Time Management Tips For Strategic People

You would think that by the time people find themselves in senior roles they have mastered foundational skills such as time management – not necessarily true.

How many senior people do you know that cannot get their important work done in business hours, while finding plenty of time for day-to-day tactics?

Here are some tips that can help shift the allocation of time from tactical to strategic:

1) Put long-term strategic actions on to-do list

• Although there are always urgent tasks to prioritize, highly effective people make time to prioritize proactive tasks such as strategy, improvements, problem prevention and long-term project work.
• Review your prioritized list once a week and move the things that need to be done into your calendar for the upcoming week.

2) Put short-term strategic actions on calendar

• Use your calendar to schedule time for proactive work. Block time using the actual project/task title vs. a generic label such as “work time”. This way when you say “yes” to things, you know what you are saying “no” to – and you will make better decisions as a result.

3) Eliminate interruptions

• Eliminate interruptions when doing difficult work. Resist the urge to check your e-mail or answer calls during this time.
• Turn off your e-mail notifications, so that you no longer get “pop-ups” letting you know that another e-mail has landed in your inbox.”
• Reset people’s expectations of how long it will take you to respond if necessary.

4) Learn to “say no” – with finesse

The next time you get asked to do something, consider the following range of options:

• Yes! (When it is clearly higher priority than what you would be giving up).
• Find a more expedient way to achieve the objective.
• Offer to do just the part of the task that has the most value, or that cannot be done by someone else.
• Suggest a different person.
• Negotiate a longer timeframe to get it done.
• Do it on the proviso that something else will be done later or not at all.
• Help the person become self-sufficient by showing them how to do it themselves.
• Consider saying “no”, with an explanation of why.

5) Delegate operational activities

• Appoint owners for operational activities. Coach them as required but don’t “own” their problems.
• If people come to you when they should be dealing with your staff, redirect them to the right people and avoid being a conduit for all work that happens in your team.
• Delegation requires performance management – make sure that you are proficient on the 3 main performance management skills: goal setting, giving recognition and giving corrective feedback.

Russel Horwitz, Principal
russel@kwelaleadership.com