Time Management

  

Location : On -Site & Public Seminar ....Coaching on request
Length : Half-day or full- day
Number of Participants : unlimited
Materials : Comprehensive Notebooks provided
Follow-Up Monitoring : No-Charge MVP six month follow up program. Attendee's may contact instructor for topic relevant questions by email or phone for six-months following presentation.
Instructor : Mr. Brad Warren Oakland/San Francisco, Calif.

This class is designed to give people the tools and techniques they'll need to become much more productive and efficient at their jobs, as well as have more time for personal endeavors.  The goal of the class is to give you ½ to 1 hour more per day in productive time.  So you either go home an hour early having accomplished the same that you normally would, or you get an hour’s worth more work done in a typical day at work.  Also, by utilizing the principles put forth in the workshop, you will see a dramatic decrease in the amount of stress and strain in your life.  Following is an outline of the entire workshop, with approximate time spent on each section:

Section I: Generating passion by having a purpose

1.  Getting clear about your projects at work, finding out which ones do you get satisfaction from, which ones advance your career, and which ones provide the biggest payoff.  We also talk about alignment.                             Time: 15 minutes

2.  Keeping a time log: why keep one (brainstorming in groups the benefits and barriers), learning to account for your minutes each day, figuring out where to spend more or less time, and the tips and techniques for keeping a time log.  A sample time log is included for photocopying purposes.          Time: 20 minutes
 

Section II: Choosing where you want to go

1.  Setting goals using the SMART formula, talking about other characteristics of high quality goals, and making a distinction between short term and long-term goals.  Participants practice by writing out some goals, and then get coached by the instructor.                                                                              Time: 20 minutes

2.  Learning to prioritize: four different systems are taught here, including paired comparison, deadline and payoff, importance and time, and Stephen Covey’s four quadrants (urgent vs. important).  We also discuss the 21 different criteria people use for prioritizing.                                                            Time: 30 minutes

Section III: Building the structure for success

1.  Designing a master business plan (to-do lists), how to set them up and utilize them to manage your projects.                                                         Time: 10 minutes

2.  Designing a system for accomplishment, whether it’s a planner or a computer based system.  Group discussion on the different systems people use, with additional tips on how to make any system work better.            Time: 15 minutes

3.  Weekly planning is explained with input from participants on why one should plan a week at a time.  Extensive details are given for the best way to plan a week at a time, and a sample planning guide is provided.        Time: 30 minutes

4.  The Gantt chart, a visual planning tool, is explained and demonstrated.  Again, a sample is provided.                                                   Time: 15 minutes

5.  Organizing the paper and email blizzard, with lots of group brainstorming.  How to handle a piece of paper, mail, or email, creating a tickler file, plus additional tips.  We also cover ways to get proactive and stop some of the paper and emails from coming through in the first place.                   Time: 15 minutes

Section IV: Dealing with the people side of time management

1.  Communication skills for improving your results, including sending and receiving, interferences that hinder good communications, active listening, body language, I messages, personality styles as they impact communications, and more.                                                                                                            Time: 30 minutes

2.  Avoiding overcommitting- learning to say no politely and effectively.  We talk about how participants currently handle too many requests for their time, as well as a five-step formula for saying no when you really have to.               Time: 10 minutes

3.  Dealing with telephone interruptions.  First though brainstorming and then with tips from the instructor, we cover how to minimize interruptions and how to shave time off of phone calls that do get through.  There is also a quiz on seeing how the telephone might be reducing your effectiveness.                      Time: 25 minutes

4.  Dealing with drop-in visitors.  Again with brainstorming and additional tips, we cover how to minimize the interruptions, and how to shave time off of the drop-in visitors’ stay.  We also cover how to keep an interruption log.     Time: 20 minutes

5.  Delegation.  Participants brainstorm the benefits and barriers to delegating, and then we talk about how to delegate appropriately.                    Time: 10 minutes

6.  Conquering procrastination.  After brainstorming why we procrastinate and finding out how participants currently handle it, the instructor covers at least 10 tips and techniques for dealing with procrastination.  We also have the partici-pants take a quiz on how well they control procrastination.     Time: 15 minutes

Section V: Creating effective meetings

1.  How to make meeting work.  First we have the participants take a survey on the characteristics of unproductive meetings.  Then we discuss how to make those meetings more productive.  This includes what to do before, during and after the meeting.  In addition, we include a meeting agenda planning guide and explain how to use it to design better meetings.                           Time: 40 minutes

Section VI: Dealing with stress

1.  Tips and techniques for dealing with stress.  Includes brainstorming and group discussion as well as instructor input.                                              Time: 20 minutes