Frontline Management Institute Time Management Editorial - training courses Australia and global training services

The following article appeared in a variety of regional newspapers, courtesy of worksearch

Managing your time efficiently

By Rachael Williams

In today's society, we are so busy with family, work and our social lives that people often forget that in order to fit everything in, we need to prioritise.

Time management in the workplace is a valuable asset to both the employer and the employee.

Larry Lucas, the director of the Frontline Management Institute (FMI), said that most people's secret to successful time management is having a clear focus on what is important to them and the business they work for. Mr Lucas said focus on the important things first.

"Even if they are not immediately urgent, and you will be able to help minimise "fire fighting" where lots of important things have been put off until they too become urgent."

Mr Lucas recommended that people take time out from work at least once a day to organise their priorities.

FMI referred this taking the "helicopter view," where you rise above the immediate tasks that you are engaged in and look at what is important for your work. Where organisations use KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) people can align their choice of priorities to these KPIs.

Once you have organised a written list of important and not so important tasks you can then apply what is known as the 80:20 rule or the "Pareto Principle" named after the Italian economist who framed the rule.

The director of FMI said the economist found that the most important 20% of our activities lead to 80% of our results.

"For example, if you were in sales you may find that the top 20% of your customers account for 80% of your sales volume. Applying the 80:20 rule you would then spend 80% of your time on these. You can apply this rule to any type of work and it generally makes people more effective," he said.

Mr Lucas also said having a tidy environment helps in time management.

"One thing that can waste a lot of time is looking for documents in paper or electronic formats.

"Organise a good filing system both electronically and paper based and you will save a lot of wasted time. Documents are best filed as you go along, or at least daily or weekly. One thing that makes finding electronic documents hard can be the way they are named."

He said giving emails a clear title before filing so you can easily find them later.

Mr Lucas said when it comes to multitasking: doing two or more things at once, in his experience it depends on people's preferences.

"It is rumoured that only women can multitask appropriately but I don't want to comment on such a delicate issue!"

FMI's top tips for Time Management are:

¨ Set clear goals and priorities

¨ Use a diary system to organise your time (either paper based or electronic

¨ Keep clear lists - once a task is on the list you won't forget it

Support yourself with systems to organise your work. For instance, a tidy desk and filing systems, etc.

¨ Break down big jobs into small chunks and do them one step at a time

¨ Focus on important things even if they are not immediately urgent.

+61 2 9660 0199 or email fmi@frontlinemanagementinstitute.com.au

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fmi provides a range of services including:

Work Priorities Training Course	Management Skills for New Managers Training Course
Operational Plan Training Course	Mentoring at Work Training Course
Workplace Relationships Training Course	Coaching Skills Training Course
Team Effectiveness Training Course	Effective Delegation Training Course
Customer Service Management Training Course	Making the Transition to Supervision Training Course
Information Systems Training Course	Management Skills for Experienced Managers Training Course
Work Safety Training Course	Change Management Training Course
Continuous Improvement Training Course	Time Management Training Course
Workplace Learning Training Course	Conflict Management Training Course
Leadership Training Course	Effective Negotiation Training Course
Manage People Performance Training Course	Building Professional Confidence & Assertiveness Training Course
Manage Innovation & Change Training Course	Workplace Relationships & Emotional Techniques Training Course
Manage Projects Training Course	Stress Management Training Course
Manage Budgets Training Course	Effective Communication & People Skills Training Course
Diploma of Management	Powerful Presentations Training Course
Certificate IV in Frontline Management	Customer Service Skills Training Course
Certificate III in Frontline Management	Train the Trainer Training Course
Open Learning for Frontline Management Qualifications	Business Writing Skills Training Course
RPL Processes and upgrades for Frontline Management Qualifications	Strategic Leadership for Results Training Course
BOOK ONLINE	Business Strategy Training Course
	Business Planning & Implementation Training Course
	Innovation & Continuous Improvement Training Course
	Creating a Mentoring Culture Training Course

All fmi courses can be run as an in-house course in your organisation

Associated websites of the Frontline Management Institute and Network One Communications Pty. Ltd.
www.frontlinemanagementinstitute.com.au www.frontlinemanagementinstitute.com	The main website for the Frontline Management Insititue (fmi) which provides a range of development and learning services, qualifications and products to organisations, managers, team members and individuals seeking to develop their skills and knowledge; particularly in areas of management
www.timemanagementtraining.com.au	The Frontline Management Institute's Time Management Centre offers a range of courses and services which combine established and proven principles together with innovative techniques
www.mentoringandcoachingtraining.com.au	The Frontline Management Institute's Executive Management Coaching and Mentoring Centre offers a range of mentoring and coaching courses and services for organisations and individuals

Frontline Management Institute
Sydney Head Office
459 Harris St
Ultimo NSW 2007
Australia

t: +612 9660 0199
f: +612 9660 0499
e: fmi@frontlinemanagementinstitute.com.au

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