Many people are fearful to make a decision because they don’t want to make a mistake. Indecision is the worst mistake you can make. Analyze each situation, identify possible solutions, and determine the best possible direction based on all circumstances. Once you do this, then you can move confidently forward. Make your decision and see it through. This doesn’t suggest to make hasty decisions but delaying over minor decisions can sometimes be worse than seeing the wrong decision through.
With responsibility comes paperwork. It is important to keep the paperwork process flowing efficiently. Whenever you find too much paperwork on your desk, take time out to reorganize. Review all the papers on your desk just once and divide it into the following classifications: [Do this, while standing over the waste paper basket]
– Do it now
– Action pending
– Reading material
– Round file [Garbage]
Try to put the highest priority item at the top of your Do it now pile, then act on it immediately. This way, you will not feel overwhelmed with disorganization by having a large volume of paperwork laying around. Clearing your desk completely, or at least organizing it before you leave the office each night, should be a standard practice. This helps to get you off to a good start the next morning.
One of the major causes of failure is the lack of clear, direct communication between people. Too many times we miscommunicate with our boss, subordinates, fellow workers or customers. We tend to communicate in terms of what we think we should say, or in terms of what we think the other person would like to hear, instead of expressing our real thoughts and feelings. Open, clear communication is better for everyone concerned. It avoids a lot of wasted time and problems that miscommunication creates.
This is not to say that one shouldn’t be diplomatic. For instance, telling an employee that they are not doing well is far less productive than coaching them in the areas that will help them to improve. Be clear with your expectations of everyone that you deal with. Know where you’re going. Act with purpose and try to avoid frivolous communication. That only steals your time and inhibits your ability to accomplish. Listen to others first. Understand their position. You don’t have to agree with it but you should at least understand it.
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Although there are times when taking work home with you will be necessary in order to get the job done, it is generally not a good practice. Do not make a habit of bringing work home with you. It is a sign of either poor time management at work or being a workaholic. This is inconsistent with leading a successful, well balanced life. If you find that you are consistently taking work home with you, something’s wrong. Try to delegate the work to someone else, or organize your time more efficiently so that you can get your work done during normal working hours. You need to get away from work at the end of the day, both physically and mentally. Doing office work at home tends to be counter-productive, draining you of energies and alienating your loved ones.
It is also a dangerous habit because if you can’t get something done during the day, you’ll start to believe that “there’s always tonight”… It isn’t worth it.
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Working for long periods of time without taking a break is not time effective. Energy decreases, and physical stress and tension accumulates. Irritability, fatigue, and anxiety can all be caused by the failure to take a time out during a normal work day. Periodic breaks can rejuvenate, invigorate and stimulate a person to be more productive. Don’t be the workaholic who thinks that if you are not always working, you are not being productive. On the contrary, taking a few well timed breaks, with a change of venue, some isometric exercises, or a little bit of social interaction, can make all the difference in the world. Not only will it be refreshing, but it will also increase your efficiency.
Remember, anything that contributes to your health and well being is good time management.
Your behavior and attitude dictate the results you will get in your life. The key to forming good productive behavior is to form good productive habits and eliminate negative, unproductive habits. A habit can be formed, or eliminated, in approximately [21] days of persistent repetitive action.
Positive reinforcement is the key, whether you are working to eliminate a bad behavior, or trying to acquire a positive behavior. Do something to reward yourself for acquisition of a behavior that will improve your life. Do something for yourself when you eliminate a bad habit. Try not to punish yourself for slipping into old habits or failing to maintain good ones. Just simply get back on track and try to maintain the behavior you wish to adopt for approximately twenty-one days.
You have to make the change first. If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.
“Management By Objectives” means keeping your focus on achieving results [the end in mind], rather than the means or policies and procedures required to accomplish them. It is important not to confuse hard work with accomplishment. Working super hard in the wrong direction is self defeating. It is too easy to become preoccupied with policies and procedures. Policies and procedures should be used as a guide with the end result in mind. If you can reach your objectives without the bureaucracy, effort, or red tape, then do it. Follow up by making suggestions to upper management on how the organization can be more effective with less effort.
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The world steps aside for a man / woman who knows where he / she is going. Never walk into a day that has not been planned out in advance. Use some form of daily planner, whether it be a scheduling journal or standard diary. Have your day well planned out and stick to your plan. Before starting your day, review the goals & objectives you have for that day. Block out specific times in order to accomplish your plans. Be careful not to schedule too tightly. Give yourself enough time to prepare prior to an activity, and follow up after each activity. This will tremendously decrease the opportunities for unnecessary interruptions. Good planning will not eliminate all interruptions, but you can minimize them through good time management practices. Instruct your secretary to take good phone messages. Schedule time to return your calls before noon and just before the end of the day where people are less likely to want to simply chat. Set the tone by answering the phone, “How can I help you” or “What can I do for you?” If you are working on something important, it is a good idea to control the environment, so that interruptions do not break your mental focus or slow your momentum.
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Work can be fun. Having a fun working atmosphere requires respect among team members. When individuals know what their responsibilities are, and feel that they have the tools and support from upper management to accomplish them, then morale is high, work becomes fun, and success is the result. Recognition and appreciation can go a long way to make your team happy to work hard. On the other hand, feeling that you can never get on top of your work can be demoralizing. Look for ways to improve your organizational effectiveness. Maintain good systems and follow established policies and procedures. This will greatly reduce the chance of becoming overwhelmed. Feeling overwhelmed is not fun. Winning is fun.
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You must follow up until tasks are completed. Most activities can be completed up to 98% with little effort. It’s that 2% more that makes all the difference in the world. If you assign a task to a subordinate, peer, or co-worker and consistently do not get a timely response, you should ask yourself first how you can improve. Have you left a past impression that missing deadlines is okay? Have you properly tracked your assignments to insure they are being worked on? Be consistent about your expectations to have assignments completed in a timely manner. Don’t leave follow up activities in your memory. You must write them down to ensure that the task you delegated will be performed on time. Keep in mind that, if you are following up properly, and still find that you are checking up on people more than you should, you should ask yourself these questions; Did I set a deadline? Did I issue the request in writing? Have I made myself clear? Do I encourage communication so that people can provide feedback as to what assignments they may consider non-important, and therefore have little motivation to follow through on?
Follow up gets the job done.
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