What are the biggest challenges your team faces when it comes to managing their time?
Our reader poll today asks: What are the biggest challenges your team faces when it comes to managing their time?
- Too many meetings 23.69%
- Too much email 11.85%
- Lack of clear priorities 18.42%
- Too much work to do 26.31%
- Failure to delegate effectively 6.14%
- Inability to say “no” 7.45%
- Something else 6.14%
It’s your job to prioritize. As the leader of your team, some of your team’s time management challenges are controlled by you. 18% lack clear priorities. Setting priorities is your job. Too much work to do is because you don’t have enough resources, and it’s your job to try to secure them, and/or you’re not telling them to hold off on performing low-priority work. Prioritization means saying “no” or at least “not yet” to tasks you don’t have the resources for. Too many meetings can be improved too. Look at your own standing meetings. Are you managing by exception? Do you need to meet as frequently or for as long of a duration as you have them set up? Are your team members going to meetings for low-priority work but they don’t feel like they can say “no” to attending? See if you can cut some time from the calendar by removing or reducing recurring meetings. Tell people holding other meetings that your team members can only attend when they have critical input – stand up for their time. Many of your team’s time management challenges can be abated with some focused effort on your part.
– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.
Recipes needed. Several examples of healthy daily schedules would be useful for so many, especially if coming up from IC roles into more independent work. Too often, courses, books, videos, give “ideas” and things to think about, without clear, actionable examples of someone who knows and executes on good time management skills for each type of role. ICs need good examples, managers of work need examples, managers of people need examples, newly minted execs, etc. It doesn’t have to be minute by minute, but more hitting the majors.