Top 3 Obstacles to Effective Time Management in a Corporate Environment

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Issue-Based Work Planning and Hypothesis Problem Solving (25-slide PowerPoint presentation). The principles behind Issue-Based Work Planning are a powerful concept for use on all business issues and help to align the approach with the overriding issues, rather than the traditional process structure. They help ensure that all relevant project issues are covered and to arrive at the most [read more]

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You have heard it said more times than you can count the fingers and toes of every person within your company that “time is money.” And, how true this is. Time management is one of the key issues which every organization faces on a daily basis from the board of directors right on down to the lowest-paid hourly worker.

Poor time management can have serious consequences in terms of profitability, so this is a challenge that must be defined and overcome even before it becomes an issue. It can’t be said enough just how important effective time management is and never more so than for project managers.

1. Planning

If you have any hope of managing your time efficiently, begin with detailed planning for any and all projects before they become a work in progress. Even the slightest delay caused by some unforeseen situation can have devastating consequences for the project as a whole.

Yes, there will be those little glitches from time to time, but major issues should be understood and planned for in order to prevent them from interrupting the flow of work. Perhaps it’s time to look at the leading project management software with built-in planning modules to assist you in charting and organizing tasks within a project.

2. Prioritization

Another obstacle to effective time management is not having the ability to prioritize adequately. This is also something that can be dealt with at the very beginning of a project because it can be outlined in the workflow chart included with any good project management software.

Which tasks are a priority and which can be held until a later date? Sometimes you may need to make a split-second decision but those times will be fewer and far between if you’ve prioritized tasks and goals prior to commencing any new project. As an added benefit, project management software can keep all team leaders on task because they can be given access as well.

3. Delegation

For so many years now the term “multi-tasking” has been glorified to the extent that project managers take on too much simultaneously. In fact, research has proven that multitasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%. Imagine the impact on your profits and you will see how serious an issue this can be. Take the time to understand key players on your team and delegate jobs and tasks to those who can take some of the burden off you.

Do you know how many serious errors are made due to exhaustion or mental overload? Avoid that at all costs. Delegate! Delegate! Delegate!

Yes, time is money. If you, as a project manager or company director, want to increase profitability it pays to better manage your time. Wasting time is akin to wasting money and that eats away at your bottom line. Are you looking to increase company profits? Stop wasting time which is costing you so much more than you can imagine.

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