Nebraska 4-H. Discover 4-H, Discover YOU!

A Toolkit for Volunteer Leaders

Program Management

[ Social Action Process ] [ Implementing a Plan ] [ Managing Conflict ] [ Time Management ] [ Stress Management ] [ Using Advisory Groups ] [ Resource Development Marketing Programs ] [ Budgets ] [ Reporting to Sponsors ] [ Inter-organizational Coordination ]

Time Management M-4

It's better to be hours ahead than minutes late.

DAILY SELF MANAGEMENT

Do you waste a lot of time? Most of us do waste time occasionally. This module will look at the more common time wasters and give you some ideas about how to improve your time management.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After you complete this module you should be able:

1. To identify common time wasters.
2. To better manage your own time.

EXERCISE:

Let´s start with a personal assessment of problems in time management.

How Do You Rate?* (Circle One)

(yes) (no) 1. Start a job before thinking it through?

(yes) (no) 2. Leave jobs before completion?

(yes) (no) 3. Schedule less important work before more important (and possibly more unattractive work?

(yes) (no) 4. Oversupervise subordinates?

(yes) (no) 5. Undersupervise subordinates, with consequent crises?

(yes) (no) 6. Spend too much time on problems brought to you by subordinates?

(yes) (no) 7. Do things that can be delegated to others?

(yes) (no) 8. Do things that can be delegated to modern machines?

(yes) (no) 9. Do things that actually aren't part of your real job?

(yes) (no) 10. Spend too much time on your previous area of interest or competence?

(yes) (no) 11. Do unproductive things from sheer habit?

(yes) (no) 12. Keep too many, too complicated, or overlapping records?

(yes) (no) 13. Pursue projects you probably can't achieve?

(yes) (no) 14. Pay too much attention to low yield projects?

(yes) (no) 15. Fail to anticipate crises?

(yes) (no) 16. Handle too wide a variety of duties?

(yes) (no) 17. Shrink from unfamiliar duties?

(yes) (no) 18. Fail to build barriers against interruptions?

(yes) (no) 19. Allow conferences and discussions to wander?

(yes) (no) 20. Allow conferences and discussions to continue after their purpose if fulfilled?

(yes) (no) 21. Conduct unnecessary meetings, visits, and phone calls?

(yes) (no) 22. Chase trivial data after the main facts are in?

(yes) (no) 23. Engage in personal work or conversations before starting business work?

(yes) (no) 24. Socialize at great length between tasks?

(yes) (no) 25. Read trade journals, newspapers, and unimportant documents and reports during most productive time each day?

If you circled "yes" for any statement, it may be a problem. Can you correct it? How?

*Adapted from Lloyd T. Westbrook, Arkansas Cooperative Extension.

TIME WASTERS

The following "time wasters" have been found to be the most commonly encountered by management personnel and volunteer workers. In addition to these time wasters, possible causes and solutions are listed as ways of correcting the problems. This list is not complete, but rather a list of those more frequently encountered. Circle the ones that apply to you.

Time Waster	Possible cause	Solution
1. Lack of planning	Failure to see the benefit	Recognize that planning takes time but saves time in the end.
	Action orientation	Emphasize results, not activity.
	Success without it	Recognize that success is often in spite of, not because of, methods.
2. Lack of priorities	Lack of goals and objectives	Write down goals and objectives. Discuss priorities with subordinates.
3. Over commitment	Broad interests	Say no.
	Confusion in priorities	Put first things first.
	Failure to set priorities	Develop a personal philosophy of time. Relate priorities to a schedule of events
4. Management by crisis	Lack of planning	Apply the same solutions as for lack of planning.
	Unrealistic time estimates	Allow more time. Allow for interruptions.
	Problem orientation	Be opportunity oriented
	Reluctance of subordinates to break bad news	Encourage fast transmission of information as essential for timely corrective action.
5. Haste	Impatience with detail	Take time to get it right. Save the time of doing it over.
	Responding to the urgent	Identify what is important.
	Lack of planning ahead	Take time to plan. It repays itself many times over.
	Attempting too much in too little time	Attempt less. Delegate more.
6. Paperwork and reading	Knowledge explosion	Read selectively. Learn speed reading.
	Computeritis	Manage computer data by exception.
	Failure to screen	Remember the Pareto principle. Delegate reading to subordinates.
7. Routine and trivia	Lack of priorities	Set and concentrate on goals. Delegate nonessentials.
	Over-surveillance of subordinates	Delegate; then give subordinates their head. Look to results, not details or methods.
	Refusal to delegate; feeling of greater security in dealing with operating detail	Recognize that without delegation it is impossible to get anything done through others.
8. Visitors	Enjoyment of socializing	Do it elsewhere. Meet visitors outside. Suggest lunch if necessary. Hold stand-up conferences.
	Inability to say no	Screen. Say no. Be unavailable. Modify the open-door policy.
9. Telephone	Lack of self discipline. Desire to be informed and involved.	Screen and group calls. Be brief. Stay uninvolved with all but essentials. Manage by exception.
10. Meetings	Fear of responsibility for decisions	Make decisions without meetings.
	Indecision	Make decisions even when some facts are missing.
	Over communication	Discourage unnecessary meetings. Convene only those needed.
	Poor leadership	Use agendas. Stick to the subject. Prepare concise minutes as soon as possible.
11. Indecision	Lack of confidence in the facts	Improve fact-finding and validating procedures.
	Insistence on all the facts -- paralysis of analysis	Accept risks as inevitable. Decide without all the facts.
	Fear of the consequences of a mistake.	Delegate the right to be wrong. Use mistakes as a learning process.
	Lack of a rational decision-making process	Get facts, set goals, investigate alternatives, and negative consequences, make decision, and implement it.
12. Lack of delegation	Fear of subordinates' competence	Train. Allow mistakes. Replace if necessary. Delegate fully. Give credit. Insure corporate growth to maintain challenge.
	Work overload on subordinates	Balance the workload. Staff up. Reorder priorities.

*Adapted from Lloyd T. Westbrook, Arkansas Cooperative Extension.

Note: Taking a short break now and then to re-energize yourself is not wasting time. To the contrary, it is time well-used. Spending time with your family is not wasting time. Taking vacation time is not wasted time. Do not feel guilty about these activities and similar ones. Wasting time happens when you have a job to do and you use one of the time wasters to avoid or delay the job.

Following is an exercise to help you manage daily time more effectively. You will set priorities and make a flexible schedule which will help to avoid wasting time.

EXERCISE: A DAILY SELF-MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUE

Pretend that you are beginning your next work day. Use the boxes below to fill in the jobs you need to do sometime soon. List the things that you need to do under the appropriate column. List each item in one of the three rows using these criteria:

A - Must be done today or unpleasant consequences will result.

B - Should be done today if possible.

C - Can be put off with no unpleasant consequences.

Then go back to the A row and number each item (of all four columns) according to priority. 1 means it's most important, so I'll do it first, 2 = second priority, and so forth. (Refer to the example below.) The meeting with the publicity committee at 2:00 p.m. becomes the first priority at that time. If you get everything done in the A row, then number the items in the B row and start doing them. You'll need to be somewhat flexible in following the priorities you set, but don't allow yourself to skip an item merely because it may be unpleasant. As the day goes on, priorities may change; new priorities may appear. Add them to the list in terms of their importance.

	Phone	Write	Meet With	Other Misc
A	-	-	-	-
B	-	-	-	-
C	-	-	-	-

Example:

	Phone	Write	Meet With	Other Misc
A	3. Joe--Agenda for tonight 6. Sara-Contract 7. Al-Appt. for tomorrow	1. Outline for Boss 5. News Release	2. Sec. - Xerox Publicity Committee 2 p.m. 8. Landscape Crew	9. Pick up medicine 10. Pay elec. bill 11. Groceries 4. Drop off file
B	Dr. Chang - Appt.	Background Paper on CENTRAL Proposal for facility	Lisa - Loan Jim's Teacher	Check on Tia Buy calendar Mail package to Andy
C	Jason - His trip Lenore - Plans for weekend	Magazine article on leadership		Service Car Pay credit charge Fix faucet

Try this techniques several work days in a row before you judge its effectiveness.

REFERENCES

The Time Trap, by R. Alec Mackenzie, McGraw Hill Paperbacks, 1972.

The Management of Time, by Jeames T. McCay, Prentice-Hall, Sixth Printing, 1977.