Establishing an effective time management system does not mean working longer; it means working better and smarter. Aimed at busy supervisors and middle managers, "Time Management for Managers" builds a strong foundation of principles and concepts to help you master the basics in this very important area.

How to Work out, Work in or Work Better

Whether your management time plan is Work Out, Work in or Work Better, you must first ask yourself where the emphasis is on working away from or working towards your career goals. Go on, take our one-minute quiz here!

Time Management Skills

Developing the skills needed to successfully deal with money is the first step to being more self-assured with money. Whether you are looking to build the skills needed for debt management, or debt-free living, or are managing employee time toward organizational goals, you cannot do it without good time management skills!

Although experienced managers may think that self-discipline comes naturally, this is far from the truth. When the organization’s goals are not clear, or are vague, or are stated to cover all possibilities, then there is no way of achieving them in a way that can be measured and monitored. Managers also need to be in tune with the notion of each task in the schedule and project having a definite beginning and ending point, and in making sure they understand when management time is most needed and designed for.

A manager’s emotional maturity is very important when it comes to patience and self-control. If the manager is easily annoyed with employee time behavior, then often an employee will stop coming to meetings when they predict that they will not be able to finish tasks when the project is scheduled. Employees notice when a decision is made that does not reap any benefits for them and they will be understandably frustrated and will search for the quickest and easiest way to make adjustments. When a manager is overly perfectionistic and micro-manages colleagues, they will most likely feel the need to escape and will stay late to work in an effort to avoid constant feedback. Instead they will most likely engage in the quickest solution, picking up the phone to call you and letting you know how frustrated they are.

Another potential pitfall of time financial management is that the wrong kind of workload drops into the employee’s lap and which is time consuming and frustrating. An office manager or coordinator will often end up trying to manage a colleague’s calendar or tasks rather than fulfilling their own. The result of the knowledge worker performing better is a loss of an employee’s motivation and some may even consider new jobs to fulfill their needs. Managers must focus on some basic concepts in order to be successful with time management, which is very different from self-labeling oneself as a time manager. In some situations, individuals create situations beyond themselves, simply to feel that they are in control. The same goes for a manager, except a manager will make a decision to either delegat or delegate a task, in order to make themselves feel in control.

Conclusion:

Developing as a successful time manager doesn’t magically happen as you move into management. You do not suddenly wake up one day as a competent time manager, but instead continue to strategize and learn through your mistakes as you work to build this type of skill-set. Many people improve some of their excessive and problematic attitudes and behaviors and go on to be more successful than they were as an individual contributor. If you understand and use time management as a technique for organizational effectiveness, and not as a tool for making more efficient use of your own personal time, you will begin to achieve your career goals.