TIME MANAGEMENT

AND DELEGATION

SKILLS

PLEASE ANSWER FOLLOWING QUESTIONS      

1.     What one thing could you do ( you are not doing currently ) that if you do on regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your personal life ?       

2.     What one thing in your business or professional life would bring similar results ? 

EXERCISE 1 :

HOW WELL DO YOU MANAGE YOUR TIME 

Listed below of ten statements that reflects generally accepted principles of good time management. Answer these items by circling the item most characteristic you perform your job. Please be honest. No one will know your answers except you.

  1] Each day I set aside a small amount of time for planning and thinking about my job.

0. Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3.   Almost always

2] I set specific, written goals and put

deadlines on them.

0.   Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3.   Almost always3] I make a daily “to do” list, arrange items

in order to importance, and try to get the

important items done as soon as

possible.

0.   Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3.   Almost always

4] I am aware of the 80-20 rule and use it

in doing my job. (The 80-20 rule states

that 80 percent of your effectiveness will

generally come from achieving only 20

percent of your key activities)

0.   Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3.   Almost always

5] I keep a loose schedule to allow for crisis

and the unexpected.

0. Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3. Almost always

6] I delegate everything I can to others.

0. Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3. Almost always

HOW WELL DO YOU MANAGE YOUR TIME 

Listed below of ten statements that reflects generally accepted principles of good time management. Answer these items by circling the item most characteristic you perform your job. Please be honest. No one will know your answers except you.

7] I try to handle each piece of paper only once.

0. Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3. Almost always

8] I eat a light lunch so I don’t get sleepy in the afternoon

0. Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3. Almost always

9] I make an active effort to keep away common interruptions (visitors, meetings, telephone calls) from continually disrupting my work day.

0. Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3.   Almost always

10] I am able to say no to other’s requests for

my time that would prevent my completing

important tasks.

0. Almost never

1.   Sometimes

2.   Often

3. Almost always

To get your score, give yourself: 3 points for each “Almost always”2 points for each “Often”1 point for each “Sometimes”0 point for each “Almost never” If you scored:

00 - 15 Better give some thought to managing your time.

16 - 20 You’re doing on but there’s room for improvement.

21 - 25 Very good.

26 - 27 Excellent

28 - 30 You cheated.

VALUE OF TIME

• To realise the value of ONE YEAR:Ask a student who has failed the final exam.

• To realise the value of ONE MONTH :Ask the mother who has given birth to premature baby.

• To realise the value of ONE WEEK :Ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

• To realise the value of ONE HOUR :Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

• To realise the value of ONE MINUTE :Ask the person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

• To realise the value of ONE SECOND :Ask the person who has survived an accident.

• To realise the value of ONE MILLISECOND :Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE, TREASURE EVERY MOMENT YOU HAVE

FIND OUT YOUR TIME-WASTERSInstructions : Select your top time wasters and assign weights in descending order of importance. Weight your top timewaster “10”, your next most important “9” etc.

PLANNING

1.   ---- Lack Objectives/Priorities/Planning

2.   ---- Crisis Management, Shifting

Priorities

3.   ---- Attempting too much at once/

Unrealistic time estimates

4.   ---- Waiting for Planes/Appointments

5.   ---- Travel

6.   ---- Haste/Impatience

 ORGANIZING

 7.   ---- Personal Disorganization/Cluttered

Desk

8.   ---- Confused Responsibility and

Authority

9.   ---- Duplication of Effort

10. ---- Multiple Bosses

11. ---- Paperwork/Red Tape/Reading

12. ---- Poor Filing System

13. ---- Inadequate Equipment/Facilities

STAFFING

 

14. ---- Untrained/Inadequate Staff

15. ---- Under/Over Staffed

16. ---- Absenteeism/Tardiness/Turnover

17. ---- Personnel with problems

18. ---- Over-Dependent Staff

 

DIRECTING

 

19. ---- Ineffective Delegation/Involved in

Routine Details

20. ---- Lack of Motivation/Indifference

21. ---- Lack of coordination/Teamwork

FIND OUT YOUR TIME-WASTERSInstructions : Select your top time wasters and assign weights in descending order of importance. Weight your top timewaster “10”, your next most important “9” etc.

CONTROLLING

 

22. ---- Telephone Interruptions

23. ---- Drop-in visitors

24. ---- Inability to say “No”

25. ---- Incomplete/Delayed Information

26. ---- Lack of Self-Discipline

27. ---- Leaving Tasks Unfinished

28. ---- Lack Standards/Controls/Progress

Reports

29. ---- Visual Distractions/Noise

30. ---- Over-control

31. ---- Not being informed

32. ---- People not available for discussion

 

COMMUNICATING

 

33. ---- Meetings

34. ---- Lack/Unclear Communication,

Instructions

35. ---- Socializing/Idle Conversation

36. ---- “Lack of”/Over-Communication

37. ---- Failure to Listen

DECISION-MAKING

 

38. ---- Procrastination/Indecision

39. ---- Wanting all the facts

40. ---- Snap decision

TIME MANAGEMENT

FILM

LEARNING TO SAY “NO”.When I was Director of University Relations at a large university, I hired a very talented, proactive, creative writer. One day, after he had been on the job for a few months, I went into his office and asked him to work on some urgent matters that were pressing on me.

He said,”Stephen, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Just let me share with you my situation.”

Then he took me over to his wallboard, where he had listed over two dozen projects he was working on, together with performance criteria and deadline dates that had been clearly negotiated before. He was highly disciplined, which is why I went to see hem in the first place. If you want to get something done, give it to a busy man.

Then he said,”Stephen, to do these new jobs would take several days. Which of these projects would you like me to delay or cancel to satisfy your request?”

Well, I didn’t want to take the responsibility for that. I didn’t want to put a cog in the wheel of one of the most productive people on the staff just because I happened to be managing by crisis at that time. The jobs I wanted done were urgent, but not important. So I went and found another crisis manager and gave the job to him.

Dr. Stephen R. Covey

Need immediate attention.

Insist on action.

Usually visible.

They are right in front of us.

They press on us.

Often they are pleasant, easy and fun to do.

Usually we react to urgent matters.

OUR TASKS

IMPORTANT

URGENT NOT URGENT

NOT

IMPORTANT

Q IV

NOT URGENT

AND

NOT IMPORTANT

Q I 

URGENT

AND

IMPORTANT

Q III

URGENT

AND

NOT IMPORTANT  

Q II

NOT URGENT

AND

IMPORTANT

QUADRANT MATRIX

IMPORTANT

URGENT NOT URGENT

NOT

IMPORTANT

Q II Prevention   Relationship building  Recognizing new

opportunities

Q I  

  Crises  Pressing Problems  Deadline driven projects

Q III  

Interruptions Phone calls    Mail    Meetings    Popular’Activites    Pressing Matters

Q IV   

   Trivial Activities         Mail         Phone calls

PUT / 010

ACTIVITIES IN EACH QUADRANT

IMPORTANT

URGENT NOT URGENT

NOT

IMPORTANT

Q II Vision. Perspective  Balance  Discipline  Control  Few Crises

Q I  

Stress   Burnout  Crisis Management  Always putting out fires

Q III  

Short term focus  Crisis Management  Sees goals/plans as worthless  Feel victimized/out of control  Shallow relationship

Q IV   

Total irresponsibility  Fired from jobs  Dependent on others for basics

PUT / 010

RESULT OF EACH QUADRANT

IMPORTANT

URGENT NOT URGENT

NOT

IMPORTANT

PLEASE GO BACK TO THE EXERCISE 1 WHERE YOU

WROTE THE ANSWERS FOR TWO QUESTIONS.

PLEASE VERIFY YOUR ANSWERS WOULD FALL INTO

SECOND QUANDRANT, WHERE THE TASKS ARE NOT

URGENT BUT THEY ARE IMPORTANT.

DO YOU SLEEP WELL WHEN THE WIND BLOWS?

A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him. A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace.

The young man was sleeping soundly.

The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.

The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man’s words. “I can sleep when the wind blows.”    

How does this apply to our lives ?

PLEASE IDENTIFY SOME MORE QUADRANT II ACTIVITIES WHICH ARE NEGLECTED IN YOUR LIFE.

LIST THEM AND DECIDE TO WORK ON THEM.

MAKE AN ACTION PLAN.

EXERCISE 2 :

REASONS GIVEN BY MANAGERS FOR NOT DELEGATING

•THE STAFF ALREADY HAVE TOO MUCH TO DO.

•THE STAFF ARE NOT ABLE TO DO.

•THE STAFF DON’T WANT TO DO.

•I HAVE NOBODY TO DELEGATE WORK TO.

•I DON’T HAVE AN AUTHORITY.

•I DON’T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN IT.

•IT IS BETTER TO DO IT MYSELF.

SOME TASKS WHICH CAN EASILY BE DELEGATED

  Reports.Fact gathering.Planning a project.Supervising a project.Delegating at some routine meetings.Liaison with other departments.Routine telephone calls and letters.Screening and preliminary interviews/meetings.Departmental routine work.  

RULES FOR DELEGATION

• WHY - Explain “Why” of the job

• WHAT - Explain “WHAT RESULTS” are expected. Do not explain “HOW”

• TIME - Communicate dead line

• AUTHORITY - Explain his authority

• FEEDBACK - Ask his feedback

• CONTROL - Decide review meetings

THANK YOU