10 uncommon principles of time management for managers

In this article, I will share with you 10 important tips on time management for managers.

Time management for a managers is important because it determines the quality of the results achieved by the team for which you are responsible.

This article focuses on time management for the manager and team members.

Here are briefly our 10 time management tips for managers:

1 – Identify the most important tasks to achieve the objectives of the company

2 – Manage energies throughout the day

3 – Manage what totally or partially depends on you

4 – Delegate all you can to the right people

5 – Allow your employees and yourself to make mistakes: become a successful manager

6 – Individual contributions in time management

7 – Take time to listen to the needs of your employees

8 – Take time to congratulate the team

9 – Take time to understand the motivations of your collaborators

10 – Rest and be happy!

1 – Identify the most important tasks to achieve the objectives of the company

Time management for managers consists of first identifying what is most important.

This means identifying the actions that will make it possible to get as close as possible and as quickly as possible to the objectives set by the leaders of the company.

In this sense, this is consistent with the Pareto principle applied to time management.

According to this same principle, also called the 80/20 principle, 20% of the actions that an individual implements, make it possible to obtain 80% of the objectives that he has set for himself.

In practice, it is important to evaluate the return on the time investment of a given task in order to establish more efficient to-do lists.

If you want to learn how to use a to-do list, I recommend you to read my article on how to make an effective to-do list.

Some authors advise writing lists not exceeding the 6 daily activities.

This not only allows you to perform all the tasks but also to manage the unexpected because you do not over-fill your agenda.

2 – Manage energies throughout the day

Time management for a manager is influenced by energy management.

These energies depend on many factors such as diet, rest, physical activity, stress, emotions experienced daily, etc.

Your role as a manager is to identify factors that positively and negatively affect your physical and mental energies.

Try to understand what situations help you keep good overall energy levels and what other circumstances are depriving you of energy.

It is also important to watch for factors affecting the team’s energies.

In concrete terms, you can take time to list all the activities that give you energy and energize the team.

Then do the same for activities that produce a loss of energy for you and/or the team.

Organize your days around energy-intensive activities and find concrete solutions to reduce activities that negatively affect the overall performance of the team.

3 – Manage what totally or partially depends on you

Managing time for a manager also means differentiating between what depends more on you, what you can influence, and what does not depend on you.

Spend 80% of your time and energy on activities that depend on you and over which you have almost total control, then keep the remaining 20% of your energies for activities that you can influence even if they do not depend directly on you.

Try to negate the time and energy that you tend to waste on activities that are not dependent on you and over which you cannot control.

Concretely, remember past situations in which you have invested a lot of energy and over which you had no control.

Categorize these situations and see if there is a category that has caused you a lot of time.

If so, start to find ways to quickly reduce the impact of this activity.

4 – Delegate all you can to the right people

Managing your time effectively requires recognizing your limits and those of your employees in terms of skills and time.

You must accept that you cannot do everything and that you must learn to collaborate effectively with your team.

You need to invest your time to train your employees to perform less strategic activities for you but still necessary.

Delegate only when your employees are perfectly familiar with the tasks you ask them to do.

If you cannot train your staff, find someone who can do it.

If you do not master a certain aspect of your job, get trained by one of your associates or search outside the company for the resources and skills you need.

5 – Allow your employees and yourself to make mistakes: become a successful manager

Effectively managing is about creating links with your associates by showing you what you are with your qualities and flaws.

If you make mistakes, admit them and you will see that your associates will do the same.

It is by showing your most humane and vulnerable side that you will create deep links with your coworkers.

That is showing you true that they will feel empowered to be true too.

When one of your collaborators makes a mistake, focus on the result he is trying to accomplish and help him find a solution.

In this way, you will free the creativity of your employees and you stand out from the executing managers to become a successful manager.

The high-performance manager relies on the creativity of his employees as an instrument to achieve the company’s objectives.

The high-performance manager relies on individual differences as sources of renewal for his team and promotes the pooling of multiple intelligences to achieve the company’s objectives.

Concretely, do not be the only one looking for solutions, but allow each employee to propose his solutions.

This will allow you to further strengthen the links with your colleagues.

6 – Communicate effectively with your team

As a manager, you know that reaching goals requires helping your team members become more effective.

For this, you need to invest some of your time to train your staff in time management.

This involves communicating the most important tasks to perform to achieve the company’s goals in a precise and detailed manner.

You must explain to your staff how each member of the team participates in the realization of a given project and therefore of a given objective.

Explain to each collaborator how his contribution, which is expressed in the accomplishment of an important task, will enable the rest of the team and the company to achieve its objectives.

7 – Take time to listen to the needs of your employees

Managing your time as a manager means understanding that your employees need to feel understood, listened to, and supported.

You must schedule in advance appointments with each colleague to check if he feels good within the team.

Make sure everyone can express their point of view and listen kindly.

This means to stop judging your colleagues in order to fully understand their perception of the professional activity.

Practice active listening and effective questioning to fully accommodate their point of view.

By being closer to them, you will be able to help them feel better and make them contribute to the success of the team.

8 – Take time to congratulate the team

Managing time requires a manager to congratulate and value the results achieved by the team as a whole.

This helps to reduce some tensions between colleagues and recognize the contribution of all employees.

If possible, even organize appointments outside the company to strengthen links between colleagues and reduce potential tensions within the team.

It is sometimes beneficial to get out of the workplace to create new links and boost team functioning.

9 – Take time to understand the motivations of your collaborators

If you want to manage your time as a manager and achieve your goals, you must understand the individual motivations of your employees.

Ask questions to understand what motivates your employees.

Is it about money, recognition, prestige, being able to manage responsibilities, keeping certain independence, a personal project, the desire to learn, the desire to contribute to the success of the company, or the desire to prove to him that he is equal to the job, etc?

Take time to determine what motivates each of your collaborators and you will be amazed by the results you will get.

In practice, do not just offer identical bonuses to all employees. Submit individual appointments to understand how they work.

10 – Rest and be happy!

Managing time to manage effectively requires time for rest and relaxation in order to completely disconnect from the professional activity.

Several studies show that taking regular breaks can be more effective, increase your energy level, feel more satisfied, find better solutions to professional problems, reduce stress, improve the quality of interactions with your collaborators, etc.

Concretely, set breaks and take them!

Stay away from your workstation and take full advantage of your break to rejuvenate yourself physically and psychologically.

Finally, the most important goal of time management for a manager is to be happy at work!

In summary, time management for managers requires respect for the principles you have just discovered.

If you are interested in the topic of productivity, I invite you to discover all my articles on productivity.

If you are looking for tools to improve your time management skills, I recommend you read my article on the best time management apps.

If you want to learn how to manage your time, I invite you to find out more about our online time management course.

If you would like to know more, about time management coaching for managers, write to us via our contact form.

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Read this article in other languages

Français : 10 principes phénoménaux de la gestion du temps pour les managers

Italiano: 10 principi fondamentali della gestione del tempo per i manager