I was talking to someone who’s just returned from holiday and he told me about a conversation he had whilst stood in the queue at the local Fish and Chip shop. The owner was talking about the different deep fat fryers available (apparently the Dutch ones look after themselves, but the UK ones need more skill to use well) and the difficulty of taking time off as no-one could be trusted to use the fryer in his business properly - not uncommon in small businesses - not uncommon in teams either.

Does this sound familiar? It’s yet another way to say ‘I’m better off doing this myself’ – ever find yourself saying:

• ‘it’ll be quicker if I do it myself’
• ‘he always does it wrong – I’ll just do it now’
• ‘this is really complicated – as the expert, I need to do it’
• ‘she never produces the right quality’
• … or similar.

I’m sure we’ve all done it at times but is that good management? Of course not and tempting though it is – and yes we can give all the best ‘reasons’ for it – it’s bad management and if you find yourself saying or even thinking any of these little phrases, then you need to consider what you can do differently. That way, you’ll free up more time to manage – rather than do.

So, what’s the answer – well, it has to be a two-pronged approach – one won’t work without the other:

• you need to do some work on yourself - No more excuses, no more saying or thinking the phrases above
• you need to do some work with your team member. Training isn’t only done through training courses –there are lots of ways for people to learn new skills or to improve existing ones.

What will work best for the team member and you right now?

Hmmm – I wonder if there’s such a thing as an NVQ in fish-frying?

I’ve been asked about time management quite a lot recently – and some suggestions I’ve made have been met with a ‘that won’t work here’ attitude.

Maybe it’s just those people, or maybe it’s a general feeling that we have less control than we did – or (and this is what I think) it’s actually business as usual:

• there’s a lot to do

• lots of things to achieve quickly

• lots of pressure

• changing deadlines and priorities

• the most recent crisis

• the next looming crisis

• …

That’s not anything new - and good managers have to learn how to cope with it. One thing’s for sure – if you carry on doing what you do now, then nothing will change – and if ‘that wont work here’ then I challenge you to tell me ‘what will work there then’.

The key to good time management is raise yourself above the detail – be like a meerkat and get up on those back legs to have a really good look around at what’s coming over the horizon next, rather than reacting to whatever’s dropped into your rut of workload.

If you know what your goals and objectives are then it’s easier to see when they’ll need to be changed, it’s easier to assess impacts and, crucially for time management, it’s easier (and defendable) when you have to say ‘no I don’t have time to do that… unless we also drop this’. 

If you’ve been on a time management course, or if you’ve read a time management book, then why not make the time (put it in your diary or schedule right now) to review it and see what actions you can take to improve your life.

If time management is something you have no formal training in – and not really much knowledge either – then why not book on a course or read a book. What do I recommend? Learning Tree’s Time Management course takes a whole brain approach (tell them I sent you) and Steven Covey’s book First Things First.

It’ll be time well spent – I promise.