A major aspect of efficiency is the effective management of time. A well organized manager who makes good use of the time available can ensure objectives are successfully achieved. Managerial time is so expensive that every organization must benefit by examining issues of time management.
Important issues in time management
Nature of job:
- A person whose job involves regular contacts with others is more likely to be interrupted than persons working in a more solitary are;
- Those people working in an established area will have relatively fewer unpredictable events to deal with than a person employed in a new and developing area of work;
- Identifying the key tasks and responsibilities in a job will show which should be given the greatest amount of a manager's time;
- A detailed diary of time spent on activities in a given period of time is an easy way of finding out how time is spent and the nature of interruptions allowed. Time is often lost in unnecessary meetings and in traveling to meetings. It is worth exploring newer methods of communication to overcome the waste of time at meetings.
Personal attributes of jobholder:
The personality and amount of self-confidence someone has can have a marked effect on their efficiency. The more self-assured and assertive individual can deal more effectively with people who "waste" their time. Some people can only deal with one item at a time, others can deal with several simultaneously. Some like to delegate work extensively, others prefer to keep jobs to themselves.
The context of a person's job:
The nature of the people working with a manager greatly influences the use of his time. (A person's boss, for example, could constantly interrupt his work). Some managers adopt an "open door" policy which can affect personal work efficiency despite its "popularity" in management textbooks. Others adopt an approach discouraging informal contacts. The extent to which accuracy and quality of work is considered vital can also have an effect on time taken over the work involved.
The demands and constraints of any job can be examined by considering the following:
- Demands or the essential items which cannot be passed on; from subordinates, peers, senior staff and people outside the organization
- Constraints or items stopping a person from carrying out a job in the way they would prefer like the resources available, the limitations of equipment, physical location, the policies and procedures of the organization, legal rules and the attitudes of other people. .
When all demands and constraints have been identified, a manager is faced with choices which refer to what and how the work is to be done. A detailed analysis of a person's job can identify what a manager is making and how the range can be extended to give more positive control over choices.
