Being a corporate leader in today’s modern market can be as stressful or enjoyable as you make it to be. This is because there are more and more options for leaders to choose from when it comes to project management than ever before.
They can opt not only for coaching and delegation but also for using project management and leadership applications that can make their supervising role much easier. It’s also far easier to work on their leadership skills through specialized conferences, NGOs, and seminars that aim to develop their potential as a corporate leader. But what are some of the golden rules that leaders should pay attention to when it comes to getting more free time for them when there is so much to do?
1. Proper Goal Setting
The most important part of leadership time management is to know that whatever time you do end up freeing will likely be very marginal. You should consult your family, spouse or friends about upcoming group events that you should be attending. It’s also a good idea to check your personal calendar for any upcoming appointments, checkups, doctor visits, etc.
These will give you a good indication of what the goals of your time management should be. If you aim to free up ten hours of time per week, you will manage to do so, but how will you spend them? Laying in bed or simply resting up might be a good answer for a little while, but even the time you free up will seem very precious and wasted if you have nothing planned for it.
2. Short And Long-term Projects
Just like a student writing a dissertation, corporate leaders have a lot going on at the same time. You might be going through important long-term projects with corporate partners and working on many short-term ones along the way.
Knowing when each of those projects is due and what their statuses are is a good way to keep everything in check when managing your own time. It will also allow you to squeeze in a couple of hours of free time here and there while your team is working on the tasks you allocated beforehand. And while dissertation writing might be stressful in itself, chances are that your own work that hinges on cooperation and mutual understanding takes a lot more time and effort to do.
3. Coaching & Evaluation
Bottlenecks will appear in your workflow whether you are ready for them or not. They usually appear when some of your team members aren’t sure what they are supposed to be doing or did something wrong because of improper communication. You can amend both of these problems by coaching your coworkers and evaluating their progress every now and then.
Coaching serves the purpose of helping someone understand what they did wrong in the light of recent failure that they may or may not perceive as such. For example, if someone on your team uses BestWritingAdvisor.com on a regular basis, they might be able to help the team out somehow indirectly. Once they have answered their own questions and realized what happened, you can consider the coaching session to be completed.
Evaluation works the same way but doesn’t involve a direct coaching session and instead opts for written reports and feedback that you can pass along your team members. Doing both of these activities on a regular basis will allow you to free up much of your own time, boost the overall productivity, manage both personal and professional time that you have more effectively and get more done in the end.
4. Creating A Routine
Believe it or not, leaders have routines that help them get through the day. You can create your personal routine by using time management as your daily guide and adding as much personal time as possible. This can involve morning rituals, family dinners, writing a thesis or dissertation or even drinks with friends if the rest of your day is properly managed.
The secret to creating a healthy routine is putting all the things you can’t live without on paper and working your way out from there. The majority of your routine will be held up by your work and leadership activities but the more routine you use, the more free time you will have for personal activities.
5. Job Delegation
The whole point of having a team dedicated to a single project is to delegate work to each member. This makes the majority of project manager’s (or in our case, leader’s) job description. Knowing what person is best suited for which part of the project is essential in not only finishing the project but freeing up otherwise lost time.
Whenever you feel like the project is taking a toll on your physical or mental health, its okay to take the day off and let your team handle the rest. After all, proper job delegation can not only boost productivity but help you detect leadership potential inside the team.
This, in turn, helps your company find a replacement for you when you move up through the ranks or end up working on something else in the future. Job delegation is planning for the future through and through so don’t shy away from delegating productivity and sitting on the bench every once in a while.
6. Trust Over Fear
A leader who gives useful productivity tips may win the trust of their team members faster than usual, but their job doesn’t end there. Making sure that your team members, coworkers, and executives trust you, instead of fearing you should be your number one priority.
Leaders go through a lot of stress on a daily basis because they are the main responsible person for the project – if something fails, it usually fails because of the leader’s inability to manage their team. Knowing that your coworkers have trust in your leadership abilities will inspire them to do much more than they otherwise would.
It’s often not important how hard they are working as long as they are focused, energized and productive – working eight hours a day might be a universal norm, but that doesn’t mean that you and your team can’t get it done in five. All it takes is some mutual trust and understanding instead of fearing what happens if someone fails.
7. The Big Picture
The reason for being chosen as a leader is the fact that you can look at the bigger picture. Leaders are constantly challenged in order to see if they can think about the big picture of their company or get lost in the details instead.
Project managers know that it’s often impossible to finish a project on time by being nice to everyone and thinking about everyone’s feelings. They know that sometimes taking matters into your own hands is just as important as leading a team forward. That is why seeing the big picture of what your project means for the company and you personally are very important traits to have. Having this perspective will change the way you do things on a fundamental level because every task you finish will take you one step closer towards that big goal.
Conclusion
Being a leader and following rules is often nigh impossible. Once you realize how much time your work is taking up, it can feel defeating knowing that your family and friends don’t get to see you as often as before. You won’t free up a lot of your time overnight, but knowing where to start and following these simple steps will allow you to breathe a little easier. Take as much time for yourself as you can, no one else will hand it to you on a platter.
Great post here. Yes the most challenging thing is the timr. Time is the most valuable commodity for successful people.
Thanks for your sharing. Hope you can contribute more quality posts to this page. Thank you!
All the tips and observations are amazing. I particularly feel that Creating a daily routine is very important for time saving.