WB Time Management

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TIMEMANAGEMENT

Workbook


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Copyright 2014

Australian Institute of Management Education and Training

All rights reserved

Version: 1.0

Date Modified: 19.09.2014

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Australian Institute of Management Education andTraining.

Disclaimer:

AIM does not invite reliance upon, nor accept responsibility for, the information it provides.AIM makes every effort to provide a high quality service. However, neither AIM, nor theproviders of data, gives any guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning theaccuracy, completeness or up-to-date nature of the information provided. Users shouldconfirm information from another source if it is of sufficient importance for them to do so.

www.aim.com.au


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Time Management: Workbook

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1

Learning Outcomes ....................................................................................................... 1

KEY TIME MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS ........................................................................... 2

Time Wasters ................................................................................................................. 3

ASSESS, AUDIT, ANALYSE AND ACT ............................................................................ 4

Step 1: Assess Your Predisposition ............................................................................... 4

Step 2: Audit How You Are Currently Using Your Time ................................................. 5

Step 3: Analyse How You Spend Your Time ................................................................. 6

Step 4: Act to Make a Change ....................................................................................... 8

THE PRIORITY MATRIX .................................................................................................... 9

Creating Job Clarity ....................................................................................................... 9

Urgency and Importance ............................................................................................. 10

Establish Individual Workload Profiles ......................................................................... 12

PLANNING AND SCHEDULING ...................................................................................... 14

Create a Plan or Schedule ........................................................................................... 14

Establish a Weekly Routine for Keeping Up to Date ................................................... 15

INTEGRATING YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS .................................................................. 16Step 1: Reflect on Your Long-term Work/Career Goals .............................................. 17

Step 2: Chunk Your Aspiration/Goals into Stages ....................................................... 18

Step 3: Plan it Out ........................................................................................................ 20

Step 4: Prioritise These Tasks in Your Weekly Planning ............................................. 23

Productivity Tip: Dont Break the Chain ....................................................................... 23

DISCIPLINE AND MANAGING PRESSURES ................................................................. 24

Procrastination ............................................................................................................. 24

Managing Pressure and Stress ................................................................................... 26

COLLABORATING WITH OTHERS ................................................................................. 28

Managing Up ............................................................................................................... 28

Delegation .................................................................................................................... 31

Communicating Expectations and Deadlines Clearly .................................................. 33

Asking for Assistance .................................................................................................. 34

ManagingInterruptions ................................................................................................ 35

Choosing to Say Yes or No ......................................................................................... 37

LEARNING JOURNAL ..................................................................................................... 40

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 41


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Introduction

The Time Management short course gives you the tools and techniques to maximise youreffectiveness, minimise wasted time and control your workload.

Learning Outcomes

Recognise the effect of poor organisation and its relationship to stress

Identify major time wasters and learn to control them

Set up and use the time management system that's right for you

Apply tools and techniques to overcome procrastination


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Key Time Management Concepts

Time-wise were all on an equal journey. We each get 24 hours a day, seven days

a week to use as we (and at times others) see fit. It doesnt always feel like an even

playing field though, does it? Some people seem to have a 25- or even 26-hour day,

whilst ours can feel more like 21 or 22!

Contemporary time management is actually about self-management within

time.In other words, we cant manage time the space time continuum is a constant,

universal entity we can only manage ourselves using the choices we make and

approaches we adopt. Self-management, rather than time, is of the essence.

Right now youre making self-management choices, some of which are not

working for you. The reason youre making these choices stems from who you are

and what you prefer on an operational, emotional and philosophical level.

Some of us are more goal-oriented.We are not always able to see (and enjoy) the

steps that need to be taken in order to achieve what looks a long way off. We knowthe destination but we cant see the stations along the way.

Some of us are more task-orientedand enjoy starting and finishing a task before

moving on to the next. We dont always remember to assess the value of tasks as

they relate to our overall life/work goals. We know which station is coming up but

were less focused on the destination were travelling towards.

Great time management is about aligning both orientations goals through to

tasks. We all need a flexible system that aligns what we choose to do right now, in

any given moment, to larger life and work goals.

Once we have developed a goal task system of planning, we can get on with

building efficient systemsworking through the tasks we have elected to do as

efficiently as possible. Most of us are so focused on the quality of our outcomes (the

what) that we fail to focus on achieving them efficiently (the how). Put efficiency on an

equal footing with quality; this will allow you to achieve the same or more in less time.


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Time Wasters

Research in factory and office environments has identified the following reasons why wewaste our own time in the workplace.1. Not setting goals

High personal achievement comes from having goals long-term, short-term andimmediate and a will to achieve them. A person who aims at a target of nothing,hits it remarkably often.

2. Lack of prioritising and planning

Many people let things just happen to them. They become victims of crisis. Things gowrong and they continually need to put out fires. They may jot down things to do andtry to do them but get caught in the activity trap.

3. Saying yes when you should say no

Often, people approach you to help them achieve their priorities. You should politelyrefuse if the request is not important to you and your role.

4. No system

Another cause of wasted time is the failure to approach tasks systematically, finishinga task or one part of a task before going on to others. Have you ever stopped in yourtracks and thought now where was I going? Avoiding this pattern requiresconcentration and sticking to your priorities.

5. Holding onto tasks that could be reallocated

You cant do everything yourself, and its not strategic to do so. Look for opportunitiesto reallocate work.

6. Failure to communicate

Again and again, it has been found that poor communication is the root cause ofwasted effort. Either the person giving direction did not listen in the first place, orinstructions werent accurately communicated to those who were to carry them out.

7. Interruptions

Most managers find that the telephone, the quick question, the social comment andthe hastily called meeting are important thieves of time.

8. Fatigue and related problems

Were all human and find ourselves daydreaming, losing concentration andprocrastinating. Long days, stressful and confusing jobs, and poor physical conditioncan all make the situation worse.


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Assess, Audit, Analyse and Act

To change the way you manage your time, a four-step process needs to be implemented.

To effect a change in the way you manage time, you need to:1. Assess your predisposition or your internal drive and pace of living.

2. Audit how you are currently using your time.

3. Analyse the effectiveness of how you are currently using your time.

4. Act to make the changes in your behaviour.

These four steps are cyclical. The action you take will create changes, which should then beaudited and reviewed. The powerful thing about this process is that it puts you in control. Youdecide what changes you will make to your behaviour and when youll make them.

Step 1: Assess Your Predisposition

Your predisposition is concerned with your temperament or internal drive and pace of living.This is an important concept to consider, as your predisposition will impact on how youinteract with and manage time.

Stephen Covey, a leading writer on personal priorities, prescribes that individuals focus theirtime and energy in one of two directions:

their circle of concern things and circumstances that we have no control over

their circle of influence things and circumstances that we can do something about.

Do you feel that your workload is overwhelming, that you are being dictated to, that outsideinfluences, circumstances or other events are taking over your life?

Or do you believe that you are in control and have influence over your environment andworkload?


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Activity: Assess your predisposition

Which category do you believe you fall into, and why?

How do you believe this impacts on how you manage your time?

Step 2: Audit How You Are Currently Using Your Time

The next step in the cycle is to audit how you currently spend your time. This can be done toprovide an overall picture of your current time usage. People naturally ignore the time takenon some tasks or think that tasks they dont enjoy take longer than they really do (and viceversa).

A time log is a useful tool to discover where your time is actually going. Regardless of yourpersonal style or role, keeping a time log over a period of a week will provide useful insights.


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Step 3: Analyse How You Spend Your Time

The use of time is often unplanned, uncontrolled and subject to chance. A detailed analysisof your time log will provide some valuable insights.

Activity: Your time log

Review your time log and answer the following questions.

What percentage of your activities were of high value?

What percentage of your activities were pressing?

What percentage of your activities were scheduled?

What percentage of your activities involved interruptions?

Who did you interact with most? Did this person require this level of interaction?

Who did you interact with least? Did this person require a greater level of interaction?

Who or what was your most frequent interruption?

How are you interrupted most often? (phone, visitor, etc.)

Do you feel that the interruptions were necessary?

Are you comfortable with how you handled the interruptions?


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Which activities could be simplified?

Which activities could be delegated?

Which activities could be eliminated?

Which activities deserve more attention?

Which activities did you enjoy?

Are there major differences between what you had hoped to accomplish and what

you actually achieved?

Are you spending your time pursuing those things that have value for you? If not, why

not?

What goals do you have that are not reflected in specific actions in your time log?

What activities can you add to your schedule to make progress toward your goals?


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Step 4: Act to Make a Change

Once you have assessed, audited and analysed, it is time to consider how you will act tomake the changes that will free up your time and permit you to concentrate on the things thatadd value.

The best time management tips in the world wont make a difference if you arent prepared todo the work it takes to implement them.

Your situation is unique and the best time management system for you may not be the besttime management system for someone else. Take the time to review each of the lessons,tips and ideas from the next two days, then cherry-pick those that will work for you.

Its not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?

Henry David Thoreau


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The Priority Matrix

Creating Job Clarity

Managers generally have more to do than time to do it in. So the key is prioritising. Thisinvolves asking, why is any given task so important as to be a priority?

Seeking clarity at regular intervals on the purpose and priorities of your job enables you to

prioritise what is important.

To achieve job clarity, ask yourself:

What is the purpose of my job? This will help you identify the key areas on which to

concentrate your time and effort.

What am I here to achieve? This will help you clarify what you need to do in each key

area.

Focus on adding value

In the 19th century the Italian economist and philosopher Vilfredo Pareto calculated that inany workgroup, only a small number of items provide the most results. For example:

80% of sales come from 20% of customers

80% of a managers problems come from 20% of their workers.

Therefore, it is important to identify the few things that bring most of the results and givethem priority over time wasters that offer little or no return.


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Urgency and Importance

It is also important to extend the Pareto Principle to dealing with competing priorities that popup during the day, as these will affect what you can achieve. This involves understanding thedifference between the urgent and the important. Urgent jobs dont always have the highestpayoff yet they tend to get priority over important activities.

The priority matrix provides a useful representation of how we should be balancing theurgent and the important to be most effective.

The priority matrix uses two scales. These are:

Importance the extent to which an activity is more or less important.

Urgency the extent to which the activity needs to be done immediately or deferred

until a later time.


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Activity: Prioritising relevance

Categorise the tasks you regularly undertake in your role, based on the relevance and time.

Current relevance: Future relevance:

Peripheral: Irrelevance:

Compulsory Optional

Lower relevance (80%)

Higher relevance (20%)


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Establish Individual Workload Profiles

By analysing how much of your time is scheduled, ad hoc andown, you can plan for theunplanned. You never know when the next interruption will take place, but you can certainlyplan how much of your week is taken up with random incidents.

Activity: Establish your own workload profile

Using the circle as a pie chart, determine what percentage of your average work day is madeof these three essential forms of workplace time scheduled, ad hoc and own.

Although we know that things vary and each day is different, adopt a best-guess approach tothe process. Its a soft system, so estimates and averages are acceptable.

Consider averaging things out make guesstimates. They can always be refined

later.

Be objective and reasonable.

Write in your percentage, as well as draw it.

Fill out the profile for a single, average work day.

Ultimately, the idea is to accept your workload as it currently stands, and start to find ways tofree up more own timethrough challenging and reducing current use of scheduledtimeand ad hoc time.

Which of the ad hoc activities are really essential to your role?

My average day is:

___ hours of ad hoc time

___ hours of scheduled time

___ hours of own time


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Reflect on your use of own time

Time packets

To use your own timewell, its important to work out the rhythm of your role. Just likenature, many roles have a cyclical, rhythmic sense about them patterns that repeat. Yourrole may well have them too, for example:

duration of group meetings

client contact times

mornings may be used for different activities than afternoons.

Own time often fits into a rhythmic pattern too, especially in terms of duration and frequency.

For example, US research has found that we have, on average, 12 minutes to have a run ata task before we get interrupted. This fact alone should motivate us to identify and work intime packets.

Activity: How much own time do you have?

1: In general, how long are your periods of uninterrupted own time?

0-15 minutes 15-30 minutes 30-45 minutes 45-60 minutes

60-75 minutes 75-90 minutes 90-115 minutes115-120 minutes

2: How many of these packets of own time do you get over a day ?

1-3 packets 3-5 packets 6-8 packets 9-10 packets11-13 packets 14-15 packets 16-18 packets 19-20 packets

Total amount own timeper day:_________________________


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Planning and Scheduling

Create a Plan or Schedule

Long-term plans and short-term schedules can be created in a number of ways. Thetemplates that follow are provided as suggestions. Use whatever format you feel mostcomfortable with.


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Establish a Weekly Routine for Keeping Up to Date

Time and management guru Stephen Covey, in his book The seven habits of highly effectivepeopletalks about a weekly, rather than daily review of tasks, as does David Allen inGetting things done.

There is sense in this seven days seems a reasonable period of time for action andreflection before you review your goal again. Consider the benefits of having a weekly reviewof how to spend your own time.

You probably have less own time than you thought you had. Maybe your current to-

do lists actually reflect more of a weekly, rather than daily, focus anyway.

You will no doubt have multiple priorities on the go at any one time. One day is not

enough time to deal with them all across your estimated packets of own time. A

weekly review is more balanced, strategic and less stressful.

Ad hoc time fluctuates on any given day, but less so over any given week. As such,

you will feel more in control of your self-management with a weekly focus. Tuesday

may go ballistic, but guess what? Thursday was actually quieter than usual. Over a

week things tend to balance out and this system starts to reveal its true worth.

Your weekly review needs to include:

Review of the previous weeks achievements.

Review of areas for improvement from the previous week.

Consideration of small stuff.

Review of upcoming activities meetings, one-on-ones, out-of-office stuff etc.

Prioritising what to do over the next week or so.

A single list of tasks. Why not call it a 'to achieve' rather than a 'to do' list?

1015 minutes is all were talking about:

What day and time suits you best? ____________________________

Book that time in as a meeting (with self) into your electronic calendar.

Turn up for that meeting every week, and the rest comes down to working out what you needto be working on that is, your priorities.


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Integrating Your Long-term Goals

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determinehow it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

Carl Sandburg

It is very easy to become wholly focused on the day-to-day tasks and the objectives you

need to meet in your current role. However, you need to keep in mind and actively worktowards your long-term goals and aspirations. A successful time management systemincorporates the actions and tasks that need to be completed to move you closer to yourgoals.

There are four steps to incorporating your long-term goals and aspirations into your timemanagement system:

Step 1:Reflect on your long-term goals and aspirations.

Step 2:Chunk your long-term goals into stages.

Step 3:Break down each goal to a list of actions and tasks to be completed.

Step 4:Prioritise these tasks in your weekly planning.

Your new time management system will allow you to:

respond to your current workload realistically, to avoid under or overestimation of

what is achievable

create a seamless pathway from long-term goals to day-to-day task selection,

allowing you to prioritise strategically and efficiently.


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Step 1: Reflect on Your Long-term Work/Career Goals

Activity: Long-term aspirations/career goals

Collaborate with a partner to do some quick work on the bigger picture:

long-term aspirations

long-term career goals.

You should find you only have one or two long-term aspirations. After all, there are only somany ways your career can end up!


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Step 2: Chunk Your Aspiration/Goals into Stages

Example aspiration/goal hierarchy:become a consultant.

Hierarchy level What I need to achieve By when?

Long-termaspiration

To run my own consultancy, with a multimilliondollar annual turnover and a staff of at least10.

5 years plus

Long-term goal Begin my own consultancy, as a sole operator. 3 years

Medium-termgoal(s)

Work for small-medium consultancy, learningthe ropes, understanding business structuresetc.

18 months

Activity: Medium-term aspirations/career goals

Personal aspiration/goal hierarchy 1:___________________________


Long-termaspiration

Long-term goal

Medium-termgoal(s)


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Personal aspiration/goal hierarchy 2: ___________________________


Long-termaspiration

Long-term goal

Medium-termgoal(s)

Once you have mastered time, youwill understand how true it is thatmost people overestimate whatthey can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they canachieve in a decade!

Tony Robbins


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Step 3: Plan it Out

Goal versus task orientation: If you have a natural goal orientation, is it sometimes hard for you to see all the steps

required to reach the destination you can see so clearly?

If you have a natural task orientation, do you sometimes forget your work goals and

just focus on whatever seems worthwhile doing at the time?

SMT planning

The big stuff goals, projects, longer-term tasks etc. need to be planned out, using aprocess called SMT planning:

Specific Many goals sound more like dreams:

I want to be my teams number 1 sales person!

This is like saying I want to go to Europe but having no idea whichcountry. Hey, the plane has to land somewhere over there! Whichcountry? Which city? Get specific!

'I want to increase my overall sales figures by at least 30%'.

Thats better. All of a sudden were off to Paris. Bon Voyage!

Measurable Any journey needs some kind of itinerary. In the same way, any goalneeds to be measurable this usually involves trackable elementssuch as figures, survey results etc.

To achieve 30% sales growth I need to focus on an individual10-15% sales increase across (a) our top ten selling lines and (b)our five most expensive lines, as these carry the best margin.

Timelined Timelining is where you make your measurable, specific goalchallenging-yet-achievable. Twelve countries in seven days is

impossible, but make it 36 days and youve got a busy, yetachievable European vacation!

Sales are pretty flat at the moment, so I need six months to achievemy goal. My timeline needs to look like this:

after two months 10% sales growth

after four months 20% sales growth

after six months 30% sales growth

After you have made any goal SMT, the next step is simple start planning out each station


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of your journey that is, which countries in what order.

If youve taken the SMT planning process seriously, the steps often write themselves. Thesesteps become the tasks that shape your use of your own time. Thats right goals now link totasks, and all on a single page!

SMT planner

Short-term goal: I want to be my teams number one sales person!

Specify yourgoal

I want to increase my overall sales figures by at least 30%.

Make yourgoalmeasurable:

To achieve 30% sales growth I need to focus on an individual10-15% sales increase across (a) our top ten selling lines and (b)our five most expensive lines, as these carry the best margin.

Timeline yourgoal. Make itachievable yetchallenging.Step thejourney out.

I need six months to achieve my goal. My timeline needs to look likethis:

after two months 10% sales growth

after four months 20% sales growth

after six months 30% sales growth

Tasks/Steps required to achieve your goal:

Outline task/step Estimated hoursof overall own

time

By when

Re-read product knowledge material to focuson specific features and benefits

3 10 Jan

Get around to profiling my regular customers e.g. their customer type, as we learned in the

sales workshop linking specific benefits tospecific personalities

2 4 Feb

Using start of day, when customers are quiet, tophone key customers prior to sales calls

.5 per day 16 Jan

Read that sales book Stephanie recommended.In fact, swallow pride and ask Stephanie formore tips, hints and pointers. (Hey, she offeredmonths ago!)

8 28 Feb

Change route to focus on the major customers,less time with minor customers and potentials.

1 12 March


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Activity: Short-term goal

Specify yourgoal

Make yourgoalmeasurable:

Timeline your

goal.Make itachievable yetchallenging.Step thejourney out.

Activity: Tasks/steps required to achieve your goal

Outline task/step Estimatedhours ofoverallown time

By when


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Step 4: Prioritise These Tasks in Your Weekly Planning

Now that you know what you need to do to achieve your goal, you need to add these tasksinto your weekly planning process that was discussed earlier. In the priority matrix youcompleted earlier, these tasks need to sit in the Current Relevance or Future Relevancequadrants.

Productivity Tip: Dont Break the Chain

Dont break the chain is based on the idea that consistent daily action will move you closer toyour goal.

For each goal get a calendar, and every day that you take action towards your goal put an Xon the calendar. The idea is not to break the chain of Xs.


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Discipline and Managing Pressures

Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it.Anonymous

Time management involves taking control over what you do. If you are determined to takecontrol of your work, you need to be disciplined.

Procrastination

Procrastination is the deferment or avoidance of an action or task, and is often linked toperfectionism. While it is normal for individuals to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes aproblem when the level of procrastination impedes normal functioning.

Procrastination is one of the biggest hurdles to managing your time effectively.

Activity: Overcoming procrastination - part 1

Write a list of all the tasks you have been putting off doing.

What is the impact of not doing each of these tasks?

Why have you been putting off each task?

Task Impact Reason


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Start Just make a start anything will do.

Subdivide Break the task down into smaller parts and do a little at a time.

Energy Attack the task when you are feeling most energetic.

Low Revs Attack boring tasks when you are feeling least energetic and would not beproductive doing other tasks.

Regulate Regulate your environment so that completing the task becomes habitual.

Delegate Give another person the authority to complete the task while still remainingresponsible for the quality and output.

Discard If the task is not necessary or adding value, dont do it.

Activity: Overcoming procrastination - part 2

Review your list of tasks and assign each task to the strategy you will use to complete it.

Start Subdivide

Energy Low revs

Regulate Delegate or discard

Discard


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Managing Pressure and Stress

Managing pressure relates to your ability to stay calm and focused under pressure or in acrisis. It involves reflecting on the question, When others are in chaos around you, can youremain effective?

Time management is personal choice, about self-management and making the decision tobalance competing demands.

A balance needs to be maintained between what is theoretically possible and your capacityto complete the task. Effective time management is about ensuring the items you have tocomplete on time are the important ones. It means recognising you cannot do every task andyou will not get some tasks done at all (unless you delegate).

Managing pressure and competing demands can result in stress.

The role of stress

There are actually two kinds of stress:

Distress

Eustress

The Stress Curve

Adapted from Selye & Cherry 1978 p60


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Activity: Sources of stress

Identify the activities, people and situations that currently cause you distress.

Reflect on the sources of distress to uncover what could be the underlying cause. What canyou do to address an underlying cause?


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Collaborating With Others

Few of us work alone. We work with customers or suppliers, organise projects and meetdeadlines. We all need to develop the skills of working with others in a manner that uses timeeffectively. These skills include:

managing up

delegation

communicating timelines and deadlines clearly

managing interruptions

learning how to say no

asking for assistance.

Managing Up

It is important to manage up to ensure your manager does not dominate your time.

Suggestions for managing up

When your manager is hard to get hold of:

ask your manager to share their electronic calendar with you

contact your manager by email or mobile

drop him or her a note saying youve been trying to make contact.

When your manager is slow to respond: explain to your manager why a quick reply is important

use colleagues to remind your manager

make it easy for the manager to respond by outlining options and offering

recommendations.

When your manager is vague:

ask for clarification when you do not understand something

repeat back what you believe your manager has said to you

tell your manager what you are going to do as a result of what you believe you have

heard.


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When your manager makes unrealistic demands:

explain how you feel as soon as the demand is made

state your current workload and get your manager to prioritise what is important

politely say no.

When your manager doesnt tell you whats going on:

consider that there might be a valid reason for not sharing

use your connections to find out whats happening

ask for specific information.

When your manager is being inconsistent: remind your manager of previous decisions and policies

try to determine why your manager would be taking a different point of view there

may be a valid reason

keep a diary of what happens or doesnt happen to determine when you have

experienced most success.


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Activity: Managingup

Which of these suggestions would be most useful to you managing up in relation to your

current manager? Why?

Which of these do you think would be useful to one of your team members attempting tomanage you? Why?


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Delegation

Delegation is the assignment of authority or responsibility to another person (normally from amanager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. However, the person whodelegated the work remains accountable for the outcome of the delegated work.

Delegation empowers a subordinate to make decisions, i.e. it is a shift of decision-makingauthority from one organisational level to another one. Delegation, if properly done, is notabdication.

Remember that delegation is a two-way street, and to be a good delegator you need to beprepared to let go.

Activity: Barriers to delegation

What are the barriers to delegation?

How can these be overcome?

The six-step delegation process


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1. Determine what is to be delegated

2. Plan the delegation

3. Discuss the delegation

4. Communicate the delegation

5. Monitor progress

6. Appraise performance

Activity: Delegation

What tasks can you delegate? Complete the delegation plan below.

Task Delegateto

Action needed to make this happen When?


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Communicating Expectations and Deadlines Clearly

Expectations and deadlines are best met by clarity at the outset, especially when delegatingtasks. You are responsible for communicating your initial requests or instructions. Thismeans being very clear about timing and contingency planning. If you want to communicatetimelines, deadlines and deliverables effectively, you must be specific.

Activity: Communicating expectations and deadlines clearly

Rewrite the following requests so that expectations are clearly defined.

Can you please review and let me know if you have any changes?

Id like you to fulfil that customer request by Thursday.

Can you prepare me a progress report for presentation on Friday?


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Asking for Assistance

Asking for help may be one of the most effective things that you can do, despite a naturalmanagerial reluctance to do so.

Dont feel guilty or apologise when asking for help.

Be clear about what you are seeking assistance for.

Practice what you preach: be prepared to help others when you have the time.

Dont hold it against people who genuinely tell you they are unable to assist. They are

managing their time too!

Your approach to suit the situation may be:Informal:Would you do this when you have the time and opportunity please?

Collaborative:I know youve got the most expertise in the team. I appreciate your help

Problem-focused:I have a problem that needs some fresh thinking. Would you work withme on this?

Activity: Asking for assistance

Why are managers naturally reluctant to seek assistance?


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ManagingInterruptions

Interruptions come from a variety of sources such as your manager, your direct reports, yourcolleagues, your customers, the telephone and email. Interruptions impact greatly on yourability to manage time.

Interruptions come in many forms, arise at any time and often appear as far more urgent andimportant than they are.

Activity: Understanding interruptions

Do you find it difficult or feel it is impolite to ask people that interrupt to come back later?Why?

Are you comfortable in stating and adhering to when you can be interrupted?

Interruptions occur randomly and cant be planned for. Therefore, it can be useful to plantimes when you can tolerate interruptions and to plan times when you would prefer not to beinterrupted at all.


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Activity: Handling interruptions

In groups, discuss how the interruptions listed below would be handled. Consider the events

in terms of their urgency and importance. A manager has just called to ask if someone can meet her at the airport in 40

minutes.

We need six copies of the Board papers due in an hour. Can you help me with the

photocopying and binding?

There is a customer at the front counter who would like to talk with you. Have you got

time for a chat?

We will need to decide before 5.00pm if we are going to work overtime tonight.

Jan has rostered holidays for the next two weeks, starting tomorrow. Can we hold

her probationary review today at 3:00pm rather than tomorrow?


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Choosing to Say Yes or No

When making a yes/no decision, use the following process: Someone asks you to complete a task outside of your job description. Politely ask for

some thinking time.

Filter the request through a set of questions to determine if there is something in it for

you (WIIFM).

Follow through with a yes, no or more info please.

Filtering questions:

If you get more than three answers in the Dontbox, theres a good chance that this is a task

you should consider not doing.

Questions Do it Dont

1. Is this task relevant to my role and would it assist me in

achieving one of my long-term aspirations?

YES NO

2. Will I raise my profile by saying yes? YES NO

3. If I want to say yes (for a good reason), is there work I

can delegate easily to someone else?

YES NO

4. Do I only want to say yes for fear of saying no? NO YES

5. Is this person a repeat-request offender? NO YES

6. If I cant/dont want to do it, do I know someone who can

(i.e. can I solve this problem for you another way)?

NO YES

7. Is time the issue? If I had more time, would I benefit from

doing this task?

YES NO

8. Will this task take longer than the person is saying? NO YES

9. Is this task good development for me? YES NO

10. If not, do I have the skills to do a good job? YES NO

11. Will this task take less than 5 minutes to complete? YES NO


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Saying no

Craft your response using the following three steps:

1. Thank the person making the request. Dont apologise.

2. Dont explain too much thats just like apologising and making excuses. Instead,say youre too busy in a general way, such as Im too busy!

3. Then say no, ending with the word No.

Examples:

(1) I appreciate you thinking of me (2) but given my current priorities (3) Im going tohave to say no.

(1) Thanks for thinking of me, (2) but given what I have on, (3) Im going to say no.

Saying yes but only if!

Now lets assume youre busy but you really want to take the task on. Your manager hasmade a request and you want them to take responsibility for reallocating your workload. Craftyour response using the following steps:

1. Show appreciation and agree that the offer sounds good.

2. Explain in a general way that youre busy.

3. Suggest that one of your other tasks be re-prioritised.

4. Buy some time suggest you think and then reconvene.

Example:

(1) That sounds great. Thanks for thinking of me. (2) The only thing is, Im busy atthe moment, so its just a case of prioritising. (3) If youd like me to take this on, whatdo you want me to de-prioritise? (4) Its a hard question to answer on the hop so Isuggest we both think about options and reconvene at (suggest time).

Responding to a very senior persons request

Sometimes its tough to say no to someone senior, but what about fixing the issue for nexttime? Often its just more notice thats required. Craft your response using the followingsteps:

1. Show appreciation.

2. Explain that youre fearful of saying yes due to the volume of your currentcommitment.

3. Explain its because youd hate to mess the task up due to lack of time.

4. Politely ask for more notice in the future.

Example

(1) Its obviously really important and I appreciate you thinking of me. (2) I have tosay Im nervous about saying yes because of my other work commitments. (3) Idhate to fail you or have to say no. (4) Next time it would be great to receive a little

more notice that way I can balance my priorities and ensure you get me at myabsolute best. Is that OK?


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Activity: Saying no

In pairs, practise saying no.

Each partner will think of an example of an unreasonable request. Choose a recent orcurrent example or predict one that you could expect at work.

Your partner will make the request, and you will practise saying no, using the techniquesoutlined previously.

Your partner will provide feedback and you will swap roles and repeat the process.


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Learning Journal

Take this opportunity to reflect on what you have learned in this workshop, and consider thechanges you can make to ensure that you apply the knowledge and skills you have gained.

What do you want to

Start Stop

Change Continue


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References

Allen, David 2001, Getting things done, Penguin Group

Cherry, L 1978, On the Real Benefits of Eustress, Psychology Today, vol. 12, March, pp.60-70.

Covey, Stephen R 1990, The seven habits of highly effective people, Simon and Schuster.

Mullainathan, S. 2013, The Mistake Busy People Make, Time Magazine, viewed 20December 2013, http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/09/the-mistake-busy-people-make/


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