- •International University
- •Unit 1 what is business?
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Exercise 4
- •Reading and discussion how to start & operate your own firewood supply business
- •Scandinavian airlines system, sas
- •Business word pairs
- •Business verbs
- •Unit II careers in business
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Exercise 3
- •Exercise 4
- •Exercise 5
- •Exercise 6
- •Job titles
- •Reading and discussion applications and interviews background information
- •Exercise
- •Have a nice day* employee loyalty in service firms
- •Exercise
- •Unit III the marketing mix. The four ps the four p's
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Exercise 3
- •Exercise 4
- •Exercise 5
- •Reading and discussion the target market
- •Exercise
- •The pros and cons of the major advertising media
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Reading and discussion management and human resources development
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Exercise 3
- •Managing director (types of jobs advertisements)
- •Business men and managers
- •Recruitment
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 3
- •Unit V time management
- •Reading and discussion sources of problems in time management
- •Common time wasters for managers
- •Drop-in visitors
- •Telephone interruptions
- •Cluttered office
- •Unnecessary tasks
- •Unnecessary or over-long meetings
- •Planning daily activities
- •Unit VI training global managers
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Exercise 3
- •Unit VII accounting and finance
- •Exercise
- •Reading and discussion the balance sheet
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Exercise 3
- •Why finance
- •Exercise 1
- •Acquisition of capital
- •Exercise 1
- •Exercise 2
- •Exercise 3
- •Exercise 4
- •Exercise 5
- •Exercise 6
- •Exercise 7
- •Financier
- •Exercise 60
Unnecessary tasks
Much time is wasted by some managers on tasks that are not important or that could be done as well by someone else. There are a number of reasons why some managers become overloaded with unnecessary tasks. One reason is the lack of clear objectives and priorities. As noted earlier, it is difficult to determine what tasks are important without a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish. Another reason is failure to delegate some of the work to subordinates. A third reason for being overloaded with unessential tasks is inability to say no to requests. Some people are afraid of offending subordinates, peers, or the boss, and they lack the self-confidence and assertiveness to turn down requests. If the task is done well, the person who requested it is encouraged to ask for even more favors.
Possible remedies for this problem are directed at the causes:
Prepare tactful ways to say no and use them. For example, say that you are very busy and would not be able to do a task until a time that you know is too late to be of any use to the person who requested it. Suggest other people who could do the task faster or better. Say that you could only do the task if the person does some of your work for you. Point out that an important task will be delayed or jeopardized if you do what the person requests. In the case of a request by your boss, you can ask the boss to decide which task is more important to him or her.
Identify unessential tasks that can be eliminated. If necessary, get them removed from your list of required duties and responsibilities. To persuade your boss, show how resources will be saved or other benefits attained.
Whenever feasible, delegate less important tasks to subordinates and your secretary.
Put off any unessential tasks that cannot be delegated or eliminated, and do them in slack times, at times when you are too tired to do something important, or at odd times when you are waiting for someone.
Procrastinate on routine but unnecessary tasks done for others such as peers. Sometimes when these things are not done, people will discover that they do not need them and stop asking for them.
Use political power to get unessential tasks transferred to someone else or to another unit in the organization.
Unnecessary or over-long meetings
Meetings are an unavoidable part of the managerial job, but many of them waste time because they are unnecessary or take too long. Unproductive meetings occur due to a variety of causes, including lack of clear purpose, absence of key people, late participants, unprepared participants, unnecessary socializing, deviations from the agenda, interruptions, and lack of skilled leadership. Some possible remedies are the following:
Determine who needs to be present for the meeting to be successful. Invite relevant people, but keep the group as small as possible.
Prepare a clear agenda and distribute it in advance of the meeting.
Inform people about what they need to do to prepare for a meeting, and make sure they receive any necessary information.
Save time in meetings by assigning some preliminary tasks to be done by individuals outside of the meetings, such as preparing reports, analyses, and proposals, or gathering materials.
Let people know that meetings will start on time, and be consistent about doing so. Set a good example by arriving at the meeting site on time.
Arrange to hold meetings in a quiet location with adequate space and ventilation, and take steps to prevent unnecessary interruptions.
Before ending a meeting, decide if and when a followup meeting should be scheduled. Assign clear responsibility to individuals for implementing decisions and/or making preparations for the next meeting.
Prepare and distribute a summary after the meeting of what was discussed and decided, who was assigned which responsibilities, and the date, time, and location of the next scheduled meeting.
Other Causes of Poor Time Management
Time management is improved by dealing with common time wasters, but poor time management usually involves other deficiencies as well, such as inadequate planning, procrastination, and perfectionism. Ways to improve planning and avoid procrastination will be discussed next.