Time Management Training

What To Look For In Time Management Training

When seeking a trainer to provide you and your team with effective time management training here are some important considerations:

…Regarding Clarity

Be absolutely confident the training will focus on helping your team become ever more crystal clear on their roles, tasks, and opportunities.

… By providing them not just a coaching session, or check-list, or advice, but best yet is an actual template for them to complete with step-by-step guidelines, making it super easy to pin-point the various dimensions of current and future projects.  Then your team will not be burdened to ‘remember’ the time management training… because they can use the exact same documented process each and every time they have a new project to work on.

…Regarding Getting Organized

Don’t make getting organized an end in its self.  That is a sure way to kill any positive new energy from time management training.  In late 2006 the author of this white paper wrote how getting organized has become impossible and a misdirected goal.  Today’s fast paced modern economy and lifestyle has called for being organized in a dynamic way that is better labeled as being ‘efficient’ rather than organized.

Stay away from time management training that over emphasizes the importance of getting organized beyond the natural practical rhythm of your team.  You are the best judge of what degree of organization is suitable for your team.  Business and team management is a flexible art, not a mechanical science.  Moment-to-moment judgement and dynamic decision making will always be part of successful teams and time management. 

If the trainer says you need personal organization software for Gantt charts etc, or if they have a thick training manual or 3 day seminar on how to get organized, be wary.  Think carefully about your experiences with seminars or other such training in the past and consider if you couldn’t simply direct your team to obtain the same information in a few popular books from Amazon. 

4 highly recommend books are Getting Things Done by David Allen,  Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, The Path Of Least Resistance For Managers by Robert Fritz, and Managing Management Time by Bill Oncken.  That will give you and your team a strong understanding of good principles on which to judge other training programs.
Getting organized is only important in as much as it leads to efficient execution of what really matters… the actual project tasks.  There certainly is a fine balance between preparation and execution.  Hear what the time management trainer has to say about the topic of getting organized and you will probably be able to avoid under-emphasis or over-emphasis.  You’ll be very pleased with yourself when you do find good quality training that provides solid organization tactics for the dynamic and unique requirements of your team.

…Regarding Motivation

If your time management training provider wants to put on a big public speaking event with all your team present to pump them up and get them motivated then beware.  Only consider paying for motivational training if ‘clarity’ and ‘organization’ is going to be covered in sufficient detail as well, because only then will the motivation stick. 
 

Read the full white paper covering Time Management Training available free, or return to the time management main page.

By NathanShaw, for Organized Living World.