News »Browse Articles » Lack of Planning and Prioritization Skills

This is such a vital and necessary skill in today’s workplace that the AME Institute thinks it should be taught in high school! Staff often seems to manage their workload by putting out fires and doing only what’s “due next.” Then they get stressed because of all the interruptions that happen every day (which are a necessary part of business).

Many organizations are filled with people doing “crisis management” instead of good project planning. The result: frustrated employees, higher levels of stress, sick days, poor quality work, and less accomplished. Don’t forget the bigger picture that results when staff cannot plan – customer service suffers, and budgets often get out of control.

Planning and prioritization is a necessity if more work is to get done. “Managers tell me regularly in our coaching sessions that one of their biggest challenges is staff who do not understand the process of time management,” says Ann Evanston, CEO, AME Institute. “But you cannot manage time itself. What you manage is a system that allows you to get more done, more effectively.”

Process is the key word. Time management is not an event, it is a process. Additionally, time management requires a system – the process means using the system so regularly that it becomes a habit.

A strong, effective time management system must include several important keys, among them:

Goal-setting
Timeline-planning
Work System Breakdown (WSB)
Calendaring
Benchmarking
Flexibility to deal with the unexpected and unplanned every day
Better use of the technology provided.

ACTION ITEM: Analyze a time management system for you (whether you are a manager or a staff person) or your organization. As you implement the system, remember there is one rule to follow for it to become effective: Stick with the system for at least six months before changing or adapting it.

This rule is critical. In order for a system to become habit, i.e., so routine you do it without thinking, you have to stick with it long enough–even if it feels incredibly time-consuming and awkward and frustrating when you are beginning to use it. This is the only way a time management system will become an effective and profitable part of the day.

AME Institute encourages companies to adapt a time management system that all staff can use. Make the system an expectation of employment. When the entire organization is unified with the system, productivity increases tenfold because everyone “speaks the same language.”

HINT: A good system is strong enough that, once learned, it can be adapted to individual styles. Remember, though, the system must be learned first before it can be adapted.

This is the most interesting and also scary of the survey results, as 73% DO NOT have a decent planning and prioritization system. Often companies will hire more people because production levels are down. The result is, organizations with many highly paid people on staff who cannot get the desired results without putting in long hours, working through lunch, coming in on weekends, and continuously managing only by targeting the due date.

It is possible to have an organization of highly organized people who increase production levels and get more done for the customer without having to work 12-hour days, six days a week!

The key is a SYSTEM, which stands for:

Save
Your
Self
Time
Energy and
Money

What company doesn’t want to do that?

Source:
http://www.hrguru.com/news/articles/1700-killer-3-lack-of-planning-and-prioritiz

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