Archive for November, 2011

Who Needs a Task Management Software and When?

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Task management software can really make you more efficient and therefore able to

This image shows the life cycle of a task by u...
life cycle of a task

manage your time much more easily.  In that case, there are many different task management software programs out there that can help you manage your day.  So who would benefit most from task management, and the use of task management software?  Read on for more about this.

Many people find themselves at a certain point in their life looking for a task management software to help them refocus and keep their finger tips on what is important. Task management products organize, schedule and ensure that tasks get done on time. On short it can boost your productivity. By being better organized and more focused on what you have to do, you save time and reduce stress.

Good task and project management software was hard to find a few years ago when people were using Outlook. Nowadays productivity has become almost an obsession of geeks everywhere, so the increasing request for such tools generated a large base of good task and project management solutions. There are a lot of choices to help manage the tasks, ranging from standalone applications to web-based services.

What exactly are users looking for?

Most of them are actually looking for a personal organizer application to put some order in their busy and messy life. “In the beginning, I somehow managed to keep everything in my head. Then, as I began to take on more projects, I realized that I needed a task management system to keep me organized and focused.” says Deborah Woehr a freelance researcher and writer. These personal organizers generally take the form of the so called “To Do List” applications where users create a list of tasks for which they set a start date, some deadlines and a priority – something very simple.

The Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology

Most of the to-do-list applications these days adopt, to one degree or another, the GTD approach to task management according to the work-life management system by David Allen that provides concrete solutions for transforming overwhelm and uncertainty into an integrated system of stress free productivity. Apps vary as to how tightly or loosely bound to GTD they are. The problem, though, with To Do lists and personal organizers is that are only good for your work. Task management or task tracking software is more than just a to-do list. In a business many of the tasks are collaborative and require multiple team members to fulfill several tasks in a single project. In this case you need an application where assignments could be made, all tasks could be tracked, and completed work could be archived. This is a true task management tool. Users sometimes need to manage multiple projects and delegate work to resources, schedule tasks in time or even create plans. This is a further step to an upper level: project management or project planning software.

Why do we need a task management application?

Every day we spend most of the time on urgent but low priority tasks while the most important ones get delayed until another day. Unfortunately, that “another day” might never arrive. The famous Pareto principle of 80/20 rule applies here: 80% of most important work gets completed if you try to figure out the 20% of high priority tasks. Basically an effective task management software must give you the best way to find these top 20% of important tasks for a effective project management process. This is a major problem with task management applications: they require too much effort on users part. It is easy to spend too much time on organization, and not enough on getting things done. Too many apps spoil the productivity. Task management apps should flow, should make using them easier than writing things down on a piece of paper.

Benefits of a task management tool

  • helps you to organize, assign and prioritize tasks
  • allows you to establish goals and milestones and to manage deadlines
  • no need to remember all tasks and more productivity using reminders
  • entire work integration, effort delegation for increased efficiency and reduced costs
  • the break down of complex tasks into smaller deliverables that can be controlled with minor difficulty

A task management software is an essential component for organizational and business operations and can make managing the project simpler.

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Time Management Skills for Executives

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Time management is essential for executives of companies because we all get 24 hours in

Microsoft Project 2000, showing a Gantt chart
Task management tool

a day, and the more responsibilities you have, the more you need to be able to accomplish in that same amount of time.  Creating good Time management skills is essential to being able to manage more and become more efficient.  Read on for more on the kinds of skills that executives need in their time management and task management to be successful.

 

What is the greatest time draining activity in which executives participate? Golfing? Tennis? Drinks with clients? Nope! It is the never ending stream of never limited meetings. Sometimes there are meetings to plan the next meeting. Meetings that are unorganized and unproductive are a complete waste of time.

The following are a few good time management skills for executives to help eliminate the stream of meetings and create an unstoppable productive workforce:

Trust — Hire people with a proven track record of getting things done and done well. Sure, if your buddy from high school is a powerhouse, hire him, but if your son-in-law can’t be trusted with a company credit card, don’t’ hire him.

Communicate — Create a method of communication that is clear, that is to the point, and that can be accomplished without a meeting such as a Wiki or project management system. Communicate through the message board on the wiki or project management system instead of in person and at meetings. This will avoid the general chit-chat that can happen during in person or telephone calls.

Responsibility — Create deadlines that are unambiguous, with time-sensitive tasks to be accomplished along the way and hold those responsible accountable. Rewarding time well spent is more important than punishing people who are late or underperform. Punishment and guilt only work when those you’ve hired care about their work and the company bottom line. So place your emphasis on the behavior you desire rather than spend time dealing with behaviors you don’t help your company bottom line.

Teamwork — Create an environment that values teamwork and mutual respect by allowing team members to work together without your oversight or permission. By encouraging team members to share valuable information openly about any project, you will create a strong team that will produce high-quality work.

Respect — If you have hired the right people for the job, let them do the job you hired them to do. Consider managing by exception than by micromanagement techniques. Micromanagement is another example of a time waster. It is fine during meetings and on the project management system to question each other about the why, what, who, and by when – but only when it is done with respect and for the purpose of bringing out the best in everyone. The best workforce effort will always improve the company bottom line.

Cooperation — Ask for help keeping meetings on track by agreeing to stick to a written and focused agenda before each meeting. Put the agenda on the project management system or Wiki for each member of the team to add to before the meeting. Do not allow last-minute additions during the meeting.

Remove barriers — Too often executives insulate themselves from the people most valuable to the company bottom line; the workforce. Obviously, you can’t have an open-door policy for everyone all the time, but you can do three things: create operational procedures that allow the workforce an opportunity to air complaints, contribute to the bottom line, and feel you care about them. You can show you care through rewards systems, high visibility at company gatherings, and regular visits to the production line. By putting in place the “care factor,” people will perform their best because they feel they are cared for, known, and heard.

As an executive, when you implement these kinds of time-saving strategies, you create an environment where everyone can be at their productive bests. Everyone will feel less stress because expectations are clear, a communication and calendaring system is in place, and the workforce will know there is a connection between you and them, beyond just the bottom line.

Award winning author, Debra J. Slover’s leadership expertise stems from 18 years directing a state youth services program, experience organizing 20 state and national conferences, and running her own consulting firm for over six years. Her website is http://www.leadershipgardenlegacy.com

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Pt 2 – Effective Time Management For Profitable Business Leadership Results in Strategic Innovative Actions

Monday, November 14th, 2011
Pocket watch, savonette-type.

Image via Wikipedia

This is a continuation of the previous article on time management and leadership.

(Can This Moment Become) Quantity Time?

  1. Is it substantial? [is there substance, meaning or fulfillment in this use of my time?]
  2. Is it concrete? [producing a specific, tangible, measurable, realistic, attainable result from the use of my time]
  3. Is it clear? [does it help me be or become more focused, intentional, results-driven, practical]

Or you could use dimensionally-oriented questions to determine, implement and supervise your applications of business leadership significance. As we mentioned earlier, time can be measured against a location – that is, time and a location in space are always related – so we say, “you are always somewhere at some specific point of time!”

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl, psychologist

In the social expanse known as “space-time”, you’ll discover how dimensional constructions usually hold true. Social dimensions include the scope, importance, direction, magnitude, definition, quantity, aspect, extent, element, a position, attribute, property or proportion of any social activity.

Dimensional characteristics are important because they provide insights into the breadth, depth, thickness and heights of your utilization of time – are your capital assets being transformed into something tangibly significant, are your human players moving together in harmony, are the reasons for pursuing this action realizing the desired results?

Therefore, you will need to ask the following types of questions to generate the right types of dimensionally important answers and thus understand how well or how effectively you are using your time for performing your business or organizational leadership tasks:

  • Where-When: describes a physically obvious, tangible reality of an event without trying to explain any aspect of human, social or physical capital involvement or influences;
  • Who-What: defines and describes the moving parts, functional attributes and players of human exchanges, transactions, interactions or reactions
  • Why-How: endeavors to provide causes or reasons for human actions and seeks to identify the ways and means employed to satisfy or attain the desires for taking those actions

We can easily describe the process of how and when to take action to use the extant sources and depth of information, which are what you have, to help you become what you desire, to unleash the future envisioned by what your dreams have awakened within you, and prosecute your strategy for business leadership to the ultimate extent of your resources, expertise and abilities.

“Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you choose to be.” – Joy Page, actress

However, in essence, we must look at each and every one of our competitive, operational and developmental efforts as activities taking place within, and, as actions existing at points along, positions within or locations of “space-time” – that is, using these reference placements to indicate, investigate or interrogate the:

  1. Manifold – Which diverse, variety and many features of my actions…?
  2. Affect or Add-to the Dimensionality – the ins and outs, ups and downs, across and around, over and under, back and forth, breadth and length, brokenness and wholeness, heights and depths – of our efforts…?
  3. Time-frame – When will or When must the intervals, periods, moments, phases, ages, eons, ticks occur and…?
  4. Relativistic – How or How much does it relate to our past, present or future perspectives…?
  5. Who benefits or is impacted by the Attractions, Interactions, Transactions or Reactions of our informed actions – and Why will they be…?

Thus in the realm of social phenomena, we define “space-time” as the distinctive features and structural dimensions which identify the cognitive, cultural or emotive segments of perspectives and interactions involved when we act, acted or will take action.

“But the best teams I’ve encountered have one important thing in common: their team structure and processes cover a full range of distinct competencies necessary for success.” – Jesse James Garrett, Infopreneur, information architect

Therefore, business leadership means incorporating the “physics” of socially-oriented space-time into the creation and application of a much more effective time management program to generate profitable results and strategic innovative opportunities while it strengthens your organizational leadership development programs and performance improvement efforts.

Copyright 2010, Mustard Seed Investments Inc., All rights reserved worldwide.

Bill Thomas invites you to improve your leadership effectiveness, increase your professional excellence and energize your innovative talents at Leadership-Toolkit.Com – he strengthens you, your strategic expertise and the essential competencies needed by your executives, management professionals and entrepreneurs to lead-and-succeed in this global marketplace of the Imagination Age. Bill examines your business prospects, enriches your results and explores your most promising growth opportunities through his eBooks, eGuides, Videos & Audios, Software Tools and in-depth leadership skills training courses and executive development coaching programs. To maximize your leadership effectiveness and elevate your performances, pick-up your Free Leadership Power Energizers eGuide Today.

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