Time management skills involve planning. They involve sticking to a schedule to perform activities within time limits. Good time management ensures that you're able to complete any tasks that are expected of you on time. If you ask a business owner what their most precious resource is, it's unlikely that they will answer with "time". Yet, time is the one irreplaceable resource. As such, time management skills are essential to business
At ActionCOACH, it's our mission to support business owners in growing better businesses. In this article, we How to manage time effectively in a business, as well as how to improve your time management. We also provide you with some free downloadable Time Management Tools to help you get started right away!
“Time management” refers to the way you organise and plan your activities. It also refers to how long you intend to spend on each activity. Good time management allows for efficiency. Not everyone is naturally blessed with effective time management skills. But, everyone can develop their ability to effectively manage their time.
The absence of effective time management can often lead to:
- Delivering work of a poor quality
- Failing to meet deadlines
- Increased stress
- Impeded work/life balance
- Risk to your professional reputation
The importance of time management in a business comes down to the fact that time is limited. As a business owner, you need to maximise the time you have to focus on growing your business. Well-developed time management skills can help you do this. Effective time management in a business allows for the prioritisation of tasks. This means goals can be achieved quicker.
When your time is well-managed, you can respond timely to new opportunities and consistently deliver on time. Time management is a key driving force behind business efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, it's important to continuously look to improve your time management skills.
It may seem counterintuitive to dedicate precious time to learning about time management, instead of using it to get on with your work. However, the benefits are enormous. For many business owners, finding enough time is tricky. Especially when they are responsible for many different roles. The good news is, there are ways to improve your time management skills. We discuss them below:
One of the basics of time management is knowing where you're going, and having a plan to get there. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals are established using a specific set of criteria. This approach eliminates generalities and guesswork. It makes it easier to track progress and identify missed milestones. If a goal doesn’t contribute toward your broader objectives, consider whether it is relevant.
As the saying goes, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Planning is a key factor in time management. By planning how you're going to spend your time, you're setting yourself up for productivity. Identify when you're most productive. Ensure your most important tasks are scheduled during this time. Have an idea of how much time you'll allocate to each thing on your to-do list. And remember, it's important to be realistic when planning your time.
Time-blocking is a planning technique that can assist in enhancing your business time management. It's a great way of creating an overview of what your day entails.
Sometimes, it's impossible to get everything done in a day. To maintain focus on your goals, determine which tasks are most crucial each day and prioritise them. It's a good idea to take the time to clarify your priorities and know which tasks you can leave for later. It is helpful to list your tasks in order of priority and work from the top down.
Steven Covey's Time Management Matrix is a game-changer for effective prioritisation, classifying tasks into four quadrants.
Delegate
As a business owner, you may find yourself torn between the day-to-day running of your business and working towards your long-term business goals. As such, it's important to know when to delegate. Delegating certain tasks or responsibilities not only frees up your time for other, more important tasks. It also motivates team members due to their extra business responsibilities.
Aim for excellence
Pushing yourself and your team to achieve is a great goal and one that is needed to grow your business. However, it pays to aim for excellence rather than perfection. After all, perfectionism is impossible. So, in aiming for it, you can be setting yourself and your team up for stressful times that can damage morale over time. For effective time management, steer clear of painful perfectionism. Focus on continual improvement and value your time and energy highly!
Effective time management promotes smart work over hard work. Below we list a few of the main benefits of effective time management in a business:
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Effective time management skills allow you to focus on the essential tasks while avoiding time-consuming and non-essential distractions.
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When you have time set aside to work on specific tasks, the quality of your work can increase as you're not scrambling to meet fast-approaching deadlines.
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With prioritised tasks and adequate time to complete them, you
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As your time management skills develop and improve, so will your focus. This allows you to accomplish more with less, boosting your efficiency over time.
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Businesses that make use of good time management are well-positioned to deliver their product or service on time, every time.
The next steps
Want to enjoy the benefits of effective time management in your business? ActionCOACH is here to help you! Book a free strategy session today to see how we can work together to grow your business.
