Time is a precious. Are you using this asset to your advantage?
Managers and leaders like you have many demands on their time. In this situation it is all too easy to fall into the trap of trying to do everything and becoming overloaded. The fact is we all only have 24 hours in a day. How you use that time is what sets you apart as one of the best. So what are the 5 simple steps to greater success?
Step 1: Know your deliverables
Everyone has job descriptions, most people have some form of appraisal and some idea of what is expected of them. On the other hand, how clear are you on your key deliverables? These are what you are ultimately going to be measured on. Performance against your key deliverables impact on your salary, your promotion potential for example. Yet surprisingly, people often do not know what their key deliverables are. If this applies to you, make it a priority to find out today.
Step 2: Analyse your time
I often have clients keep a record of where they spend their time over a 2-3 week period. In many instances they discover that the bulk of their time is going on activities that do not directly contribute to key deliverables. Once you are clear on your key deliverables, do this for yourself and see if you are spending your time on what really matters.
Step 3: Make changes
Once you have analysed your time and identified mismatches between your deliverables and activities, it is time to do something about it. This might mean that you delegate more, get more selective about meetings you attend or how you deal with e-mails.
Step 4: Make time for planning
As a leader, planning is an important part of your role. You and your team need to be clear where they are heading over the coming months. Start with a plan covering the next quarter that subsequently breaks down into monthly, weekly and daily plans.
Step 5: Monitor results
Plans deliver results when they are executed. Sometimes you will get the results you expected. Other times you will get different results than you expected and may not even get any results. Make sure that when you execute plans you have a process in place to check progress and make changes where appropriate.
At the end of the day we all have 24 hours at our disposal. The question is how smart do you want to be in using this?
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