Time Management

Quick reference

• 00:04 Hello, I'm Ray Sheen.
• 00:05 Let's talk for a few minutes about another team process, and that is time management.
• 00:10 A team leader often needs to proactively address this area with their team.
• 00:16 I'll start with the self-afflicting wound of delays caused by the actions of team
• 00:21 members.
• 00:21 The most common reason for delay is too much work.
• 00:25 The team members are over-allocated, and they're not able to get everything done
• 00:29 in the desired time period, because it's just too much.
• 00:32 When your team faces this situation,
• 00:35 it's imperative that you provide clear priorities of tasks and activities, so
• 00:39 that the team knows what to focus on and what has been designated for delay.
• 00:43 As a team leader, you need to accept the fact that something will be delayed, and
• 00:48 your job is to determine what will be delayed.
• 00:50 There are some other reasons for delays that are inherent in human nature.
• 00:55 First is the student syndrome.
• 00:57 I'm sure you never did this, but maybe you had a sibling or a roommate who would wait
• 01:02 until the last minute to start working on their homework or an assignment, and
• 01:06 then try to pull an all-nighter to get it done.
• 01:09 The way to lead your team members who are susceptible to the student syndrome
• 01:13 is the same way that the professor or teacher dealt with the term paper.
• 01:16 Check along the way for progress.
• 01:18 Is there an outline?
• 01:19 Is there a rough draft?
• 01:21 In this case, has the task started yet?
• 01:24 Next is the impact of multi-tasking.
• 01:26 We all do it, thinking it will make us more efficient.
• 01:29 But often, just the opposite happens.
• 01:31 We start something and make a little progress on it, then
• 01:34 jump to the next task without finishing the first, and then on to the next.
• 01:38 Everything is started but nothing is finished.
• 01:41 Assuming it is beneficial for the team to complete tasks, wouldn't
• 01:44 it be better to complete at least some tasks rather than starting everything and
• 01:48 completing nothing?
• 01:49 Therefore, as team leader, prioritize the tasks and
• 01:52 ensure high-priority tasks are done before others are started.
• 01:56 The final reason is that delays accumulate, but advances don't.
• 02:00 A characteristic of time is that it cannot be stored.
• 02:03 Either use it when available, or it is lost forever.
• 02:06 So let's consider the case where a team has a set of tasks
• 02:10 that must be conducted in sequence.
• 02:12 When one task is delayed, It automatically delays the start of the next task,
• 02:16 and multiple delays can accumulate, impacting the final results.
• 02:21 But early completions are often wasted.
• 02:23 In some cases, team members won't acknowledge they are done early, for
• 02:27 fear that they will be expected to finish early on other tasks.
• 02:31 Even if early completion is acknowledged,
• 02:33 the next task often won't start until it's scheduled to start, so
• 02:37 the opportunity to take advantage of the early completion is lost.
• 02:41 That is why schedule advances typically don't accumulate.
• 02:44 The solution to this situation is to track handoffs between sequential tasks,
• 02:49 to ensure that the benefits of an early completion are realized by starting
• 02:52 the next task early.
• 02:55 Sometimes, delays are due to circumstances outside the control of the team.
• 02:59 Another characteristic of human behavior is that when circumstances or
• 03:03 situation is uncertain or ambitious, many people will look to those around them for
• 03:07 clues as to what they should do, and how they should act.
• 03:11 If no one is certain what to do, everyone will just mull around waiting for
• 03:15 some direction.
• 03:17 That is why a team leader needs to be prepared to instigate action.
• 03:21 Even if it is not the perfect action, the team leader can get things moving, and
• 03:25 then make some mid-course corrections.
• 03:28 In these uncertain circumstances, everyone takes on one of these roles.
• 03:33 They maybe the instigator who leads the group forward.
• 03:36 They may be the roadblock who slows or stalls actions, usually not from spite,
• 03:41 but more from fear of the unknown.
• 03:43 Then there are the supporters.
• 03:45 Set them on a path and they will support and
• 03:47 encourage everyone else to follow along.
• 03:49 Finally, there are the followers.
• 03:51 They are one step behind the instigator and supporters.
• 03:54 They'll follow the rest of the the team, but are ill-prepared to lead it.
• 03:58 Over time, as a team faces numerous situations, team members often adopt these
• 04:03 roles, and they begin to expect the appropriate behavior from each other.
• 04:08 The third source of delay is the intentional distraction of disruptors.
• 04:12 Sometimes these are well intentioned, and sometimes not.
• 04:16 Sometimes the distraction comes from outside the team.
• 04:19 When this occurs, there are two approaches you could use.
• 04:22 One that I have often employed when serving as a team leader
• 04:25 is that I take on the distraction myself.
• 04:28 I shield the team from the distraction and its effects, and
• 04:31 I work directly with the distraction to address the issue.
• 04:34 This works very well if the distraction is an individual or stakeholder.
• 04:38 The other approach is to treat the distraction as a team challenge, and
• 04:42 make it into a team-building activity that the team must face and overcome.
• 04:47 Sometimes the distraction is within the team.
• 04:50 A team member or team activity becomes a source of irritation or distraction.
• 04:54 It could be a minor distraction, such as a team member disrupting a team meeting
• 04:58 by talking to someone on their phone during the meeting.
• 05:01 In a case like that, apply typical interaction management techniques to
• 05:04 regain control of the situation.
• 05:07 These include things like making eye contact with the distractor,
• 05:10 moving close to them, or using your voice to get their attention.
• 05:13 If it is an activity that's causing the distraction, call a quick break and
• 05:17 discuss the situation as a team.
• 05:20 Facing the challenge head-on can quickly change the attitude and atmosphere
• 05:24 of the team, and get there working together to overcome the distraction.
• 05:28 One thing to guard against when there is a team member involved is to publicly
• 05:31 reprimand that person.
• 05:33 Yes, stop the distracting behavior.
• 05:35 But if you want a person to remain a valuable part of your team,
• 05:39 don't publicly humiliate them.
• 05:41 That both creates animosity in the team member, and it lowers them in the eyes of
• 05:45 the other team members, making it harder for them to work together effectively.
• 05:50 Many things can occur to delay a team.
• 05:55 Now often these are due to either team behavior or
• 05:57 how they react to circumstances.
• 06:00 As a team leader, you need to help them through these situations.

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