In order for a business to be successful it must hire employees who can prioritize and manage their work. In today’s workplace, more is being asked of workers with less time to complete the tasks. That means that a good employee needs to be efficient in order to produce results. Efficiency refers to the process of using the lowest amount of inputs to create the greatest amount of outputs. The inputs include personal time and energy. It is crucial that employees possess strong time management skills in order to be successful in the workplace. In order to help your team strengthen their time management skills and become more efficient, consider implementing some of these helpful strategies.
Organize tasks from easiest to most difficult.
By organizing their tasks, employees can get the easier stuff out of the way quickly and on the front end. That leaves more time to focus on the bigger and more time consuming projects. This also helps employees to stay motivated without becoming overwhelmed because they can quickly eliminate several of the day’s easier tasks which will relieve stress from a lengthy to-do list.
Break difficult jobs into smaller tasks.
It can easily become overwhelming when you have been assigned a big project to complete. You might be frazzled and have a hard time figuring out where to start. To alleviate stress and make better use of your time, encourage employees to break the project into smaller tasks that are less stressful. They can also find similar tasks and lump them together as one in order to accomplish more in the same amount of time.
Create tomorrow’s to-do list, today.
The last thing your team members should do before they go home is to create a list of tasks that need to be completed tomorrow. At the end of the day, duties and tasks are fresh in your mind so it shouldn’t take much time to compile a list, and when you come to work the next day you are ready to go. Not only does this save time in the mornings, but is makes the day less stressful and gives employees something to work towards.
Use a calendar or planner to keep track of important information.
Employees can waste a lot of time looking through emails and paperwork. Instead, train your team to keep track of everything in a calendar. If they have a meeting or an important call, they can mark it in a calendar and set a reminder so they don’t forget. It will make their job much easier and more efficient when they have everything in one place.
Avoid multitasking.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not effective to try and accomplish multiple things at the same time. It actually decreases productivity and is highly ineffective. Instead, focus on one task at a time and complete it before moving on to the next.
Try to ignore distractions.
It is all too easy to get distracted with phone calls, text messages, a chatty co-worker, or social media. With so many distractions, it can become easy to lose focus and lose track of time. Before you know it, much of the day has passed and you have accomplished very little. Try to avoid these distractions as much as possible to help keep your focus and make the most of your time at work.
These days, employees are spending more and more time at the office. However, increasing hours at the office does not necessarily mean increasing productivity. Instead, it is important for managers to learn how to implement strategies that will improve employee efficiency while saving time.