Managing people is a big task that requires leadership, communication and time management skills. As the importance of a positive working environment becomes more important, companies and corporations are investing in leadership seminars and training to increase managerial performance. Even so, at the end of the day a vast majority of supervisors feel like they run out of time and often leave important tasks for tomorrow. Part of the reason is hidden time stealers.
The Canyon of Communication
Instant communication has become essential to functional organizations. Companies often deal with national or global partners and must be able to deliver information in a variety of formats. All that information takes a toll, however. According to Dr. Martin Hilbert, the average person in 2007 received data equal to 174 newspapers every day. Although much of that information was in the form of videos or images, it is still a lot of communication. Corporate managers are often bogged down reading emails, reviewing presentations and trying to stay up-to-speed on industry trends.
To fight information spread, create a time for reading and responding to emails. You might do this for half an hour in the morning and again in the afternoon. In the meantime, only respond to requests that are urgent, such as demands from your boss.
Meeting Mania
A survey conducted by Salary.com in 2012 indicated that 47 percent of workers believe the number one office time-waster is meetings. It seems the larger the organization, the more meetings are called. As a manager, you have some control over meetings within your area. Limit department meetings to once a month and try to cover everything in a concise manner. When needs arise during the month, meet only with those who are involved with the issue instead of taking up time for the entire staff.
You can also talk to your boss if corporate meeting creep is impacting your leadership ability. Many times, upper management will make arrangements to reduce meetings or excuse you from meetings if you can show the time spent is impacting the bottom line. If you cannot get out of the meeting, try attending via phone. You may be able to get work done while waiting for the section that is relevant to you.
The Constant Complainer
Every manager eventually runs into the employee that is never pleased. A staff member that complains no matter what you do can cut into your time with other team members. They might email numerous times per day, ask for meeting time on a regular basis or show up in your office every afternoon. Although a good supervisor listens to and tries to help team members, there may be a time when you have done everything you can. In these cases, let the employee know what you have done and that the situation has been resolved as best as possible. You can also set times for staff to meet with you on a regular basis in order to avoid unscheduled interruptions.
A manager’s work is never done and there will always be employee needs to take care of. By reducing time spent in wasted effort, duplicate communications and dealing with unnecessarily needy staff, you open your schedule up to handle problems and issues that will actually impact production.
– Megan Salman is a full-time writer for higher ed blogs and journals nationwide with a focus on online education opportunities. Several schools offer online degrees in business, including mba.norwich.edu and newhaven.edu.
