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Chapter 08 – Managing Your Time
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CHAPTER 8
Managing Your Time
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Identify several common time wasters.
2. Analyze how you actually spend your time on the job.
3. Discuss how to plan your time.
4. Discuss how to optimize your work routine.
5. Identify several areas that typically have a high potential for better time utilization.
6. Discuss three alternative work schedules that can help employees better manage their time.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESENTATION
Challenge students to apply the time management principles
Have students keep a time log for a week and see where they’re spending their time. How does it
compare with their predictions?
Demonstrate the inaccuracy of time estimates
Another way of demonstrating that we usually don’t know how we spend our time is to ask
several questions of the students. For example, how long is the average business phone call?
Less than a minute? One to two? Two to three? Over three? Answer: 40 seconds. How long does
it take to deal a deck of 52 cards into 4 equal, reasonably neat piles? Industrial engineers use this
as a standard for “normal” hand and arm movement speed. Answer: 30 seconds. How long is the
average red light? Very few are over 30 seconds; 20, is normal in many areas.
Have students close their eyes (to prevent looking at a watch) and have them put up their hands
for 30 seconds (you keep track). During this time, tell them a story or continue to lecture on time
management. They’ll be amazed that some will be at 15 seconds and others well over 50.
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LECTURE OUTLINE
Supervision Dilemma
John is feeling exhausted and is having trouble getting all of his work done.
I. Typical Time Wasters
• The following are some of the more common traps that can rob supervisors’ time:
o Reading and sending nonessential e-mails.
o Telephone interruptions.
o Visitors dropping in without appointments.
o Meetings, both scheduled and unscheduled.
o Inability to say no.
o Lack of standards and progress reports that enable the supervisor to keep track of
developments.
o Fatigue.
II. Understanding Your Job
• To manage time effectively, a supervisor must first have a thorough understanding of
exactly what he or she is expected to do.
• Every supervisor and his or her boss should periodically outline in writing what each
perceives to be the major expectations of the supervisor’s job.
o This should make it easier to reach a mutual agreement concerning the basic job
expectations.
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III. Analyzing Your Time
• A time inventory, such as a daily log, is a good way to record exactly how your time is
being spent.
o With this information, you can decide what changes need to be made in allocating
your time.
• Figure 8.1 illustrates an abbreviated example of a time caddy that can be used to prepare a
time inventory.
IV. Planning Your Time
• The authors suggest several specific steps to improve the supervisor’s effectiveness and
efficiency.
o Make a daily “to do” list at the same time each day.
o Prioritize the tasks on the list.
o Schedule your day.
o Keep in mind your personal energy pattern and match periods of peak effectiveness
with the degree of sensitivity or difficulty of the task.
o Specify when during the day the task should be done.
o Estimate the approximate amount of time required.
A. Electronic Organizers
• Personal Information Managers (PIMs): software programs designed to manage
individual time priorities and personal business. Basic features include:
o A computerized Rolodex, date book, notepad, time sheet, and expense form
o Electronic mail or messaging systems
o Tickler files to alert the user of meeting times and client follow-ups
• Smartphones are converged telephone computer devices with full-blown embedded
computer operating devices.
V. Optimizing Your Work Routine
• Look for failure patterns in your schedule to help you understand recurring problems.
• See if you can combine compatible activities, such as those with similar physical locations
or similar routines.
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VI. Establishing Good Work Habits
• Communication is an important part of the supervisor’s job. The authors give many
suggestions on ways to manage the time spent on the communication process.
A. Paperwork
• Categorize it as you go through it, and handle each piece only once.
• Letters and memos
• Reading material
o Improve your reading skills and scan headlines for interesting topics.
B. E-mail and Communication Technology
• E-mail has the advantage of being extremely fast and inexpensive and being able to
reach numerous people simultaneously. Problems associated with e-mail include the
tendency to send a message to everyone and spending inordinate amounts of time
checking e-mail. Refer to Figure 8.2 for guidelines for using e-mail.
C. Meetings
• Discourage unnecessary meetings, follow an agenda, and keep discussions relevant
to the topic. Figure 8.3 outlines key guides for conducting effective meetings.
D. Telephone and Fax
• Figure 8.4 lists tips for managing your telephone time. The fax machine has
characteristics in common with e-mail. An advantage that the fax has over e-mail is
that faxes are less likely to go unread for any length of time.
E. Visitors
• Establish a policy of seeing only visitors who have made an appointment. Figure 8.5
lists tips for managing visitor interruptions.
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F. Procrastination
• Procrastination could be caused by complexity and fear. Supervisors should break a
project down into smaller tasks and set deadlines.
G. Delegating Work
• Doing work that a subordinate should handle is a most serious time waster of
supervisors. Delegation frees a supervisor to perform the more important tasks of
supervision. It also teaches subordinates to think for themselves, to make decisions,
and to function effectively.
VII. Managing Time through Alternative Work Schedules
• In the last several years, organizations have increasingly departed from traditional work
schedules in an attempt to better manage time and increase productivity.
A. Flextime
• Flexible working hours allow employees to choose, within certain limits, when they
start and end their workday.
• Advantages:
o It accommodates employees with different lifestyles and schedules.
o It avoids rush hours and reduces absenteeism and tardiness.
o It provides an edge in recruitment and retention efforts.
o It increases productivity and morale.
• Disadvantages:
o Communication and coordination problems.
B. Compressed workweek
• Under the compressed workweek (or condensed workweek), The number of hours
per day is increased and the number of days in the workweek is decreased.
• Advantages of the condensed workweek are:
o Lower absenteeism and tardiness
o Less start-up time
o More time for personal business
• Disadvantages:
o Fatigue
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C. Telecommuting
• Telecommuting is the practice of periodically or regularly working from home, from
another remote location, or while traveling and being able to interact with the office
and/or customers.
• Advantages of telecommuting include:
o Less travel time
• Disadvantages:
o Insurance concerns related to health and safety
o Legal restrictions
Solution to the Supervision Dilemma
Supervision Illustrations
8-1: The Pioneers of Time Management
8-2: New Smartphone App at Helzberg Diamonds
8-3: Technology Addiction?
8-4: Telecommuting at JetBlue
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Name several of the most frequently encountered time wasters.
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2. What is a time inventory?
3. What factors should be covered in a daily time log?
4. What is a “to do” list?
5. Describe a scheme for prioritizing activities on a “to do” list.
6. What is a Personal information manager (PIM)?
7. Identify three classes of paperwork.
The three classes of paperwork are:
• That which requires action by the supervisor,
8. What questions should be answered in determining whether to file a report or letter?
The questions that should be answered in determining whether or not to file a report or a
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letter are:
• Is this something that I should consider keeping?
9. Give some guidelines for better time utilization of the telephone.
The tips for better time utilization with the telephone are:
• Be available for outside calls only at certain times.
10. Give some general guidelines for using e-mail.
The guidelines for using E-mail are:
• Don’t e-mail a co-worker, who sits around the corner, but rather go and have a
conversation.
• Think twice. Do you really need to send that e-mail? Many e-mails are useless or
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11. List several tips for handling visitor interruptions.
The tips for handling visitor interruptions are:
• Set time limits for visits and stick to them.
• Set the agenda early in the conversation.
12. What are the three most common alternative work schedules?
1. “My boss determines how I spend my time, and I don’t really have much control over it.”
Discuss how you feel about this.
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2. “The problem with time management is that you never know when a crisis is going to
occur.” How would you respond to this statement?
3. Respond to the following statement: “If I could just get rid of my telephone and my e-mail,
I would not have any problems managing my time.”
4. Suppose that the most productive time of your boss’s day is early morning and that this is
your least productive time. What problems might this cause you? How might you deal with
these problems? Can you think of any opportunities that this situation might present?
REFERENCES
ADDITIONAL READINGS
Chapter 08 – Managing Your Time
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SKILL-BUILDING APPLICATIONS
Incident 8-1: Not Enough Time
This case describes how a supervisor becomes so busy that she doesn’t have time to do her job.
1. In your opinion, what is Sara’s difficulty?
2. What suggestions do you feel are in order for Sara? Discuss.
Incident 8-2: A Hectic Day
This case asks the student to consider management style as well as time management aspects of
Mr. Russell’s job.
1. Do you think Russell is highly motivated? Is he a good supervisor?
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2. What problems do you see concerning Russell’s effectiveness as a supervisor?
3. Assuming that you are Charlie, the General Manager, what solutions would you
recommend?
Exercise 8-1: Are You Using Your Time Effectively?
Students’ answers may vary, however they should be ready to justify the answers they select.
Based on the chapter some appropriate/suggested answers and the reasoning behind them are as
follows:
1. True. After taking care of the worrisome task, you’ll be able to devote your full attention to
other things.
Exercise 8-2: Time Trap Identification
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Exercise 8-3: Time Management Assumptions
Exercise 8-4: Good and Poor Supervisors
or around.
SUPERVISORY ANECDOTE
Source: “Finding Time,” by Gene Levine in Bobbin, Vol.: 35 Iss.: 10 June 1994 p: 113-114.
RELATED VIDEOS
1. Time of Your Life, Cally-Curtis, 29 mins. In this video James Whitmore and others discuss
time management. It is based on a book of the same name.
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