Time management strategies help you in handling work that is assigned to you for a given period of time. As a project manager, you might be assigned multiple tasks, so you need to plan, manage, and track your team’s work. Meetings, estimations, and planning communication with your customers and the team reporting to the management require effective time management.
What is Time Management?
Time management is simple is how we use our time to accomplish the tasks that are assigned to us. Being a project manager, your job is not only to effectively plan and manage your work time but also the time of the team you oversee. Depending on how well you do juggling different projects and priorities, the better you are able to schedule the work for your teams. Time management helps you in increasing your productivity and effectiveness.
Time Management Strategies for a Project Manager
1) You need to know the end objective
Study reveals that knowing what you want to accomplish in a specific timeframe sets you for success. Planning your daily tasks may be as simple as creating a to-do list consisting of must-haves and want-to-haves. The high-level project plan will not only improve the visibility of requirements across different assignments but also establish the goals required for each project.
2) Set Clear Priorities
Creating a list of things you need to do might seem a daunting prospect. Setting clear priorities will help you order your tasks according to their importance, urgency, and efforts needed to accomplish them.
To distinguish between important and urgent tasks, you can adopt the Eisenhower matrix that would enable you to identify your priorities.
Important and urgent- These are tasks that are required to complete on priority.
Important and not urgent- these are tasks that can be scheduled for a later date.
Not Important and but urgent- These tasks can be delegated.
Not important and not urgent- These tasks can be skipped for the time being and can be done later.
3) Focus on one task at a time
Multitasking might seem praiseworthy but not often as the human brain needs some time to switch to a new task or a project. Try focusing on one task and post-completion switch to a new task. One of the techniques is better known as the Promodoro technique where you can split your work into shorter 25-minute long sessions with breaks between them. It enables you to focus on a single task and increase your productivity. By employing this technique, you can be relieved from fatigue and stress.
4) Minimize Interruptions
90 percent of the project manager’s work involves communication but some tasks require focus. As per Promodoro’s technique, you need to avoid distractions so that you can focus on a task for a period of 25 minutes. Common interruptions such as chat conversations, emails, chatting with colleagues, or informal calls need to be strictly avoided.
Here are some tips that need to be followed:
1) If you worry about missing an email, you need to set yourself a dedicated time so that you can check your emails during that time.
2) Tell your teammates to quit disturbing you when you use your headphones and also you can listen to music as it helps in soothing your nerves or acts as a stress reliever.
3) Snooze notifications and put your phone in either silent mode or turn off your phone.
4) Set yourself a shorter deadline.
The more time is given to you to complete a task, there are chances that you might get complacent and procrastinate on your work rather than finishing it quickly. A well-known economist by the name of Parkinson said, “The work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” So, if you are given more time to complete a task, chances are you won’t do it quickly. Set yourself shorter deadlines, in case you struggle to force yourself to finish a task faster. Ask someone from your team to review your work at a certain time.
5) Learn to Delegate
Certain skillful people at your organization help you deliver tasks you struggle with. To spot available team members with skills, use a resource allocation tool. Delegating work would help you show your employees that you value their input. Empower them to make decisions and limit themselves to supervising.
6) Learn to say No
Knowing your limits when it comes to the amount of work you are able to finish within a given timeframe is very important to not only deliver what you are committed to. Saying no to your Superior might seem intimidating but there are ways to politely do it.
(a)Give a reason- Explain to them the importance of a task that you have currently undertaken and how taking up a new task could impact your work.
(b) Let them prioritize- If you have a lot of tasks on your plate, inform your supervisor about the priorities u have set and let them make a decision.
(c) Don’t lie- Fake excuses are not a good way to deal with requests. Be open about why you are not able to do something at the moment.
(d) Ask if the task may be postponed- An initial date someone asks you to deliver a task is not a definite due date. Show them if the new task is possible to get scheduled for a later date, it would be possible for you to take it on.
Keep daily summaries of your work as it helps you discover where you did well. At the end of each day, take a look at your lists and check the tasks you have completed. In case you have not completed the tasks, check the reason for not completing it, and find solutions to them.
13 Great Resources to Help Manage Your Time
If a commodity is so expensive that it cannot be purchased even with enormous amounts of money, then we know that it is invaluable. Time is that commodity, which is available in a measured quantity to everyone on earth. In a day we all get 24 hours, but only a few of us know how to make use of those precious few hours. Below is a set of sources that teach you to maximize your productivity by managing the time available.
- Life Hack: 10 ways to improve your time management skills.
- Harvard Business Review: Learn how to plan if you are new to organizing time
- Businessballs: A detailed guide to managing your time
- Management Skill Advisor: This article deals with the basics of time management starting from its definition.
- Time Management Central: The TMC provides you with tools and resources to manage your time.
- James Madison University: This university guide provides tips and strategies to use your time more effectively.
- Ywam: This article takes a different perspective and analyzes the possible reasons that could result in your current time management strategies being ineffective.
- American Management Association: Take seminars on time management on this site.
- Social Media Week: 7 time management lessons from 3 of the busiest business leaders
- ERC: Take a time management course here
- Sophia: Time management as a learning strategy
- UX Planet: A detailed guide to time management
- NEA Member Benefits: Time management tips for work-life balance.
Conclusion
Managing time and resources for a project is crucial for a project manager. Aspiring and experienced project managers need to gain in-depth knowledge of project management best practices, frameworks, and methodologies through taking up globally recognized project management certification courses. This helps enterprises to increase productivity and achieve desired results in the long run.
Know more about project management best practices through Invensis Learning’s Project Management certification training on Online PMP Courses, CAPM Online Course, Prince2 Foundation Certification, Project Management Fundamentals, P3O, and MSP. We are a trusted training partner for Fortune 500 companies and Government institutions globally.
