It’s a common mistake among managers to assume the time an employee should take to complete a task while ignoring the processes involved. In these cases, the time given to an employee usually focuses exclusively on the amount of time required for the task’s execution while ignoring the rest. This can translate into lower work quality and decreased employee satisfaction. This article explains how to develop efficient time management at work and how it relates to a company’s productivity.
In addition, we will give you tips to promote organizational skills and team performance. Undoubtedly, disorganized tasks contribute little to the final result. These are the consequences of poor time management at work. Let’s discuss the causes and how to make it better.
What is Time Management at Work?
Time management at work is the ability to complete tasks and assignments within the expected time in the workplace. Of course, knowing the processes and time required to complete a task is essential; rather than setting unattainable goals.
With the increasing popularity of home office or remote working, the need for time management at work increases rapidly. Not only do companies benefit from well-organized employees, but employees themselves are the more prominent winners when having a well-planned work schedule.
There are many ways to do time management, which as convenient as it is, might be a cause of workplace stress for many. To avoid this, companies can offer their employees organizational tools that align with the company’s needs and promote time management.
“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.” -Charles Richards
Some activities can be time-consuming at individual and departmental levels. Poor time management at work worsens it and significantly affects company productivity. Therefore, companies should always establish a clear policy against time wasting and encourage better time management practices among their employees.
In addition, it is essential to have tools and systems that help employees record work time and organize their tasks. In this way, companies can also monitor the team’s productivity and identify patterns that are not expected in employee performance.
5 Easy Tips for Better Time Management at Work
It doesn’t matter if employees work in-office or from home; time management is necessary to provide them with a balanced work-life culture. At the same time, it promotes a better employee experience since it allows teams to know the value of their time at any moment. These are some easy tips to start implementing a better workplace culture through better time management.
1. Learn the actual time it takes for each task or process to be completed.
Whenever managers and employees ignore how much time it takes to complete a specific task, including brainstorming, planning, executing, and reviewing, work becomes complicated and unproductive. It doesn’t mean employees need to work next to a sand clock to achieve a task successfully; it means managers need to account for all the implications of each task and the time it takes to finish it. It also means both parties must collaborate to achieve an ideal workplace culture.
2. Evaluate the current use of time during the work day.
Before starting any project, we should do research of some kind. Time management at work is not the exception. Before developing a time management plan, we need to learn the current state of the workload in every department. Learning how employees use their time to complete tasks will provide us with information to identify flaws and opportunities. At the same time, we will get
3. Think like a human being.
Although the picture of productivity to this day is still painted as a never-stop, always enthusiastic employee of the month with a considerable workload delivered before the deadline with a smile on their face and coffees for everyone, we need to understand it as fictional.
The real face of productivity should translate into happy employees who care about their work but also care about their well-being outside the company. In response, the company should care for them taking account of their needs in and outside work.
Creating a work environment that allows employees to be vulnerable at work while feeling safe is essential.
4. Promote communication between managers and employees
Employees need to feel safe communicating their thoughts, whether they are new ideas or complaints. listening to and acting on employee feedback instills confidence in management, a key reason for them to stay longer with the association.
5. Collect data from your workforce
Many tools help you conduct a workplace climate survey, collect data, and perform various types of analysis. This should be the first step in your action plan. It helps you understand the status quo, make informed decisions, and devise strategic next steps.
The data gives direction to your plan and helps you make comparisons, which is very useful for measuring the effectiveness of new activities. The exchange of data with the management team and managers will generate awareness and suggestions to improve your organization’s work environment.
Conclusion
When managers in an organization figure out how to improve the work environment, they can significantly increase time management and productivity, develop the right workplace culture, and improve the employee experience.
LEARN ABOUT: Work culture
Engaged workers are better team players, highly proactive, align with organizational goals, and help reduce burnout. So when you recognize the importance of investing in organizational culture and get your employees to share this sentiment, it’s easier to see the benefits of this.
When you have a healthy work environment, you can align the goals of the employees with those of the organization and reach the goal. In general, improving your organization’s work environment increases productivity and reduces the costs related to absenteeism and employee turnover.
You must resolve issues as soon as possible and continually solicit feedback on how you could improve the workplace. We hope that after this, you have learned how to improve the work environment in your organization by generating commitment in your employees.
If you have questions about how to apply a survey to obtain feedback from your employees, contact us to answer your questions.
