Did you have the chance to realize that the end of the year is so close and the new period of your life is just round the corner? Or are you so busy doing your job and ruling the company and making decisions and dealing with issues you hardly have time to look up? The situation is so common, especially at the end of the year, that most people consider it perfectly normal. But as a company leader, you’ve got to know it is not. Especially for the person who leads others. Or you don’t have time to think seriously about it? Well, there’s no better time than now.
Here’s a quick test – simply answer “Yes” or “No” to the following questions:
- Are you the one who spends the longest hours at the office and still cannot manage all of the things on your “to do” list?
- Do you often feel that your time belongs to everyone but you?
- Are you disappointed that things are not the way you expected them to be?
- Do you keep failing to reach your goals?
If most of your answers are “Yes”, it is a clear signal that you should change the way of managing your time. And here are the reasons why:
- Working under stress doesn’t bring good results (quick and good are different things).
- Think about your employees and the example you set for them, as their leader. Working a lot isn’t synonymical to working effectively.
- Third, and most important point: it is of primary importance that you have time not only for the urgencies, but also for the things that take you closer to your goals. Otherwise, your hard work and numerous efforts won’t bring any felt effects except for disappointment and fatigue. If you don’t work on pursuing your company goals, who will?
Planning as the key to success
Many people who cannot boast any serious achievements consider planning ahead a waste of time and prefer acting on the spot, according to the circumstances. The accomplished company leaders, however, share the point of view that proper planning is the foundation of reaching your goals not only in business, but also in private life. There are three major areas to focus on if you wish to get more than you do now: goal setting, time tracking and accountability.
Goal setting
Even if you believe you know very well what you want to achieve, it is not enough. First and foremost, this has to be written down – not only to be able to share your vision of the business in the future with your team. It helps to keep you focused on the set goal.
Secondly, the goal has to be as specific as possible – add numbers, time period and all other details that are applicable. It is the step that turns a vague dream into a strategy, which can be further on worked into smaller stages and the duties shared among the team members, showing everyone what they need to do to achieve the goal.
Tracking time
Once the tasks are assigned and the direction is clear, it’s important to take care that neither you nor your employees go astray, led by the unexpected urgencies, the necessity to deal with pitfalls that are hard to forecast or lack of motivation.
This can be done using the time management software like Yaware.TimeTracker. It will clearly demonstrate how your employees manage their time at work, what is their efficiency and which tasks are most time consuming. It’s also a good idea to track your own time at work as well, as by viewing the objective data you can spot the obstacles that hinder you do the important tasks in time and take the corresponding measures.
It has been proved by numerous use cases that the time management software assists in improving the the company morale and boosting overall productivity. Moreover, it helps employees get more self-organised and manage their time better, which is instantly reflected on the results of their work.
Accountability
As the leader, you should set the priorities that include not only handling current issues, but also work on achieving the distant goals. The employees, as well as yourself, should be accountable for the results of the work that has been assigned to them.
It is not only a great incentive to strive to meet the deadlines and find resources to do it faster and more effectively. By checking the progress along the way you get the chance to spot an issue soon after it appears and deal with it or make the necessary adjustments to the initial plan. Even if you are at the very top of the company, it is crucial that you find someone you could trust and be honest with to control your own progress as well.
Bottom line
The strategy above does require some efforts to follow, but the results won’t take long to turn up. If you’re also interested in implementing Yaware.TimeTracker for your company as part of the strategy, there’s just a short registration to complete and you’ll be able to give it a full test drive for 14 days at no cost, no credit card required.
