A Run

Time Management by John Hoover, is a wonderful book that I read during weekend. I could relate more examples from my work life to the practices dictated in this book. Surprisingly, I’ve already been unknowingly practicing some of these techniques. Nonetheless, I sense that this book is a great read for those who believe that they don’t have enough time.

Here are my key takeaways:

• Those who manage their time well, tend to have a big picture of their goals at work and life. They can easily breakdown goals into smaller units and later transform them into action oriented to-do lists.
• Be motivated to learn from mistakes and feedbacks.
• Three Elements of Goal management: Long term Goals (typically more than a year); Objectives (Complicated in a month or more); Tasks (Daily and weekly action items). First step in time management is to set the right long term goals and supporting them with objectives and daily actions.
• Set measurable goals. Do not set vague goals such as making your company best in the world. What does “best” mean here? Is it about making the most profit or best place to work or beating all competitors in your industry or what not? Increasing the revenue by 25% is a measurable target.
• Set realistic deadlines to finishing the tasks. Completing MBA in 1 month is unreasonable, isn’t it?
• Complex projects are ambitious but not impossible. Break them down into objectives and actionable tasks, ultimately. This process is called chunking. A seemingly impossible project that runs for more than a year may be broken down into daily, weekly and monthly progresses. “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step” – Famous Eastern Proverb.
• Objectives are important because failing to achieve them on time, jeopardizes long-term goals. Achieving objectives would also build on confidence.
• Don’t rely on memory alone: Most best time managers agree that writing down the tasks is the key to effective time management. Lists help in organizing goals, objectives and tasks. Lists make you feel in control and prioritize tasks. Questions such as who, what, when, why, where and how might be handy to prioritize tasks. Anticipate unexpected factors that can affect and change priorities, such as financial concerns, deadlines, co-worker’s commitment, other projects, etc.
• “Just get it done” attitude certainly helps. Do not procrastinate.
• Creativity does flourish when patterns are rearranged, however, it can occur only in an organized environment.
• Use technology to effectively manage tasks (emails, reminders, and archives, can be quite handy)
• Be on the look out for time traps such as too much of Instant Messaging, excessive chatting with co-workers, online games, etc. Saying “No” to time wasters is like buying extra time.
• Be flexible and be ready to accommodate unforeseen surprises in the schedule.
• Never forget to factor in “Thinking Time”.
• Don’t be afraid to complete tasks out of their chronological order.
• When emails don’t get handled efficiently, they disorganize the work area.
• Don’t call for a meeting unless you have a clear idea about the purpose of the meeting. Meetings have the potential to turn into incredible time wasters. Prepare for the agenda in advance and inform participants their roles. Plan logistics to minimize disruption.
• Being too casual at work or pressing too hard, can burn you out.
• Respect everyone’s time. Be short and succinct.
• Try and complete a project within the deadline, by being more productive during working hours and not by dedicating extra time from personal time.
• Don’t waste time by dwelling over things that cannot change.
• Don’t work fast and furious. Patience certainly helps.
• Never hate to voice your opinion or ask a question.
• Make sure to celebrate/reward your team when objectives are achieved.

• Recruiting and retaining competent employees tops the agenda of a HR
• Managers and HR must be flexible and adapt to the changes

• Assess current staffing requirements and (or) project future
  • Organization’s strategic vision
  • Short/long term goals
  • Market’s impact on the changes in organisation
  • Impact of resistance to these changes

• Evaluate the human capacity needed to meet objectives of the organisation, estimating number of people required per department/team/etc. This is done based on feedback
  • Requires understanding of business + assessments from experienced managers
  • Comparing with the benchmarks (perhaps with numbers from similar organisations)
  • Excessive workload to employees can often lead to burnouts and increased costs in the long run
  
  
• Do Job Analysis and publish job descriptions
  • Job Analysis - collecting sufficient information to understand what is entailed to perform the job
  • Job description – lists activities that an employee need to perform and the skills/qualities required to meet job objectives
  • Job description helps in understanding responsibility expectations for candidates evaluation within team, compensation levels, etc
    

• Recruitment

• HR needs to work with managers
• Internet/print ads, referrals, outsourced placement agencies, job fairs, campus (college) recruiting, etc
• Employee leasing/ project based recruiting is prevalent – companies hiring these contract employees are free of associated bookkeeping and administrative costs such as payroll, benefits, etc
• Internal hiring – choose from a known pool of talent; minimises misperceptions among candidates about the actual requirement, cost effective, motivates existing employees
• External hiring might help in avoiding the “musical chairs” syndrome that doesn’t give staff to mature into their respective jobs. On the other hand, internal hiring must ensure well planned cross-trainings

• Selection
  • Interviews, reference checks, background checks, skill test/work examples, personality tests, physical ability tests, drug tests, etc are prevalent as appropriate
  
  
• Appraisal
  • 360-degree assessment tool is commonly used nowadays. This receives and gives feedback not only from managers, but also from peers, clients, direct reports, etc. Has been proved to be an effective tool to adjudge the employee performance
  
  
• Employee personal/professional development and rewards
  
  • Helping employees attain their fullest potential is more important than hiring great candidates. Training and development is an essential component of all organizations
    
  • Increases value and capacity of human assets of the company
  • Sometimes, provides alternatives to external recruiting
  • Often creates potential leaders of the company
  • Helps individuals motivated and interested in their positions providing room for advancement
  • Initial orientation for employees in vital, especially for experienced professionals
    
  • Leadership development programs help managers turn to leaders