepared to help

plan a long-term project and show the tasks that

need to be completed, an estimate of how long

the tasks should take and any notes to explain

actions.

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Electronic Diary

• Useful for arranging meetings as days, weeks

and months can be seen at one glance, and the

e-diaries of all participants can be seen at the

same time.

• Most e-diaires have electronic tasks lists.

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Gantt Chart

• This is a chart that a manager could put up to

allow individuals to see at a glance key dates

and the tasks that have to be completed.

• It can also be used to monitor when tasks have

been completed.

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Dealing with Changes in Priorities

Sometimes work plans and targets have to be changed due to

unforeseen circumstances. Examples of circumstances that could affect

day-to-day work include:

• Unforeseen circumstances – staff absence, network crashing, etc.

• Were the targets SMART in the first place?

• Did the actions of others hold you up?

• Did additional tasks occur?

• Did the task extend beyond your capabilities?

• Did your line manager support you?

If any of these situations arise the employee should remain calm and

maybe call on the help of others to complete tasks.

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Monitoring and Evaluating Progress

When targets are set it is important that measures are put in place to monitor

the progress of these targets. Some of these control mechanisms are:

• Sample checks: where some but not all of the tasks are looked over by

the immediate supervisor

• Line manager: checking at regular times how the work is progressing

• Buddy system: where an employee is paired with a more experienced

member of staff who can be called on for help and advice

• Mentoring system: where an employee is assigned a more senior

member of staff who can be called on for help and advice

• Gantt chart: a chart that can be used to monitor progress against

planned targets and actual progress

• Audit or system check: where current procedures are reviewed and

changes made to improve efficiency

• Regular meetings: between staff and line managers.

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