It is not easy to manage a team of people. Assigning tasks, delegating, and making sure everything is done properly and on time is a hard job all on its own. However, it is almost always impossible to do the job of an entire team on your own. Therefore, it’s imperative for supervisors to learn how to improve employees’ time management skills to improve productivity and efficiency. Below are a few tips to help you do so:
Progressive Deadlines – If you are constantly faced with missing deadlines because your staff turns in work late, you need to establish progressive deadlines. It’s obvious that when assigning work, you need to provide a due date, however, a great tactic to employ is to give multiple deadlines. Progressive deadlines are used to provide due dates for various stages of the process.
For example, if you have a marketing pitch to prepare, assign a due date for the first draft, the second draft with statistics, the third draft with images, and the final draft. Assigning multiple deadlines makes your employees work on the project continuously, versus waiting until the final due date and running out of time.
Keep a Log – One of the best ways to improve employee productivity is to show the members of your team how efficient or inefficient they are. Instruct employees to write down what is being done every 30 minutes in a daily log. Then, have them add up the time spent on each activity or project at the end of the week.
This way, you and your staff can compare how long it takes each individual to complete the same or similar tasks. If one person completes a job in two hours, while the other does it in four, you can set up a plan to improve their performance and help that team member become more productive.
Manage Personal Time – Many employees find it difficult to concentrate on a certain task for an extended amount of time.
Therefore, they end up wasting the company’s time by checking e-mail or social media pages, texting their friends, or conducting personal business, such as paying bills online. Instruct your employees that these activities are only allowed on their official breaks and not during working hours.
For those employees that are the least efficient, consider installing tracking devices on their computers to encourage them to focus on work.
A manager needs to learn how to improve the team’s time management skills in order to promote a better workflow and get the job done. Follow these three tips for better efficiency in your office.
