LEADERSHIP MANAGING YOURSELF , YOUR TIME AND YOUR WORKLOAD
LEADERSHIP MANAGING YOURSELF , YOUR TIME AND YOUR WORKLOAD
By Dr . Kellen Kiambati
American theorist , Harold Koontz stated that ‘ Managing is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups .’ However , an anonymous writer has been attributed with the statement that ‘ Management is the art of getting other people to do all the work .’
Whichever of these statements appeals to you , the fact is that , as a manager , you cannot do everything yourself . And , unless you can manage yourself – your time , your workload and so on – you are unlikely to be an effective manager of others .
People often procrastinate because a particular piece of work is boring or unpleasant . One solution to this is to set aside one hour a day often the first hour at work – to deal with all the jobs you would like to put off . Not only does this ensure the jobs are done but it can result in feelings of satisfaction and achievement at having completed them .
Even in this age of computers , there still seems to be an inordinate amount of paperwork which comes across a manager ’ s desk ; and , in some cases , it stays there or is simply moved to another pile .
One suggestion which can help managers who find themselves pushing paper around is to resolve never to pick up a piece of paper and put it down without doing something
‘‘ Gossip , jokes , and casual comments are part of the key to understanding the informal dynamics of your unit , and indeed the wider organization . The skills of active listening take time to acquire and need a lot of practice . As a manager , you have many opportunities for practice .’’ with it . And to set aside some time each day to file papers , even if they are ‘ filed ’ in the waste bin .
Managers can spend a lot of time in meetings , and these meetings are not always productive . Think back to the exercise you carried out to assess how much your time is worth per minute – and how many minutes in a working week you spend in meetings , both formal and informal .
There is often a strong argument for evaluating and re-evaluating the reasons for holding meetings and asking questions such as , ‘ Why are we holding this meeting and what would happen if we didn ’ t hold it ?’ as well as thinking about less time-consuming ways of communicating with others such as through electronic mail .
Setting priorities is an integral part of planning your workload . Like many managers , you may have several projects to look after at a time ; some are likely to be more or less urgent than others . Spending time on a daily or weekly basis prioritizing jobs for yourself and your team should help you to ensure that the more urgent jobs are carried out first and
58 MAL 15 / 16 ISSUE