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5 Ways for Managers to Gain More Time – Time Management for Managers · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Time management for managers is a real challenge.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: The demands on your time and workload only seem to increase.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Your boss and your team look to you to solve the inevitable problems that come up, all demanding your time.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Time always seems to be against you.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I have five ways for managers to gain more time.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Implement these well, and you could leave each day at 5 while still delighting your manager, all the way through to spending the freed up time to deliver more and bringing your next promotion forward.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: These steps are, firstly, ruthlessly prioritise using eight time management techniques.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, delegate problems, not tasks.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Third, make meetings valuable or bin them.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, encourage decision making across the team.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then fifth, create more leaders in your team.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Implementing each of these five ways for managers to gain more time will make a significant difference to your working day and help your career progress.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles and I've had a 25-year management career in corporates and household names such as Innocent Drinks, EY and Fosters through to SMEs, and from professional level through to board director level.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Finding ways to gain more time and increase the value you add with the time you have, I think, are essential to a successful management career.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, Enhance.training shares business and people management expertise to help you improve your performance and that of your team and business.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: And do visit us at enhance.training and take a look at the courses and resources for you to improve your management skills and the outcome your team delivers.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So the first time management for managers technique is improving how you prioritize your tasks and projects.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone says to prioritize better.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: The challenge is always how to prioritize better.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Prioritize what your team is working on as much as what you are working on personally.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Here are eight different time management techniques for managers to help you gain more time and improve prioritization.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, use an urgency versus importance check against each task or project you do.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Do the important tasks first and try not to do the non-important and non-urgent tasks.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, check tasks or project alignment with a team and company goals.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: The more aligned, the more important it is to complete.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Third, keep asking why until you understand the purpose, context and value of a given task.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Asking why helps you understand how important and urgent a task or request is.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: It is amazing how much time you can save by asking why.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, get great at communicating and managing expectations with all your stakeholders.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Good communication means that you reduce the amount of time spent communicating.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Good expectation management means that you spend less time dealing with unhappy stakeholders.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, plan carefully.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Doing the right task at the right time and with the right resources is much quicker than doing a task out of sync or with limited resources, etc.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: 6th, know when and how to ask for help.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: This reduces the time spent worrying about getting what you need to get done.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: 7th, get better at saying no to non-important tasks and other requests which don't add enough value.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Being good and diplomatic at saying no reduces workloads without upsetting stakeholders.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: 8.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Invest in the right tools to do the task faster.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The right tools or even reasonable tools can reduce time on repetitive tasks via automation and can make a massive difference across the team.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Prioritize and time management is a lot more than just an intellectual exercise.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Time management is an exercise in discipline and self-control too.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: We are all tempted to do the tasks that we can, that we know, or that we enjoy first.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Resist this temptation and do the most important tasks first.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Keep focused on your top priority until you have completed it, then move on to the next priority.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Keep the main thing the main thing.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Essential to good time management.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: The second time management technique for managers to gain more time is to delegate problems not tasks.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine you have a problem that needs to be solved.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going to delegate tasks, you have to work out a solution, then plan the steps, tasks and activities that need to be done to implement that solution.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Only then can you delegate the task with the expectation of getting back what you want.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: This solutioning and planning stage takes time, sometimes a lot of time, and then you need to communicate each task carefully and support the implementation.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Compare this to delegating a problem.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: The most important stage is to work out and define the question or problem that needs solving.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Once the problem is clear, ask team members to create a solution.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you might need to coach team members more during the solutioning phase, yet, this is likely to be a lot less time consuming than doing it yourself.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: The real benefits come over time.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you delegate tasks, you'll be doing the solutioning part into the future.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you delegate problems, the level of coaching will decrease as team members develop their skill at solving this problem.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, you'll have a more skilled and motivated team with more people that can solve this type of problem.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: This will save you a lot of time going forward.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, you can't always delegate a problem.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Judge when you can delegate a problem and delegate the problem.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Over time you'll find that you can delegate a much wider range of problems.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: You save a lot of your time and develop your team in the process.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: The third way for managers to gain more time is to make meetings valuable or bin them.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Per Forbes, 50% of time spent in meetings is not well spent.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: How many meetings do you organise or attend over which you have a lot of influence or control?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Quite a few I'd imagine.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Write a list of the meetings that you do organise and attend.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Against each entry, write down the purpose of the meeting.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some examples could be firstly information sharing, problem solving, decision making, fourth planning and fifth increasing team focus and goals, etc.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Any meeting which doesn't have a clear purpose, either cancel the meeting or improve the purpose of the meeting.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Provide an agenda before the meeting so attendees understand what has been covered and they can start thinking about their contribution to each area.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Be strict on who should attend each meeting, only those contributing should be attending.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Use meeting pre-reads to communicate as much information as possible.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Use the meeting time for debate, discussion, problem solving and decisions.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Good meetings should result in the goal of the meeting being achieved and further actions for some or all participants.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Capture the meeting's main points in meeting minutes and share these minutes with the team to keep them informed.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: This reduces the need to have extra attendees for information sharing purposes while still providing them with the relevant information.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, book in shorter meetings.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: A meeting scheduled for an hour always seems to last an hour.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: If it is booked for 45 minutes instead and you push to achieve the meeting's goals, everyone speeds up a little, you say 15 minutes.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And imagine how many times that happens with the various meetings you have.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone gains more time and each meeting becomes more valuable to attend.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth time management technique for managers to gain more time is to encourage decision making across the team.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone makes decisions in their job.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: The impact of decisions made by team members is generally lower than the impact of decisions made by managers, and this is replicated through the organization.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: A time trap that many managers fall into is expecting their team members to consult them on the decisions being made or accept staff members asking them to make decisions for them.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: This lowers the risk for the team member, but it doesn't help your time management.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: I have made both mistakes myself.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: To create more time as a manager, get your team members to make appropriate decisions.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: This requires you to provide them safety to make the decisions, avoid making those decisions for them, and coaching them to make decisions as needed.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: A key step is to define what decisions can be made by which positions within your team.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Create a document outlining decisions permissible into sensible categories.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Some examples could include, firstly, the cash spend or the spend against budgets.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, it could be the contractual obligations with customers and suppliers that that person is allowed to enter into.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or third, it could be the types of decisions that can be made, such as hiring or contractual obligations or buying, etc.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Tailor how you define decision making to the jobs that you're doing within your team.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: A decision authority document is a great starting point in providing safety for your staff to make decisions.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: When a team member should be making a decision and the impact or cost is within their authority, encourage them to make the decision.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Be very conscious of what you do.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: The minute you make a decision for them, they will come back time and time again to ask you.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Coach them to make a decision and they will gain confidence in making the decision themselves without needing to run it past you.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, don't punish poor decisions.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you do, team members will stop making decisions.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, coach the team member and others, if appropriate, how to make a better decision in that circumstance in the future.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Encourage appropriate decision making across your team.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: It will save you a lot of time.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth way for managers to gain more time is to create more leaders within the team.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Having more leaders within the team helps share your leadership burden, which gives you more time and energy to use to move your own career forward.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Every team member can act as a leader, can practice leadership skills regardless of their job title.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Leaders typically firstly help solve problems, they also challenge the status quo looking for improvements, and thirdly, they're usually confident to make decisions within their remit.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Leaders are agents of change and improvement.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Team members practicing leadership skills are great sources of support for the manager of the team.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Encouraging management and leadership skills help you build high-performing teams, and it helps you move your career forward through good succession planning.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Work to create more leaders in your team to help you gain more time and reduce the pressure and stress of management.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Implement as many of these actions to gain more time for managers as practical.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: They all work.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Time management for managers is even more important as you have to manage time for yourself and your team.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: So to recap, we have gone through firstly, prioritise ruthlessly using the eight time management techniques we've discussed.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, delegate problems, not tasks.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, make meetings valuable or bin them.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, encourage decision making across the team, and then fifth, create more leaders in your team.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on what I've covered in this podcast, five ways for managers to gain more time, please email me at support at enhance.training and I'll get back to you.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.