7
Getting the Work Done

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Identify the factors that affect performance motivation.

• Describe how to obtain top performance from your employees.

• Explain how to use delegation to get work done.

• Identify the procedures for planning and organizing your work.

• Describe how time management and stress affect productivity.

In previous chapters we’ve discussed the importance of understanding your role and responsibilities, communication, people development, managing people, and teamwork as necessary ingredients to being a successful first-line supervisor. Those ingredients by themselves, however, will not get the work done.

Having all the ingredients for a good dinner is one thing. Being able to put them together to create an enjoyable meal requires a recipe. Just as there are cookbooks for chefs, there are many books available that provide you with “recipes for success” as a first-line supervisor. Whether for cooking or supervision, how well any recipe works depends on the final results: Was the quality acceptable? Unfortunately, in supervision, unlike cooking, all the factors that affect success are not under your control.

To be successful, you have to focus on what you can control and avoid worrying about what you can’t control. In this chapter, we examine some of the factors that affect your success and provide some specific recommendations for actions you can take to increase your chance of success.

PERFORMANCE MOTIVATION

One of the most common complaints heard from supervisors is, “My people aren’t motivated.” What these supervisors are saying is that their people don’t work as hard, as fast, or as well as the supervisors desire. The fact is, however, that people are motivated. They are motivated to perform at their present level. Their behavior indicates that they perceive their work situation differently from their supervisors. The first thing you need to know is what motivates your employees.

Exercise 1: Job Motivation Factors

INSTRUCTIONS: Below is a list of ten things people want from their work. In the first column, rank order the items from 1 (most important) to 10 (least important) on the basis of how you think the average worker (not supervisor or manager) would rate them. Use the second column to rank order the items in terms of their importance to you as a first-line supervisor.

Importance to:

Suggested Answers

The following is the order most employees rank the items listed.

1. Interesting work

2. Good pay

3. Recognition for a job well done

4. Feeling of being in on things

5. Personal loyalty

6. Job security

7. Help on personal problems

8. Promotion and growth opportunity

9. Good working conditions

10. Tactful discipline

Most employees want their jobs to be interesting. Since many spend nearly half the time they are awake each week at work, they don’t want to be bored. Pay is important, and close behind are recognition and being in on things. Compare and contrast your rankings of the two columns. Think about the following questions:

• Do you think most first-line supervisors view things differently from employees? If so, why?

• Do you think you view things differently from your employees? If so, why?

• How do your rankings compare with those in the study?

• How do you think your own employees would rank the items?

You might want to have your employees complete this exercise and discuss it with them in a group meeting. Consider using the following questions for discussion:

• Why did you rank the items in the order you did?

• How can we use this information in our work environment?

• What can I do as your supervisor to create a positive work environment?

• What can you do to create a positive work environment?

The more you learn about what motivates your employees, the more successful you will be in developing a working relationship with them.

Your Role in Motivation

A survey of two million employees at 700 companies by the Gallup Organization in 2000 found that how long employees stay at companies and how productive they are, are determined by their relationship with the immediate supervisor. One of the analysts for the survey summed it up this way, “People join companies and leave managers.” This means that the way you treat people and how you respond to them is a major factor in their motivation. As a first-line supervisor you have the most impact on an employee’s motivation. The organization provides the pay, the benefits, and other tangibles. It’s up to you to provide the intangibles—making work interesting and fun, providing recognition, and the other job motivation factors mentioned earlier—so that employees are motivated.

Different Folks, Different Strokes

Because employees are at various levels of maturity, with individual skills and knowledge, what works with one person may not work with another. In addition, allowances have to be made for different ways of thinking. Human beings are driven by complex internal factors. Though they may react similarly to external motivations, they react differently to those things that affect their internal needs and desires. For example, one person may react positively to increased responsibility, whereas another may prefer the security of the present job.

Some look for independence, others prefer group activities. Some enjoy detailed, structured work; others are motivated by the opportunity to be creative and innovative. All of these motives are invisible to you. Your job is to do your best to analyze people and identify their differences, then use that information to create an environment where people are motivated.

All Behavior Is Motivated

Good behavior as well as bad arises from some motive. Problems occur if you view motivation as a product of only external rewards. Motives are far more complex. To deal with motivational problems, a supervisor must identify every source of negative or positive motivation. One individual may be working too slowly yet be striving for higher quality than someone who works faster. Another may be constantly complaining yet be honestly trying to improve some aspect of the job. The question is not about negative or positive motivation but whether the employees understand the performance the supervisor wants. The solution may be better communication, not greater rewards. Instead of looking immediately for a material source of motivation, a first-line supervisor must analyze all the factors influencing behavior.

First-line supervision is not a popularity contest. A supervisor who wants to be liked may have lower turnover and absenteeism, but the employees may not be motivated to perform better. In fact, you really can’t motivate someone else. What you can and must do, however, is to create an environment where motivation takes place.

In order to create a motivating environment, you must understand people and their behavior. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses; few are perfect or worthless. Your effectiveness depends on how those strengths are maximized, and how the weaknesses are minimized. Concentrate on specific activities that have a positive effect on behavior.

OBTAINING TOP PERFORMANCE

The performance of your work team is your responsibility; its success is a reflection of your success as a first-line supervisor. Although many first-line supervisors would have you believe that they just can’t find good people who are willing to work, there are many other supervisors who, working with similar circumstances, are quite successful. This suggests that the supervisor can make a big difference. If you want to make a difference, you have to apply what you’ve learned in this course to your specific situation. Here are five approaches to encourage top performance by your employees. All of them have been mentioned previously in other chapters. However, due to their critical nature, they deserve another review.

Establish and Communicate Expectations

Although you shouldn’t establish unrealistic expectations, the fact is that most of us can accomplish far more than we do. Both supervisors and workers tend to become satisfied with the way things are. This complacency keeps people and organizations from achieving their full potential. The expectations that you set for your team should cause them to stretch and to achieve more than before. This means being a leader and clearly communicating what you want.

If you don’t get the specific results you want, assume that you haven’t clearly communicated your expectations. Remember that communication is a two-way process and that you have to accept responsibility for your part. If your team’s performance is falling short, the first step is to be sure they understand exactly what you expect. Use all the communication variables you learned in this course—words, voice, and body language—to make your message as clear and direct as possible.

Provide Positive Feedback

Positive feedback should be given when a person consistently meets performance standards, exceeds performance standards, makes a significant contribution, or shows improvement in performance. Make it a habit to look for opportunities to give positive feedback. The 80/20 rule (80 percent positive/20 percent negative) regarding performance should guide your actions.

The positive feedback you provide to your people will strengthen their performance and increase the likelihood that performance will continue to improve. It’s especially important to provide positive feedback when people meet the expectations you communicated to them. If you fail to recognize their accomplishments, their performance may slowly go downhill because they assume you don’t really care. Maintaining and improving performance is much easier when you provide consistent, positive feedback.

Focus on Teamwork

When your people are part of a team they can accomplish more than they can working as individuals. An effective team enables people to succeed on their own, while recognizing that they are part of something greater. Effective teams are made up of people who seek better ways of doing things. They feel good about themselves and their contributions to the organization.

In any work group, however, there are different styles and approaches, so the potential for disagreement is always present. Disharmony leads to resentment, which exaggerates personality differences; the resulting squabbles can lead people to work at cross-purposes. Therefore, you have to be sensitive to interpersonal relations at all times. The way you handle disagreements can affect the sense of teamwork among your people.

Encourage team members to be accountable to one other and share mutual responsibility for quality performance. Encourage them to learn from each other and use your delegation skills to nudge them into new challenges.

Inspire, but Don’t Control

Effective first-line supervisors are committed to achieving their vision. This commitment is revealed in the enthusiasm they have for getting the job done. Such enthusiasm rubs off on people. Trying to control the actions of your people is much less likely to motivate them to meet your expectations.

Inspire your people by helping them understand that increased productivity benefits everyone. Emphasize that higher quality and efficiency increase the amount of control they are given over their day-do-day job responsibilities. No one wants to feel controlled or manipulated, but most of us are willing to be led. As a first-line supervisor this means that once you have communicated expectations and demonstrated your own commitment, you need to get out of the way and let your people work to achieve the goal.

Lead by Example

The example you set for your staff affects their productivity and, therefore, your success as a leader. Even when you are not aware of it, your actions and decisions are being observed and analyzed. In most cases, what you do has a far greater impact on your employees than anything you say. You should be an excellent role model for your people.

You develop loyalty and trust by maintaining high personal standards, by keeping your word, and by being reliable and dependable. Far too many people work in organizations where they do not trust or believe in the messages they receive from their supervisors or their company. As a result, the work is seldom done as carefully and efficiently as possible. Remember, if you want a staff that is honest, loyal, and motivated, you have to be honest, loyal, and motivated yourself.

Exercise 2: What Will I Do?

INSTRUCTIONS: Before you continue with this chapter, take a few minutes to think about some specific things you can do to obtain top performance regarding each of the points just discussed.

1. Establish and Communicate Expectations

________________________________________

________________________________________

2. Provide Positive Feedback

________________________________________

________________________________________

3. Focus on Teamwork

________________________________________

________________________________________

4. Inspire, but Don’t Control

________________________________________

________________________________________

5. Lead by Example

________________________________________

________________________________________

DELEGATING TO GET THE WORK DONE

Byron was overwhelmed. It had been three weeks since he was promoted to first-line supervisor as a member of the operations support team. He had three important projects he was working on when he got promoted. He wanted to make sure they were done right, so he continued to work on them after promotion. He hadn’t gotten too much done on any of them because he was so busy learning about his new position and meeting the new people he was working with. He also hadn’t expected his boss to give him two more projects at the end of his first week. Now he had five projects to complete, six people to supervise, and log jams in both his e-mail and voice mail. He remembered during the interview that he was told that learning to delegate would be crucial to his success. Now that message was starting to sink in, but Byron was not sure where to start.

Unfortunately, Byron is not alone. Delegation is one of the most important skills for first-line supervisors; at the same time it is often one of the most challenging. The pressures of a new position and the seemingly unending amount of work place a premium on the need to delegate. There is also the tendency to want to “hold on” to some things because you think no one can do it better. Though there may be some truth to that, until you get beyond that kind of thinking the pressure is only going to build. Learning how and when to delegate has several important benefits:

• You are more likely to achieve your goals when you maximize the efforts of your entire staff. Delegation allows you to get others involved in getting the work done.

• Effective delegation allows you to spend your time on your supervisory responsibilities that cannot be delegated to someone else.

• You are better able to manage your own time and focus on your priorities when you delegate to your employees.

• Delegation provides an opportunity for you to develop your people. Delegating allows them to learn new tasks and gives them a chance to be successful. In turn, these new skills may result in their advancement in the organization.

Guidelines for Successful Delegation

Delegation is the process of assigning a project or activity and sharing the responsibility for its outcome (Lane & Rierden, 2001). Successful delegation doesn’t just happen. You can’t just hand a stack of papers to someone and say, “I need this done as soon as possible.” If you want to get work done efficiently and, at the same time, improve your people, you need to follow some basic guidelines. Exhibit 7–1 provides a delegation checklist.

Define the Task to Be Delegated

Be specific regarding what is to be done. Set a deadline for completion and be sure everyone understands what performance is acceptable. When you delegate a task, you should be able to answer some basic questions such as:

Who will do it? What is to be done? When is it due? Where is the work to be done? How much money is budgeted? Vague instructions lead people to complete tasks that are different from what you expected.

Have a plan for controlling what you assign. The controls should include the deadlines, what is expected, and a series of checkpoints to monitor ongoing progress. The more complicated the assignment, the more checkpoints you may need. As supervisor, you have the ultimate responsibility for the results; but don’t overcontrol or undercontrol.

Overcontrol occurs when you are constantly overseeing each detail. This wastes your time and that of the person who is supposed to be doing the task. When you overcontrol, you reduce your employees’ initiative and lower their morale. An excessive emphasis on control indicates a lack of trust. The response of your employees will be resentment, anger, and ultimately, apathy.

Undercontrol is more common and even more detrimental. It can lead to unpleasant surprises and incomplete or improperly done assignments. Control is established by having standardized forms, procedures, and deadlines for every delegated task. For many first-line supervisors, this may seem like an unnecessary amount of detail. However, such controls allow everyone to operate from the same set of rules, ensuring consistency from one person to another. Having standards demonstrates your awareness of the different components of a task and clarifies the procedure to follow. When clear standards for getting work done effectively exist, people adhere to those standards.

Select the Individual

Once you know what the task is, you can select the person best suited for the task. Consider how much technical knowledge or experience is needed. Ask yourself: Do I want to use the assignment to develop a person’s skill or increase his experience? Or do I want to give this particular task to someone who has the skills and experience because it needs to be done quickly? Each delegation opportunity is different and the person you select depends on both the task and how much development you want to accomplish.

Here are some other factors you may consider when selecting the individual:

• Motivation and Interest. Select someone who is self-motivated, has a desire to do the task, and is interested in that type of work. That person is more likely to succeed than someone whom you have to constantly push to get the task done.

• Respect of Others. When the task has high visibility and is a high priority, it makes sense to select someone who has earned the respect of others. Such a person will be viewed favorably by the other members of your team who are not selected for the assignment.

• Willingness to Learn from Mistakes. When you select someone because you want the experience to be a developmental opportunity, be sure the person can learn from his or her mistakes. Some people are not comfortable taking on a task unless they think they have the necessary knowledge to do it before they start.

Delegate the Task

As a general rule, you should delegate the necessary authority to accomplish a specific task. The person who is responsible for doing the task should also be accountable for its completion. The overall responsibility, however, is yours and should not be delegated. You should not delegate at all when you are specifically responsible for reporting to someone above you—a situation where your input is critical.

Start by giving the person some background so he or she understands what the task is about. Then, describe exactly what must be accomplished. This involves more than telling someone to do something. It means explaining what must be done, why it must be done, and what can happen if it does not get done. The way you describe the task conveys its importance and your confidence in having chosen the best person for the job.

Delegation isn’t a one-way street. When people have a voice in what they are to do and how they are to do it, they feel more ownership of the results. Ask those to whom you delegate how much time they think they will need. Often you’ll find that people say they can get a job done sooner than you think it can be done. Nevertheless, they have set their own deadline and chances are it will be met. If they come up with a deadline that doesn’t meet your needs, you can negotiate a more acceptable one. Be sure the employee knows the procedure to follow, the final deadline, and any interim checkpoints in getting the task completed.

Support the Person

Define the amount of support you’ll provide before the work starts. Indicate those areas in which you are willing to help, and those for which the employees are responsible. Define precisely the extent of their authority. If you don’t do this, they may take on more authority than necessary and involve other employees in the project.

Determine what resources you will provide. These may include time, money, and other people. You may also need to provide copies of materials, checklists, or other items that have been used previously. You may need to let the person know when it is and is not appropriate to come to you. Are there some things they can do on their own and some that they need to check with you before they act? Be sure they understand any limitations you may have.

Effective supervisors insist that their people come to them with solutions to problems, not just problems. Train your people to come to you with their solutions, alternatives, or suggestions when problems occur. Don’t take over the work or solve problems for them. If their ideas are not acceptable, give new instructions.

Chances are your employees have some good ideas. If their ideas are acceptable, congratulate them and indicate they should proceed. If they ask for assistance, curb your instinct to reply, “Let me show you how.” If you aren’t sure about the solution, the tendency may be to say, “Well, let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you.” When this happens, reverse delegation has taken place, and you wind up doing what you delegated to someone else.

Follow Up

Your success is judged by the results you get. When you delegate control, the results should be as good or even better than if you had done the job yourself. Tell people that you will follow up and then be sure you do. Each time you check back, try to catch them doing something right and then praise them for their efforts.

As mentioned earlier, after a delegated task is completed, share the glory and give credit where credit is due—in front of the entire group whenever possible. Ask those who have done the job, “What would you do differently if given the job again?” Find out what went right and what went wrong. Find out whether they know why some things worked and other didn’t. Whenever possible, use their good suggestions and encourage them to apply what they learned on this task to future assignments.

Exercise 3: Preparing to Delegate

INSTRUCTIONS: What tasks are you currently doing that you could delegate, both to reduce your workload and to improve your people? Think about an assignment that you currently have that you could delegate. Use the worksheet below to prepare the assignment for delegation.

1. What specific task do you want done?

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

2. To whom should you delegate the task?

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

3. How will you control the assignment?

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

4. What support will you provide?

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

5. How will you follow up?

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

PLANNING AND ORGANIZING FOR SUCCESS

Few first-line supervisors adequately address the need for planning in their daily, weekly, or monthly activities. It’s easy to fall in the trap of focusing immediate concerns or becoming a problem solver or “firefighter.” However, solving other people’s problems for them and jumping from one task to another is no substitute for planning. Such an approach, in fact, is usually the result of not planning.

Planning is a management process designed to produce results. A well-thought-out, organized plan helps you monitor your daily efforts and verify that you are moving in the right direction to achieve your goals and those of the organization.

Although your plan describes numerous activities that need to be done, don’t confuse activity with results. Just because you are busy and working a lot of hours doesn’t mean that you are doing what needs to be done. In fact, an effective plan can enable you to work fewer hours yet accomplish more by doing the right things at the right times.

Exhibit 7–2 outlines five steps you should employ when developing a plan. These include developing data to measure performance, identifying those areas or activities over which you have control, and identifying the resources and cooperation you need to fulfill your plan.

You may feel your only responsibility is to get the work out. Regardless of the complexity or simplicity of your work, however, you should never come to work with no better plan than just to handle the problems as they occur. Depending on the length of your work cycle, you should always have a plan for tomorrow, the next week, or the next month.

Imperatives of Planning

Planning doesn’t prevent the unexpected from happening. However, research has shown that it does help accomplish what is expected. Back in the 1950s, a behavioral research team at Harvard Business School chose 100 members of the senior class and asked them what they would like to be doing ten years after graduation. All 100 said they would like to be wealthy, successful, and significant forces in the business world. The researchers noted that only ten of the students had put their goals in writing.

Ten years later the research team visited the 100 students to see what had been accomplished. They found that the ten students who had written their goals had 96 percent of the total wealth of the 100-student sample. Those ten students met their own expectations in part because they had a plan (Sherman, 1991).

Make Your Plan Specific, Achievable, and Measurable

Develop plans that specify those results you desire and those you will accept. Determine what objective proof will confirm your success. Determine what procedures can be improved and to what degree. Merely wanting things to be better or hoping they will improve doesn’t cut it.

Whatever your plan, it has to be judged by you and your team as achievable and worthwhile. Just because you think you have a great plan, doesn’t mean your team will work feverishly to help you fulfill it. Whenever possible, involve your team in the development of your plan; they’ll be more likely to help you make it work.

Plans Should Be in Writing

Written plans help eliminate, or at least reduce, the possibility of different interpretations. Plans based on memory tend to become fuzzy over time. Written plans also enable your people to measure the extent of your commitment and their role in the process. Remember the Harvard students mentioned earlier—those who put their plans in writing were far more successful than the ones who did not. Written plans facilitate analysis of each step in the process, and provide a structure on which to base future planning. It’s also much easier to review plan results when you have something in writing from the outset.

Plans Must Have a Timetable

Having a timetable with intermediate deadlines prevents your team members from procrastinating. In some situations, you may want to establish weekly or even daily goals. Avoid making plans so long range or indefinite that people lose interest. As each step is achieved, be sure all the people involved are kept abreast of individual and team progress. Determine the long-range impact on other departments as well as on your own team.

Determine Priorities Beforehand

Almost every task comprises a sequence of events—some things have to be done before others. Your plan should reflect this sequence. Knowing what comes first and what is most important allows people to prepare themselves. In addition, having your priorities established ahead of time helps everyone avoid sudden changes and readjustments. It also helps you determine where in the plan to fit in some new concern or procedure.

Communicate What Is Going On

Be sure you obtain commitments for any necessary assistance from your peers and consent, if needed, from your boss before finalizing your plan. They can help you expedite the plan and offer suggestions on how to improve it. Share with them your vision of the benefits and opportunities that will result if your plan succeeds.

Keep in mind that your plans must be compatible with those of the organization. Consider the impact on other areas, and make sure that what it achieves supports the goals of the entire organization, not just your own area of responsibility.

One of the tools you can use to develop a written plan is called a milestone chart (see Exhibit 7–3). A milestone chart shows the key steps in a plan and when they are to be completed. Assigning specific responsibility for certain steps adds accountability to the planning process. Milestone charts are easy to develop and easy to review. They enable you to see at a glance what progress has been made, what remains to be done, and whether people are meeting their deadlines.

Expect Some Obstacles and Disagreements

You may not get all the necessary resources you need—time, money, or people. Be prepared to ask for assistance from people in a position to help you. If you can’t obtain all the resources you need, be prepared to develop an alternative plan within the constraints of the resources you have.

Set Up a Review Process

Your plan has to be flexible so it can be adjusted when circumstances change. Allow for the unexpected, and be prepared to make quick adjustments whenever necessary to keep your plan on track.

Questions Your Plan Should Answer

Every element discussed so far is essential for a workable plan. As you construct your plan, you need to answer four overriding questions. Exhibit 7–4 shows the relationship among those questions. Notice that they form a continuing cycle.

Where Am I Today?

First, you have to know where you are today. Begin by identifying current strengths as well as opportunities for improvement. Ask yourself questions such as: What am I doing that works well? What current activities should I continue doing? What could I do to take advantage of these strengths? What improvements need to be made? What opportunities exist to improve productivity? The answers to these questions combine to answer the larger question, “Where am I today?”

Where Do I Want to Go?

When Alice was in Wonderland and found herself at the fork in the road, she asked the Cheshire Cat which path to take. The cat asked her where she wanted to go. Alice replied that she didn’t know. Said the cat, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will lead you there.” Until you can clearly define what it is you want to accomplish, any plan will be okay. The problem is you may wind up somewhere that you don’t want to be. After examining your strengths and areas of opportunity, you have to define where it is you want to go. What results do you want your team to achieve? How might things be different if you implement a plan? Only when you know where you want to go are you ready to decide which road to take.

How Will I Get There?

Now you’re ready to plan the specific actions. Questions to ask at this point include: What programs or strategies will help me get where I want to do? Who can help me achieve the desired results? What resources do I need to make the plan a reality? What deadlines need to be established? As before, the more specific you can be, the better you’ll be able to measure your results.

As you put together your plan, it’s important to establish priorities. Determine what needs to be done first, second, third, and so on. Unless you establish priorities, you may find yourself and your team working on things unrelated to your plan. Soon you fall back into the firefighting mode without time to accomplish the important goals you identified during the planning process.

How Am I Doing?

Once the plan is written and you’ve started to implement your plan, the next step is to evaluate how you are doing in meeting the plan’s objectives. Questions you want to ask include: Am I on track? Am I achieving the expected results? Do changes need to be made? At this point the cycle begins again as you make necessary adjustments to your plan. You may determine that some portions of the plan are no longer valid or that some items need to be added to make your plan more workable.

Some first-line supervisors have trouble with this step. They have a tendency to stick with the original plan, no matter what happens. Changes to the plan are threats to their ego or authority. The reality is just the opposite. Those who fail to be flexible often wind up headed in the wrong direction. They may accomplish their original goals, but they contribute nothing to the success of the organization.

As a first-line supervisor you have to be flexible, just like a good football coach who enters the game with a definite plan. If the other team quickly scores two or three touchdowns, the coach makes adjustments to the plan. He knows that if he sticks to the original plan, things will continue to get worse and his team could lose the game. Being willing and able to modify the game plan can be the difference between success and failure, whether you are a coach or a first-line supervisor.

Exercise 4: Developing Your Plan

INSTRUCTIONS: Now it’s your turn. Use the process just described to develop your own work plan to improve one area of your responsibility for the next month, quarter, six months, or year. If you are new at developing plans, you may want to start with a smaller time frame, such as a month. Later you can expand the plan to cover a longer time frame.

Name: ____________________________________________

Department: ____________________________________________

Area of focus: ____________________________________________

Plan time frame: ____________________________________________

I. Where am I today? (Consider strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities)

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

II. Where do I want to go? (What will be different when my plan succeeds?)

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

III. How will I get there? (What programs or strategies do I need?)

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

IV. How am I doing? (How will I measure my success?)

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

MANAGING YOUR TIME

In striving to make your plan work, one of your most valuable resources is time. Like money, it must be spent wisely. Many people and tasks will require your time and attention. You will be tempted to respond to them immediately. However, the more often you respond to things that aren’t part of your plan or priorities, the more often you’ll find yourself not accomplishing what you set out to do.

Time management has been the subject of many books, training films, and seminars. There are a number of time management systems on the market (Day Timer, Day Runner, and Franklin Covey are a few of the popular ones). They come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and costs. Each has its devoted band of users, who wouldn’t think of trying any other system. In the end, however, the important thing is to have a system that works for you, which may not be the same system everyone else is using.

You may be able to use nothing more than a simple calendar as a time management tool. If you don’t currently have a system you may want to try out various systems to find the one that works best in your situation. Here are a few time management hints you can apply regardless of the system you use.

Use a Daily List of Things to Do

Set aside a few minutes each day to list things you need to get done. Some people like to do this first thing in the morning; others prefer to do it at the end of the day, so they can get right to work the next day. Putting tasks in writing increases the likelihood that they’ll get done (remember the Harvard study).

Prioritize Your Daily List

Unless you prioritize your daily activities, you may find yourself very busy but not getting very much accomplished. Most time management experts recommend that you use three categories: (1) Must be done, (2) Should be done, and (3) Nice to do. Some suggest further prioritizing by breaking down each of these categories (1a, 2a, 3a, etc.). Unless you set priorities there is a temptation to work on the 3s (they often are the easiest or take the least amount of time) and not get to the 1s and 2s.

Determine the Best Use of Your Time Right Now

Several times each day, you should ask yourself: What would be the best use of my time right now? If you are working down your list of priorities, the answer to this question should keep you focused on what must be done rather than what should be done or what would be nice to do. It’s also a good question to ask whenever you are offered a new obligation or when another priority gets added to your list. Despite your best intentions, it’s easy to get off track and start working on something that doesn’t have a high priority.

Manage Your Time Like Money

Keep track of what you use and balance your time like you would balance a checkbook. Determine how much time you are spending on various parts of your plan. Are you spending more time on what should be done than on what must be done? Each day do you accomplish something that must be done? Do you waste time by not having a daily list of things to do?

Try this exercise for one week. Use the Daily Time Log in Exhibit 7–5 to keep track of how you spend your time at work each day. At the end of the week, add up the time you spent on all the different things you did. Put a dollar figure on each item based on your hourly rate (if you’re on salary, divide your weekly salary by the average number of hours you work each week). You’ll be able to see, on a weekly basis, what your organization is paying you for each of your activities. Then ask yourself: If it were my company, would I think I got a good return on my investment? Your answer to this question can help you determine if you are managing your time wisely or whether time is managing you.

Strive for Life Balance with Your Time

Some people say that the term time management should really be referred to as event management, because what we really are doing is managing the events in our lives. Too many people get caught up in managing the events at work without doing anything to manage the events of their lives outside of work. Chances are you already find yourself pulled in many directions. In addition to work responsibilities, you most likely have one or more of the following competing for your time: family commitments, community involvement, school activities, church activities, and professional organizations. The result of these competing factors can be stress, which affects your responses and your response time. So how do we manage all the events in our lives?

Author and consultant, Stephen Covey, in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989), offers several suggestions. When dealing with time management, Covey says that there are four generations of time management, which he refers to as quadrants:

Quadrant I: Important and Urgent

Quadrant II: Important, Not Urgent

Quadrant III: Not Important, Urgent

Quadrant IV: Not Important, Not Urgent

He suggests that people should put first things first by spending more time in Quadrant II. If we do that, Covey says we become more principle-centered and manage ourselves to do what is truly important. In order to fully understand and appreciate his concepts, take time to read his book. This thumbnail sketch barely scratches the surface of what he has to say. The key point is that each of us has more control over how our time is spent, but we must be willing to take control rather than letting time (events) control us.

Effects of Stress on Productivity

Today’s hectic work schedules and our personal and family needs all contribute to stress. But it is not always true that stress is bad. Some people handle stress quite well. Many athletes, for example, often do their best when the pressure is greatest. Some stress is valuable. Any real challenge entails stress, which is part of the exhilaration of a challenge and part of the satisfaction of success.

As a first-line supervisor, you are definitely subject to stress in your day-to-day work. There are people problems, production problems, and your own personal problems. The secret of handling stress lies in how you react to it, and how you deal with your fellow workers.

Stress that has no redeeming value can arise from uncertainty and lack of control. Such stress also occurs when supervisors use threats, intimidation, or excessive force to dominate the work group. All of these sources of stress lead to a decline in performance and productivity. Your ability to create a clear and workable plan and explain it to your employees helps reduce stress and maintain a positive work environment.

It’s important that you keep your perspective in every situation and keep your people from overreacting to events that seem beyond their control. Many first-line supervisors allow stress to build up unnecessarily in the workplace. They feel that the work, their boss, or the company is causing the stress, and they communicate this attitude to their work groups. Note the word “feel,” because stress is largely determined by our subjective interpretation of the circumstances: Stress does not arise from a situation itself but from our attitude toward it.

Often, stress is an inappropriate response to a situation. It’s important to maintain open and honest communication with your employees so you know what they are thinking and feeling about their work and your expectations. For example, if your company were facing possible lay-offs, your employees would feel stress, which might be severe enough to undermine morale and productivity. You would have to level with them about how you are feeling and keep them informed about what’s really happening. Otherwise, what they hear through the grapevine may create even more stress. When you keep your employees informed, you have a greater chance to minimize stress.

This chapter focused on several factors that affect you and your team’s ability to get the work done. First, we discussed performance motivation. There are many motivational variables, some of which are beyond the control of the first-line supervisor. We learned, though, that all behavior is motivated in some way and that different people have different motivational needs. Your job as a supervisor is to determine what motivates your employees and then create an environment where they can motivate themselves.

Second, we looked at how getting the work done requires that you get top performance from the members of your team. Top performance is the result of establishing and communicating expectations, providing positive feedback, focusing on teamwork, inspiring your people rather than controlling them, and leading by example.

You also learned about the benefits and importance of delegation. A five-step process for effective delegation was presented: defining the task to be delegated, selecting the individual, delegating the task, supporting the person, and following up.

The importance of planning was presented along with guidelines for developing an effective plan: make it specific, achievable, and measurable; put it in writing; have a timetable; determine priorities; and communicate the plan. The use of milestone charts was also discussed. The best plans answer the questions: Where am I today? Where do I want to go? How will I get there? and How am I doing?

Finally, the crucial nature of time management was discussed. We suggested ways to more effectively manage your time, such as using a daily to do list, prioritizing the list, determining the best use of your time at any given moment, and managing your time like money. Guidelines were also presented for how to balance life events with work events.

Exercise 5: Taking it Back to the Workplace

INSTRUCTIONS: Now that you have completed the reading and the activities in this chapter, it’s time to think specifically about how to apply what you have learned. The following questions are designed to help you consider what you need to do to succeed back in the workplace.

Do you know what motivates the members of your team?

What have you done to encourage and obtain top performance?

How effective have you been at delegating tasks?

What tasks are you doing that you should be delegating?

How much time do you spend planning and organizing? Do you need to be spend more or less time? Why?

What improvements do you need to more effectively manage your time?