1000 Business Lessons Every Businessman Must Know

Chapter 77 Time Management: Being an Efficient Leader (1)
[-]. Establish a concept of time

In this highly competitive information age, as a leader, in order to succeed, talent and knowledge are not enough.Knowledge and talent are effective only through methodical and systematic work, and time is the limiting factor in turning talent into achievement.Effective time management is essential for leadership success.

620. Have a strong sense of time

A leader with a strong sense of professionalism and accomplishment must have a strong sense of urgency for time.The consumption of time is the consumption of life, and the passage of time is the passage of career.Only by realizing its extreme importance can we talk about seeking to manage time scientifically.

The time for one thing to deal with is always limited, and we must not think that the time is endless.Every leader must have a strong sense of time and a sense of responsibility of "finishing what can be done that day".Facts have proved that if you can't effectively deal with the things that have been dealt with, over time, it will not only affect your future work, but also be detrimental to the improvement of your own quality, resulting in a lack of organization in your work.And organization is very important for leaders who deal with specific affairs. Having a good organization is a basic requirement for a high-quality leader.

621. Have a keen sense of timing

Not all things have the opportunity to repeat and reproduce.A work task, which produces noticeable results only when the time is right, may be worthless once the time has passed.Leaders are always on the lookout for opportunities.

The so-called seizing a business opportunity is to see the inevitable process of its development and grasp the possibility through chance.There is a specific problem here. Under certain conditions and in the presence of multiple possibilities, only one possibility will become a reality, and this possibility is likely to be hidden behind the revealed possibility. If it is Very small chance, it is even more difficult to find it easily.This requires finding the possibility one by one, and distinguishing the ability that can become reality among the many possibilities.

There is an American proverb: "The road to failure is full of missed opportunities. The man who sits and waits for luck to come in through the front door often overlooks the opportunity to come in through the back window."

622. Have a Quantitative Time Control Concept

Leaders must quantitatively control time, have the ability to systematically manage their own time and spend quantitatively, be brave to challenge time, decisively change the situation of inaction in controlling time, and be the master of time.Planning means and quantitative spending are at the heart of time management.

In a Fortune 500 company, a loose policy was adopted in the past that anyone could communicate with the leader anytime and anywhere. As a result, one came in and the other went out, exhausting the leader every day.Later, the reform was carried out, and the supervisor asked to talk to the direct subordinate for one hour a month, and make a record of the conversation.

The content of the conversation includes evaluation of your recent work, evaluation of other colleagues, views on company management, thoughts on your own further development, etc.

Everyone attaches great importance to the conversation.This kind of conversation has in turn become the way of success and cultural characteristics of this enterprise.In fact, the 12-hour conversation record in a year is itself the best evaluation file for subordinates.

623. Have the Concept of "Purpose"

The cost-effectiveness of time refers to the ratio of the effect of a job to the time it takes to complete the job.The less time a job consumes, the more cost-effective it is.The value of time is reflected by the carrier of benefits and effects.Leaders must treat time as a resource and do everything possible to reduce time expenditure.

Leaders should have a clear purpose in everything they do, and different things have different purposes.A lack of clarity of purpose, or a confusion of different purposes, inevitably leads to confusion.

There is usually only one purpose for doing one thing.If there are multiple purposes, they will inevitably interfere with each other and fail to achieve optimization.Humans are limited in energy and intellect.

Modern psychological research proves that for most people, thinking efficiency will be greatly reduced when thinking about two or more problems at the same time.Therefore, you should focus on one central purpose within a certain period of time and devote all your energy to one thing, which is in line with the principle of time management.

624. Have the concept of "whole"

Everything is a whole made up of many units.In the whole, each unit can give full play to its respective performance through a reasonable structure, so that the integrity can be reflected.Time management is a whole. It is not enough to only pay attention to the role of each element, and the focus should be on the overall effect.Only in this way can the relationship between people and time be coordinated and time managed optimally.

In time management, we should skillfully use the "overall effect" and pay attention to the overall balance of life.So that you don't break down your body when your ambitions are unfulfilled, or waste your time with too much fun.

Use the "overall effect" skillfully to seize the bits and pieces of time and achieve career success.Assuming that the life expectancy of a person is 80 years old, the total is about 70 hours, of which the working time is more than 4 hours, and the sleeping, eating and other physiological time is about 29 hours. After deducting these hours, there are 37 hours left.This will be the free time in everyone's life.Professor H. A. Simon, an American psychologist, believes that if you want to be outstanding in a certain aspect, you need to master about 5 to 10 blocks (units used to represent the amount of information) of this subject, which will take 10 years. About 3 hours of hard work. If 37 hours are used to study, how much can be learned!

Skillfully use the "overall effect" and pay attention to the reasonable consumption of time. When it is fast, it is fast, and when it is slow, it is slow. Only when there is tension and relaxation, can a flexible work efficiency be formed, so that high efficiency and a comfortable mood coexist.

625. Have the concept of "level"

Hierarchy refers to the order in which things are done.Time management should have a certain hierarchy.

As far as the human body itself is concerned, there are periodic changes of high-efficiency time and low-efficiency time; as far as work is concerned, there are important and unimportant points.There is always a contradiction between limited time and a large number of things that people face, which requires leaders to be able to use all the time under their control in key places.

Because the key work affects the overall situation, when there is a conflict between the key work and the general work, you must give up the general work or entrust others to do it, and do the key work yourself; and you must go to the office when you are most energetic. Tackle your most important, most critical jobs.

But the general work can not be ignored, but arranged to do it when the energy is slightly weaker.In this way, the utilization rate and effectiveness of time can be improved to achieve the best results.

[-]. Effective time management skills

626. Make a plan and guide according to the plan
It is of great significance to formulate plans and guide work and life according to the plan.Our daily life is full of sudden, uncontrollable, and unpredictable events. Planning can pull you back to the main axis of planning from the interruption of these events, so as not to lose your way.Planning can improve people's ability to self-control time.

What guides the plan is the goal, but many leaders have a very vague concept of their life goals and work goals.By making a plan and analyzing your value preferences, your goals can gradually become clear.If there is no goal, people's actions will not be stimulated and they will lose the courage to fight; goals can stimulate our potential and maximize our talents; only with goals can there be results, recognition and recognition of our efforts Affirmation, obtain the corresponding sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

"Plan" in time management theory mostly refers to work plan.In order to effectively use time, summarize the details of one's own work, analyze the method of completing these tasks, and plan them, not only can improve each specific individual work, but also rationalize the finishing work.

627. People Oriented, People Prioritize Things

The essence of time management is to improve the ability and achievement of leaders, so as to improve the quality of work. "Achievement" cannot be separated from everyone's personality. It is not only an objective result, but also people's subjective experience and subjective evaluation.If you put too much emphasis on work efficiency and stick to a strict plan day by day, it will inevitably make your life too rigid. Then the leader is a slave to the plan rather than a master of the plan. He has no time and freedom to pursue the most important and precious things in life that he affirms. Something that completely loses peace of mind.

The first principle of making a plan is people-oriented, people are more important than things, and the goal should not be lost in the method.What you are pursuing in life is the principles and standards that guide the content of your plan.You must first understand where your "core values" lie.The so-called core value refers to the most important thing in your mind. You are not only the leader of the company, but also a father, a husband, and a member of the golf association.Write down all your social roles, analyze which ones you think are crucial to you, and which are related to your life's happiness, and arrange them in order for reference when making plans.Or from another perspective, analyze your personal needs. The things you pursue may include: health, career achievement, money, reputation, friendship development, a certain hobby... Make a list of priorities, and you are willing to spend more on things On which things, that is, what is critical to you, will fundamentally affect your planning.Only by setting goals in line with personal values ​​and doing our best to achieve them can we move towards personal freedom and a meaningful, balanced and fulfilling life.

628. Correcting Mistakes, Time Proportionate to Value

For the evaluation of the importance of something, two mistakes that are easy to make must be corrected:

First, equate difficulty with importance;
Second, equate urgency with importance.

Difficult things are not necessarily important, but in actual work, because they are difficult to do, they unconsciously strengthen the impression in the minds of leaders and become important; urgent things are not necessarily the most important, which is different two concepts.Importance refers to the factors that have a greater impact on the realization of the goal.

According to the principle of proportionality between time and value, more time should be allocated for important tasks to avoid sloppy work due to time constraints and affect the quality of work.Important and difficult tasks should not only be given ample time, but should also be arranged at the time when the leader is in the best state of mind and has the highest efficiency, such as the morning of Monday or Tuesday, because most people work at the beginning of the week or the beginning of the day. , the most energetic.Urgent work should be completed first, and the total amount of time given may not be too much, because if the urgent matter is not resolved, it will hinder the work below, so it should be placed at the forefront of the schedule.Make a work plan for a period of time or a day, which can revolve around an important activity.Some activities are the key to the event, or have strategic significance, so such important activities should be the center of the work.Work that has little or nothing to do with the target work can be omitted, and if it cannot be omitted, it can also be considered to authorize others to complete it.

629. Leave Room, Being Busy Doesn’t Equal Efficiency

It is generally believed that a person who is busy and never stops has at least the virtue of hard work. Therefore, many people always like to arrange a full schedule, thinking that only in this way can they fully reflect their personal value and achieve outstanding results. In fact, " "Busy" does not equal "efficiency".

Working time can be divided into control time and response time.Control time refers to the active time that you can independently control, use, and complete the work you want to do; response time refers to the passive time that you have to accept external interruptions.It is almost impossible to not be disturbed by the outside world during the work process. Factors from the boss, subordinates, colleagues and the outside world force you to interrupt the work in hand.Generally, a person with a higher position has more time to control, which shows that he has more autonomy, while a person with a lower position has less time to control, which means that he has to obey and accept assignments and orders from many people.

Be clear about your own control time and response time, and leave enough space on the schedule so that when emergencies occur, your plan will not be disrupted.Additionally, limit the amount of work that should be done each day.Cut some out of secondary content so as not to overcrowd the schedule and thus limit the total amount of work time, do not extend work hours without discipline, leave room for them.

630. Inductive combination, flexible control

The method of time planning is to reasonably combine the work to be done, instead of arranging it on paper in the order you think of it.

In addition to important and urgent work, related work can also be grouped together.Putting all kinds of trivial things together will make the work rhythmic and imposing, which not only saves a lot of preparation time, saves unnecessary time running back and forth, but also saves the time of those who assist you in your work. It can also be used in a concentrated and continuous manner. Required tools and other helpers.

For example, try to agree on a good time, meet the visitors in turn as much as possible; browse the documents that must be read in a concentrated manner, and so on.Work that needs to be done with others should be done at the beginning of the day, when it is easiest to find others.

631. Simplifying Complexity and Emphasizing Methods

There is a three clock.A small newly assembled clock was placed between the two old clocks.Two old clocks "tick" and "tick" are walking minute by minute.

One of the old clocks said to the little clock: "Come on, it's time for you to work too. But I'm a little worried, after you finish 3200 million times, I'm afraid you won't be able to take it anymore."

"My God! 3200 million times." Xiao Zhong was surprised. "You want me to do such a big thing? Can't do it, can't do it."

Another old clock said, "Don't listen to his nonsense. Don't be afraid, you just tick every second."

"How can there be such a simple thing in the world." Xiao Zhong was dubious. "If so, I'll try."

The small clock easily "ticks" every second, and before you know it, a year has passed, and it has been swung 3200 million times.

In the face of complicated problems, the thinking and methods of doing things should start from the simple, control the complex with the simple, simplify the complex, and avoid falling into the dilemma of adding chaos to the complexity and being clueless.The whole secret of doing things is to keep things as simple as possible.

Simple things are often the most powerful.If it is said that four or two strokes of a thousand catties is the highest state of Chinese Kungfu, then reducing complexity to simplicity is the highest state of practice.Unfortunately, many people are unaware of the fact that there is always a simpler solution to a problem, no matter how complex it is.The most common habit of people is that when they see important things, they tend to use complicated methods to solve them.As a result, things get more and more complicated, and eventually become more difficult.

632. Make a long-term work plan
There are many goals in a person's life, even in a certain period of time.These goals have a certain relationship in time. Some people imagine these goals as a pyramid, the core of which is the ultimate goal of life.The higher the level in the pyramid, the more distant the goal and the less specific the content.But it's important to be clear about your long-term goals.

Many leaders who use their time well plan long-term schedules.According to the nature of the work you are responsible for, the time period of the long-term plan can be long or short, and the content of the long-term plan can be quite flexible. It is best to seek advice from other people on the content of the long-term plan, they can help you from the overall interests Improve the plan, and give corresponding support and help in the process of plan implementation in the future.

633. Make a short-term work plan
If the nature of the work is relatively fixed, short-term plans can be formulated on a monthly basis.For flexible work, plan on a weekly basis.

Short-term planning should have clear goals and set a deadline for each item.Only when the deadline is enforced, the work plan can play a big role. The deadline forces you to concentrate, remove obstacles, and work efficiently and with high quality.

A department's short-term work plan can allow you to clearly and detailedly understand your job content, truly understand the scope of responsibilities and authority, and know what things must be acted on immediately.

634. Make a daily work schedule

Leaders should formulate a daily schedule, and take the things to be done every day as a link in the budget chain. Whether they can effectively complete a day's work will depend on their own efforts.

You can create your schedule this way.Spend 15 minutes before leaving get off work every day to list the things you need to do and the things you need to do tomorrow. Try to write down all the things, don’t miss them, and weigh them according to the quadrant organization method.Divide all work into four quadrants, the first quadrant is urgent and important; the second quadrant is important but not urgent; the third quadrant is urgent but not important, such as phone calls, meetings, sudden visitors, etc. ; The fourth quadrant belongs to things that are neither urgent nor important, that is to say, if you feel too tired, you can ask for a break from such things.

The schedule you make should be portable so that you can use it when you leave the office.Each time a piece of work is done, it is crossed off the list.The schedule should never be static, and items can be added to the table whenever needed.

[-]. Efficient control of time technique
635. Have the determination to do well

The sum of physical, intellectual, and cultural qualities of a leader should blend into a strong, desirable personality that enables him to display leadership excellence and grandeur.This may seem like a daunting task, but it is a must for anyone who wishes to be successful.

(End of this chapter)