Effective Time Management Tips for All

If there’s one thing that we never seem to get enough of, it’s time. You only have 24 hours in a day no matter your position in the company, and it can be stressful to find half of your to-do list unchecked when the clock strikes 5pm. Take these tried-and-true time management tips, tailored for different roles to improve productivity and save time.

For senior managers
When you feel bombarded with tasks…

Juggling both your own and your team’s needs is no easy feat, which is why prioritisation is crucial in order to avoid drowning in a sea of tasks. The Eisenhower Matrix is great for balancing objectives by urgency and importance, but you can take your effectiveness to the next level by using Trello. In addition to personal to-do lists, it also lets you and your team create “cards”, which can be tasks, notes and shared files, and organise them on a single board. The benefit of this is that you can easily keep track of a project’s progress, saving you time by reducing emails and meetings for task-based communication.

For human resources professionals
When you are interrupted every five minutes… 

It’s no news that interruptions kill productivity, but what can you do when being available to employees and their managers is part of the job? The most straightforward solution is to set aside regular blocks of time when you can close the door and work on your own tasks. Regularity helps establish a pattern so people can easily remember when they can talk to you. If you need to be flexible, create a traffic light sign to communicate your status: green means you are available; yellow means urgent business only; and red means they should come back later.

For accountants
When there is just too much data to process… 

The sheer amount of data to enter, check and analyse can be overwhelming during busy season. It’s useful to have an extra screen to minimise switching between windows, and you can also reduce your workload and improve accuracy by enlisting the help of technology. Hours of data entry can be eliminated by using systems like AutoEntry, which digitises scanned documents such as invoices, receipts and statements.

For creatives
When long approval cycles get in the way…

We all know by now that the answer to an efficient review process lies at the very beginning of it: an effective project brief. Having a clear brief with the project’s goals, timelines and requirements helps set realistic expectations, preventing unnecessary stress to both you and your client. Then as a next step, you can use a digital proofing tool such as Filestage to streamline the approval process. This platform lets everyone involved keep track of changes and add comments directly, but what sets it apart from other similar platforms, is that it also allows your internal team to review files first, before you share them with your clients.

For client services professionals
When your day is filled with meetings with clients… 

It’s hard to complete any tasks when you spend most of the day running to meetings – and you can’t exactly close your door on a client. A great way to work around this is to add in buffer time between meetings and calls, and break down each task into smaller steps so you can make progress during the break. With this approach it’s even more important for you to keep a to-do list; stay organised by using a calendar app such as SmartDay, which has an automatic feature that schedules tasks for you according to free slots in your calendar.

Find out how to boost communication so your team stays efficient and productive, here.