Management Matters

Each edition Jackie Astbury, our Training Manager, will look at the ‘managerial side of life’ and focus on management development, providing guidance, tips, techniques and practical advice on an assortment of topics including performance management, conflict management, time management and many more.

So last edition we looked at goals and their importance we now move onto using a system to ‘get stuff done’ in ‘System addict’.

As mentioned last edition I’m not naturally good at time management I have to work hard at it. I’ve tried all manner of systems: list making systems, logging where your time goes systems, priority systems, solar systems, eco systems (that didn’t go well, but my plant is healthier!). After a year I decided nothing worked for me and I realised that no one can devise a system for me and that I need to find what works and do that. So I looked at aspects of each system and took out the bits that would work for me but also how it would fit into what I do. This is what I suggest to people, as we all work differently and have our own little quirks and I firmly believe ‘one size does not fit all’.

So, in all their glory, here are some of the systems I have used. Last month I suggested that this is a buffet of ideas, suggestions and tips and you just use whatever takes your fancy, so let’s begin.

Let’s do the time log…

Time logging – this is where you log each activity on a form. The idea is that every time you change activities you log what it is, how long you spent doing it and its priority. Then you review, literally, where your time goes. This can be useful for some but I didn’t find it particularly helpful, except to make me feel guilty, so I cheated. I am possibly one of the few people who cheated, on a time logging exercise! It was just seeing all that flitting about, in black and white, that made me feel guilty. I know that is sort of the point, but I’m Catholic and I have enough guilt without going and looking for some more! See the thing is I needed help beyond a time log sheet, I knew I flitted about like a giddy butterfly so logging it didn’t actually tell me anything I didn’t know already. So I ditched it BUT I did learn something from it. It introduced me to the voices in my head.

Let me explain before you call someone.

Whilst I was cheating by not filling in stuff on the time log something occurred to me. On some occasions I actually stopped whatever it was I wasn’t supposed to be doing so that I wouldn’t have to put it on the form. So my brain started a self-regulation course, which meant that I would stop ditching what I was doing if something more interesting came up. This is where the Sergeant Major voice came from.

Let me explain some more.

Whenever I start to procrastinate or jump from one task to another without finishing I have a voice that recognises what I am doing and shouts at me to stop. This is the Sergeant Major. See you think you have problems! In my defence, your honour, it works I stop doing stuff before I start (how every Zen of me!)

Anyway if you are going to do a time log don’t follow my lead, be honest or there really is no point in doing it. Try it for a week and each time you change activities log what it is, how long you spent doing it and the priority. The priority will help you ascertain whether you needed to do that task at that moment. It’s probably more useful to have a quick look at the end of each day to review and then put a mark next to problem areas. At the end of the week you’ll see what you need to work on and patterns.

Important/Urgent Matrix

This idea is presidential no less. President Eisenhower once said “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” Dr Stephen Covey then took this and built a matrix (No not that one. It’s basically a posh name for ‘table’)

This matrix helps you with priorities and evaluation of activities to determine what is important and what isn’t and therefore what you should and shouldn’t do right now.

If we go back to goals, important tasks contribute to achieving your goals. Urgent activities are reactive and demand immediate attention. So let’s look at each section:

Quadrant 1 – Important/Urgent – these are either activities you have left until the last minute or unforeseen fires to put out. You are bound to spend some time in here but if you live in here then you need to do something. The obvious suggestion is more planning ahead and perhaps looking at how you approach work. With regards to the unforeseen stuff, to a certain extent all you can do is give yourself a bit of wiggle room in a day so that you can reschedule things.

Q2 – Urgent/not important – usually this is where ‘other people’s urgent’ encroaches on your time. We will look at ways of saying no and/or negotiating these types of situations in a future edition. It is however important to recognise when this is happening as the danger is you end up in Q1 because you have been doing other people’s tasks.

Q3 – Not Urgent/Important – 3 is the magic number here. The activity is important but we’re not stressed out to the point of crazy.

Q4 – Not urgent/Not important – So it begs the question, why are you doing it? Time wasters are in this section which we will look at next edition.

You have to make decisions as to what gets done and when throughout your day but unless you are naturally good at getting the right thing done at the right time then question yourself. Can someone else assist? (We will look at delegation in a future edition) Is it important or just urgent from someone else’s perspective? (We will also look at what if it is your boss who is stamping his/her feet)

What would be the consequences of not doing this immediately?

Always question and don’t always just accept things and you will be more in control, trust me, although I’m not a doctor I do have a 10 meters swimming badge.

Scheduling

I have a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde personality with regards to planning. At home I don’t ever plan but luckily I live with someone who loves to plan. At work however my life is like a military operation, everything that can be planned is, otherwise nothing would ever get done. This is where scheduling comes into its own for me. I put everything in my calendar not just meetings, training sessions etc. but also tasks and activities I need to do. I decide when I am going to do what and block out how long I think it will take. I also give myself a little bit of breathing space just in case the unexpected comes up.

In terms of priority, I try to do the most important thing first so I put in tasks in priority order for the week/day/month.

In this way my calendar sets what I do and when which gives my day the structure it needs.

To do lists

To do or not to do that is the question.

Love them or hate them at some point we make a list. They are either the ever present comfort blanket for you or the thought of seeing everything in a list would send you quickly and quietly to the nearest wine bottle.

I use them when I need to, which is usually when there are a lot of things going on at once that have a similar priority and deadline or I have a project with lots of tasks to do. The important thing about to do lists is prioritising the tasks. If you don’t do this then you will either tackle what is first on the list and work your way down or do the tasks that you like first. Either way the important stuff may well get lost and you will spend your days firefighting.

I think one of the biggest issues with to do lists is where the same items go on day after day as the task hasn’t been completed. If this is the case for you on a consistent basis then maybe look at why things aren’t being done. It might be that you need to log your time or look at delegation or perhaps you are not prioritising effectively. It could be that lists just aren’t working for you and you need a new method.

For more information about management training for your business or for a friendly chat on guidance on training and development of staff contact Jackie Astbury on jackieastbury@chadlaw.co.uk or telephone 0113 2523452.