Time management in the workplace - Term Paper Example

?[Your full full May 12, Time Management in the Workplace Before going into the discussion regarding time management in the workplace, let us get a better understanding of what time management actually is. Time management means to manage the work and home responsibilities under the same roof. “Time management is the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling, and budgeting one’s time for the purpose of generating more effective work and productivity” (Estes). Time management is important in every field of life, such as, in schools, at workplace, or even at home. In the present world, every person has to do many tasks daily, which need him/her to have excellent time management skills because without making a proper schedule, it becomes very difficult for a person to manage the routine tasks efficiently and effectively. Time management in the workplace is a very important concept related to increased workplace productivity. If the employees organize and schedule their time, as it should be, it not only increases their productivity but also increases overall productivity of the company. Without effective time management, it becomes very difficult for the employees to manage their job related tasks in an appropriate manner. Effective time management helps employees organize and learn the ways to spend their time at the workplace, allows employees to utilize the resources efficiently, and makes employees deal with every task with full dedication and commitment. Developing an effective schedule for the workplace is extremely important for the employees of any company or organization because it not only helps employees plan for the unplanned works but also makes them more productive and efficient. An important point regarding time management is that it should be able to adapt to the changes in the workplace. Certain things can happen at the workplace, such as, an unexpected work given by the manager, an urgent order placement by a customer, or failure of technology. Therefore, in order to face these kinds of situations, employees need to develop a schedule, which should have some capacity to accommodate unexpected situations. Another important point related to effective time management schedule is the sequence of works. Employees need to put the works in the queue based on the level of priority. Most relevant works should be done first in order to escape from all sorts of time shortage troubles. “Good time management involves keeping a schedule of the tasks and activities that have been deemed important” (Estes). If an employee does not care for the priority of works while developing the time management schedule, it can create severe problems for the employee in case of any unexpected addition of a task to the schedule. Therefore, adding the tasks in the schedule in the order of their significance is a very important concept regarding effective time management. Some employees need to develop their schedule once a week or once a month whereas some employees need to reschedule their activities on daily basis. Therefore, an important thing for an employee is to look at the nature of the job and develop the time management schedule accordingly. Moreover, employees need to avoid all sorts of distractions in order to become more productive and focused. Employees need to focus towards their work in order to complete their job related tasks within time. Distractions divert the concentration of employees affecting their level of productivity. Importance of Time Management Time management at the workplace is a very important concept for every employee working for any company or organization. Time management makes an employee get the maximum use of all available resources. It also plays a critical role in the success of an employee. Without developing of an effective workplace schedule, an employee cannot manage his/her job related tasks in an appropriate manner. We can take example of a new employee who starts feeling stressed while learning new roles and responsibilities related to his/her job. “An experienced professional will be well-acquainted with time management in the workplace, but a newbie will not be up to the same level” (Rampur). Now, if the employee does not make a proper workplace schedule, he/she will face difficulty in coming out of the stress of the new responsibilities. However, if an employee makes a proper workplace schedule, it helps the employee in carrying out all responsibilities effectively and efficiently. Time management injects a sense of responsibility in the minds of the employees. Those employees, who work according to their workplace schedules, never get short of time and fulfill their responsibilities effectively, whereas those employees, who do not care much about time management, often fail to progress in their professional careers. The sense of responsibility plays a critical role in the success of any employee. Those employees, who do their job related tasks with full commitment and dedication, enjoy success in their professional careers, whereas those employees, who do not have sense of responsibility, hardly make any sort of progress. Therefore, the sense of responsibility or accountability created by the time management schedule plays a considerable role in the personal and professional success of an employee. Time management is a very important concept for any employee. “The money that he earns significantly depends on the quality time he spends in the office for being productive” (Rampur). If an employee wastes his time in the office, he can never earn a good amount of money because of low level of dedication towards work. However, if an employee shows complete concentration towards the job, it results in increasing the employee’s productivity making him earn a good amount of money from the job. Companies always expect on time completion of tasks from the employees and when the employees live up to the expectations of the company, they are rewarded in the form of increased salaries or in terms of job promotions. “Completing job deliverables on time is something that is expected from all employees, which can only be achieved if time is managed in an efficient manner” (Rampur). Therefore, time management not only makes an employee more productive but also brings a number of benefits to the employees. Time management at the workplace is a key to success for any employee. It reduces the stress of the work environment and makes an employee more efficient and focused. If an employee does not develop a time management schedule, it results in increasing the burden of pending works on the employee. Time management helps in reducing that burden and making the employee more efficient and productive. Therefore, if an employee has the ability to manage his/her time by developing an effective time management schedule, it boosts the performance of the employee making him/her an essential part of the company. How to Do Time Management Having understood the importance of time management in the workplace, next important step for an employee is to know the ways to develop an effective time management schedule. Employees need to prioritize their tasks based on importance and urgency of the tasks. Most relevant works should be done first in order to avoid any inconvenience. Employees should also try to get best use of the available resources because it is also one of the ways towards effective time management. Some of the most effective time management ideas for the employees include understanding the roles and responsibilities, doing the most important tasks first, avoiding all sorts of distractions, avoiding the wastage of time, having space for added responsibilities, and doing things within their time. If an employee understands the importance of these ideas, he/she can never face professional failure provided that he/she possesses the skills and abilities to do any specific job. Pros and Cons of Effective Time Management Time management is the first and the most important aspect of career success. Its importance at the workplace can never be denied as it brings a number of benefits to the employees. Some of the most important factors, which make time management a key towards career success, include improvement in performance, improvement in efficiency, prioritization of tasks, helps in doing tasks on their time, improvement in the quality of work, and maintenance of balance between work and home. Development of time management plan has very few disadvantages. Some of the main disadvantages may include increased consumption of time in developing the plans, inflexible schedule for added tasks, and difficulty in getting back to the normal routine if the schedule changes due to inclusion or reduction of some responsibilities. Time management has more advantages than the disadvantages. Some other benefits of developing an effective time management plan include keeping track of the responsibilities and improving the workplace discipline. Time management plan helps the employees keep record of all responsibilities in such a way that none of the tasks or responsibilities is left behind. Time management plan also improves the workplace discipline of the employees. When the employees will be dedicated towards their job responsibilities, workplace discipline will definitely improve because there will be no person causing any sort of distraction in the work environment. Therefore, we can say that time management not only brings a number of considerable benefits to the employees but also ensures improvement in the overall workplace atmosphere. Works Cited Estes, Paulla. “What is Time Management?.” Wisegeek.com, 16 Feb. 2011 Web. 12 May 2011. Rampur, Stephen. “Time Management in the Workplace”. Buzzle.com, n.d. Web. 12 May 2011. Read More