We live in an era when our available time seems to be shrinking just as demands on it feel as though they keep growing. As a business leader, you can feel pressured to make the most of every moment and to ensure that your employees do too. The tips below can help you use time more effectively.
Get the Tools You Need
Sometimes, big improvements can happen when you provide your employees with the right tools. Talking with your managers and employees can help you better identify those needs. If you have a government fleet that operates in California, you probably already know that there are smog check requirements. You can lose valuable work time with smog inspection testing, but telematics can reduce that time and save you money. It’s often worthwhile to consider whether any efficiency issue you’re having might be fixed with a tech solution.
Have Clear Objectives
Clearly stated, measurable goals and objectives can be a real boon to productivity and time management. When you and your staff know exactly what you are working toward, you can see yourself making progress that you can track. This can be deeply satisfying and motivating. A clear path that gets you to your objective also helps you strip out extraneous tasks and distractions and focus on what is most important.
Plan Ahead
Good advance planning offers a number of options, including giving you a good idea of how long projects are going to take. You can work with your employees to arrive at estimates that seem reasonable to you both, breaking projects down into more manageable tasks. Another time saving element of advance planning is that it gives you the opportunity to anticipate obstacles rather than being stalled by them when they crop up. You won’t always find the right solution or anticipate every problem, but this approach will help you eliminate a number of them. Starting each day with a concrete sense of what you need to do can help you stay focused and proceed through your list with a minimal amount of time.
Consider the Less Intuitive Option
All of the above suggestions are good when it comes to improving your own time management and that of your employees. However, there is one other option worth considering as well. While trying new tools and techniques and keeping your office organized can bring improvements, there are other situations when these efforts can have the opposite effects. Employees who feel pressured to stick to a high-production quote can burn out and may be more likely to quit.
Holding yourself to similar standards can also lead to burnout. In addition, employees rarely appreciate being micromanaged. There are limits to how much you can maximize efficiency, so pay attention to your own cues and those of your employees. You may be surprised to find that sometimes, when it comes to productivity and making the best of the time you have, less is more. Making sure to step away can mean that you work more effectively when you return.
