Time management coaches – do you really need to hire one? In short, the answer is yes, because time is money. In the workplace, time management is a comprehensive activity; in addition to organizing their workday, an employee needs to account for what the company’s priorities require and how the input of other workers will affect the timeline. It’s even more important for managers, who are also in charge of planning and scheduling for others.
The Procrastination Mindset and Time Management Coaches
Nobody is perfect at managing a schedule. According to Psychology Today, 20% of the population are “habitual procrastinators”.
For those of us who are relatively poor at making the most of our day, this weakness can damage our careers. In turn, people who are constantly running overtime at work also experience a negative effect on their work-life balance.
But why are so many people constantly behind the clock? To some extent, it is an ingrained behavior that can’t be addressed by a few learning and development courses. Instead, an intense and relatively long-term effort is needed, and that means coaching.
The Value of Time Management Coaching
Efficiently managing time at work is a very particular challenge. There are workers who meet every deadline but are constantly nervous and irritable. Other employees can set up a great work plan for every day but never stick to it.
Coaching is custom made to address these situations. The coach works closely with the individual to understand their personal areas of deficiency, and then guides them to change their habits. A good time management coach will be up to date with all the latest and best techniques for time management, and know which digital tools are the most useful for a certain client. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a coach motivates accountability for the employee, a factor that can increase the chance of reaching professional goals.
With the help of coaches who specialize in these skills, companies have an easier time eliminating the waste that results from poor work habits.
What Are Time Management Skills?
Time management skills are anything that helps save time, which at work translates to mostly organizing and prioritizing tasks. An employee with sufficient time management skills can do their job properly and meet deadlines without undue stress or reliance on others. The idea is to be on top of your tasks as a means of handling personal and professional goals.
The State of Workplace Time Management
The aphorism “time is money” refers to the fact that wasting time is damaging to the financial health of a company. But is it really all that bad? According to Docusign, decision-makers spend 12 hours a week on low-value tasks. That’s about 1.5 working days that obviously have low ROI for related salaries and overhead. In addition, frustration about this waste is cited as a reason to quit by 21% of employees.
Much of this waste boils down to something as simple as an employee’s time management skills – which, when properly addressed, can be vastly improved.
Nearly everyone has time management skills to some extent, but few people master them. While lacking this skill can cause stress in one’s personal life, in the workplace, it can lead to a serious crisis.
Creating Better Time Management Habits
There are many options for employees who want to improve their time management skills. You can start with small steps like:
- Setting goals at the beginning of each day
- Handwritten lists – so you can easily ignore anything on your phone
- Maintaining an organized workspace and file system (according to com, 10% of employees spend more than four hours each week searching for online files)
There are also comprehensive moves to make when the challenge is more serious:
Processes
At the core of time management skills are three organizing processes: planning, prioritizing, and scheduling. To help you introduce more order to your workday, there are a bunch of tools that you can use. For example:
- The GROW model for setting goals and problem-solving
- The Eisenhower (or Important-Urgent) Matrix for establishing priorities
- “Time Hacks” like chunking, E.T. Time, and eliminating “time drains”.
Apps
There are a plethora of apps that can help with time management for your HR teams, like Todoist, any of the many Pomodoro technique apps, and work management tools like Trello, Monday.com, Asana, and many others.
Software
Time management software for organizations is another growing trend that enables your companies to keep your employees on track and plan work schedules to improve business efficiency.
What to Expect from a Time Management Coach
If the above measures don’t quite work, or if you are looking to become an even more proficient time manager, a coach is the best way to go.
There are many time management coaches who specialize in an organizational setting. The average coaching session occurs once a week, either virtually or in person. In most sessions, they will set goals for you based on the areas for improvement that you have identified together. Your ability to meet these goals as a way of building optimal habits is usually discussed at every session.
Not every time management coach uses the same method in their engagements. However, most of them will touch on the following concepts:
Personal Habits
The objective here is to formulate a time management routine that matches your personal style. What works best for you, and what never works? While answering this question, a coach might touch on issues like:
- A tendency of scheduling tasks so that you are usually late, or finish too early and have time on your hands
- Your preference of sitting for long periods on one task or splitting it up into smaller tasks while taking frequent breaks
- Hours of the day that you are most productive
- Your ability to foresee a time shortage vs. always catching up
Business Setting
It’s true – you are not always to blame when tasks are completed behind schedule. Time management coaches are familiar with the specific challenges that employees deal with in the workplace, such as:
- Surges in working hours due to special projects
- A dependency on the output of coworkers who are always late
- The effect of personal issues
- The game of “hot potato” that coworkers play when there is a lot of work to be done (or when they are not team players)
- Managers who overload you or give you assignments at the last minute
The question to be discussed in this case is “what can you do about it?” Sometimes, an open-minded coworker or manager will listen to your concerns. A professional HR staffer is also someone you can turn to as a way to express yourself, get support, and use as a “witness” in case you get the blame for late projects.
Time Management Techniques
Once you and your coach have examined your personal approach to time management, and the challenges posed by your workplace, the next step is to develop a planning, prioritizing, and scheduling method. Some of these moves are similar to habits described above. But, this time, you’ll have a coach explaining how to use these tools and providing recommendations if they don’t quite succeed.
Task-Time Tracking: Over the course of a week, list all of your tasks and how long it takes to complete them. This includes time spent on unproductive work, and even the time you waste by choice, because this is the only way you will truly understand how much your productivity is affected by a lack of focus and inefficient processes.
Prioritization: Together with your coach, think about the jobs that are essential to your role and career progression, and then rank them. Chances are that part of your day is wasted on tasks that don’t fall within your job description or in meetings that are unproductive. You can then approach your manager and explain why your output will increase if they excuse you from tasks where your input is not critical.
Delegation: If you are…
- A manager
- Aware of coworkers with some spare time
- Not the best on your team at a certain function
…consider passing on some of your work to those around you. Delegation does not come naturally to many people; according to Harvard Business Review, it is a workplace skill that all professionals should acquire.
Scheduling: Now that you’ve got fewer jobs to think about, and the important ones are prioritized, create a list of tasks and use backwards planning to set a schedule. If it’s normal for you to get unexpected tasks, then estimate how much time you usually spend on them and factor that into the schedule. Many people find it useful to have a schedule that is highly visible and easy to change such as those provided through software. It can also help to subdivide your jobs into smaller bits that are easier to handle.
Plan for Breaks: A good coach will recommend inserting regular break periods into your schedule. This is your chance to drink, peruse your personal emails and messages, stretch, and watch that Tik Tok video that you had your eye on this morning. But limit your break time to something reasonable.
Time Management “Don’ts” for Managers
As mentioned, managers have a special role when it comes to time management. This Harvard Business Review article discusses how weak managerial scheduling and delegation skills are among the top reasons behind the stress felt by the people who they are in charge of. That’s why leaders should be aware of the following issues:
Ignoring Current Task Loads
Managers need to keep track of what their team is already doing before heaping more on their plates. Of course, delegation is a central management responsibility. But when managers accept more work instead of putting the status of their team first, poor quality and frustration will follow. To ensure that your people can keep up with your pace, use proven apps and software tools. And make sure to discuss workloads during regular meetings and watercooler encounters.
Giving Last-Minute Assignments
Sometimes, there’s no way to avoid crunch time. But minimizing this occurrence reduces pressure on your staff and improves outcomes. When managers hear about a new task that is on the way, it is essential for them to incorporate the expected workflow and schedule into the existing task list ASAP. Then, if the work needs to be delegated:
- Choose an employee who is relatively free
- Select the best person for the job
- Meet with stakeholders to get their viewpoints on how to best address the work
Always Saying “Yes” to Upper Management
Harvard’s first recommendation was about staying aware of current employee assignments, and the second was about delegating new assignments on time. A third consideration regards accepting assignments in the first place. Whenever executives allocate a new task, a manager’s first priority should be the capacity of their team to handle it at the moment. When a new job threatens to derail what your overworked team is already doing, ask the boss:
- Which existing task needs to be delayed
- If the new job matches your department’s strategic goals
- If they understand that increased overtime expense will occur (if relevant)
In case you receive pushback, then mention that you can maintain a high quality standard only if your team’s workload is reasonable.
Not Available at Important Times
Part of a manager’s schedule should be committed to meetings with subordinates. This might include on-the-spot feedback, weekly one-on-ones, and team discussions. Whenever the pressure is on, you should expect to spend more time with your staff.
In addition, you should set a time for when your door is open to any question or request. This allows your team to approach you in case they don’t want something discussed in front of others. During this time, you can work on tasks that don’t require all of your attention, such as email.
Finally, during crunch periods, give your people a way to contact you when you are not in the office. This might be a mobile number or a way to send you messages.
Not Giving Credit
According to Forbes, employee recognition delivers significant benefits for organizational culture. Acknowledging employees’ efforts might be difficult for managers who are also up to their necks in work. But there are a lot of ways to say “good job”, even during busy times, and you can choose the ones which match your schedule and managerial style. For example:
- Sending a short personalized thank you when an employee works hard, makes a breakthrough, or helps a teammate
- Providing immediate and meaningful feedback, even if part of it is negative
- Setting a weekly time to send appreciative summaries to the people on your team
- Recording employee achievements to include on their personnel record or annual performance review
- Mentioning special efforts before or after meetings and presentations
The Challenge of Time Management Skill Programs
L&D programs for time management skills are sometimes complex to administer. Employees have varying levels of time management skills, so providing the same course to everyone is quite literally a waste of time. Secondly, L&D programs can conflict with an employee’s normal schedule. Obtaining buy-in from management for a time management skills program should therefore keep training time to a minimum.
Tackle Time Management Skill Challenges with Growthspace
Growthspace is here to help. With a technology-based approach to soft skills training, our L&D platform enables personalized development programs such as time management. More than that, Growthspace’s talent development solution connects your employees with the most qualified time management coaches (experts) from around the world.
