SETTING YOUR

PRIORITIES
 TIME
MANAGEMENT
 WORK-LIFE
BALANCE
1. Set and meet own work
priorities
2. Time Management
3. Stress Management
 1.
MANAGING YOUR
TIME
Delegate effectively, Deal with Interruptions,
Stop Procrastinating,
Aim for Less than Perfection
A manager is commonly expected to
spend about 30% of their time on
management tasks and 70% on
operational tasks
 Delegation involves transferring
responsibility and authority, it does not
involve transferring accountability
 BETTER DELEGATION
Tasks you should consider delegating
Routine matters that do not require your
authority or expertise.
Tasks that others could do more quickly or
efficiently than you.
Tasks that your team members could complete
at less expense.
Tasks for which others are better qualified,
skilled or experienced.
Tasks that make you 'over-specialised' that you
could train someone else to do.
Tasks that will provide your team members with
variety in their roles.
Tasks that will provide your team members with
valuable professional development
opportunities.
Tasks you should never delegate
Policy matters.
Crisis tasks such as customer complaints and
accident investigations.
Tasks given to you personally by your manager.
Tasks that are well beyond the skills and
experience of your team members.
Allocation of work.
Anything to do with confidential information such
as pay rates, sick leave, superannuation or
workers compensation claims.
Matters requiring the delegate to exercise
authority over other team members.
Counseling of other team members.
 DEAL WITH INTERRUPTIONS
You need to be tactful and courteous at all times—but also in
control

STRATEGIES
INTERRRUPTIONS:
ALLOCATE SPECIFIC TIMES
PHONE CALLS FOR INTERRUPTIONS
EMAILS
UNSCHEDULED VISITORS LIMIT TIME YOU SPEND ON
UNSCHEDULED MEETINGS INTERRUPTIONS
QUESTIONS FROM STAFF
LEARN TO SAY ‘NO’
 DEAL WITH INTERRUPTIONS
ALLOCATE SPECIFIC TIME

1. Ask people to call you during a set time (between 2pm and 3pm)

2. Let people know that you only read emails or check your mobile phone at
certain times of the day (for example, when you arrive at work, just before
lunch, at 3pm and just before you leave)

3. During these allocated times, prioritise your calls or emails or paperwork and
attend to the most urgent first

4. Outside these times, consider using a personal assistant, voicemail or the

caller id function on your phone to screen your calls
 DEAL WITH INTERRUPTIONS
LIMIT THE TIME YOU SPEND ON UNSCHEDULED
INTERRUPTIONS

1. Identify how important and urgent the task really is and prioritise work
accordingly

2. Example: 'Thanks for dropping in (or ringing) but you'll have to excuse me
now because I really need to finish what I'm doing/prepare for the meeting I
have this afternoon/attend to some urgent issues‘

3. Don't invite unscheduled visitors to sit if you don't want them to stay; instead,
stand up to talk and then walk them back to the door.
 DEAL WITH INTERRUPTIONS
LEARN TO SAY ‘NO’

1. Means saying no to meetings you don't really need to attend, work

someone wants you to do that is neither important nor urgent, invitations to
lunch and coffee when deadlines are looming, or even someone asking for
help

2. Keep your office door closed, go to another room, or consider working from
home if you are able to do so effectively, without distractions
 Stop Procrastinating
'I'll have more time tomorrow.'
'It's too early/late in the day to face that task.'
'I won't start this project until I have the time to finish it.'
'I haven't got time now to do a really good job.'
'It's not due until next month anyway.'
 AVOID PROCRASTINATION
Set a deadline to do a Have other people
task, and stick to it. monitor and reinforce
your progress.
Break the task up into
sub-tasks, and set If a task or sub-task is
realistic target boring, try doing it a
completion dates for different way so that you
each one. learn while you are doing
it.
Do the easy bits first.
Accept responsibility for
Reward yourself for your actions and
completing each sub- inactions
task.
 AIM FOR LESS THAN PERFECTION
Decide how important a particular task is in order to
determine the quality to which you should aspire

1.
The nature of the
2.
Who the recipient of
3.
The expectations
deliverable and its the deliverable will and requirements of
stage of be the recipient
development
 WORK-LIFE BALANCE STRATEGIES
Learn to Prioritise:
things that are important to
do, like attending to a sick
child or celebrating your
spouse's birthday
Unless you learn to
prioritise and say 'no', you'll
exhaust yourself by
constantly trying to 'do it
all'.
Prioritising may involve
breaking habits, choosing
to stop doing things
you've always done until
now, and disappointing
some people by refusing
to agree to the priorities
they've set for you
 WORK-LIFE BALANCE STRATEGIES
Negotiate Changes to
Working Conditions:
Starting and finishing work
later may allow you to drop
off your children at school
in the morning
Working from home one
day a week may allow you
to work uninterrupted and
get more things done
Working a compressed
working week of four ten-
hour days instead of five
eight-hour days
Switching to part-time
work for a while may
allow you to care for a
sick relative
 WORK-LIFE BALANCE STRATEGIES

Learn to Switch off:

Everyone needs time to
switch off from work.
Your dedication to your
job should be measured
Turn your phone off, and by the results you
stop feeling compelled to achieve, not the number
check your work email after of hours you put in
hours
 WORK-LIFE BALANCE STRATEGIES

Make time for fun and

relaxation:
Sometimes life we can
forget to make time for the
simplest of things—relaxing
and having fun
Reading for pleasure for
half an hour each evening
or having coffee with a
friend once a week
Holidays or weekend trips
away, or extended time
spent with friends or
family
- Protect that time just as
you would any other
appointment
ASK OTHERS FOR HELP
Your Name

Family and
Best Friends

Close Friends

Acquaintances

People You
Pay
 STRESS MANAGEMENT
Stress is the emotional and physical strain caused by our response to pressure

Tension, irritability, inability to concentrate, excessive tiredness, sleeping

difficulties, breathing difficulties, headaches, stomach upsets, fast heartbeat
On a scale of one to ten, rate your current
stress level.

Where would you like your stress level to be?

What are the major stressors in your life?

What do you see as the major challenges to

resolving your stress?

What are you currently doing to manage and

reduce stress?
 Causes of stress in the workplace
1. New job, assignment or team
2. Job insecurity
3. Increase in workload
4. Excessive work hours
5. Deadlines
6. Interpersonal conflict
7. Low workplace morale
8. Fear of failure
9. Workplace isolation
10. Poorly defined job role
11. Lack of opportunity for growth
12. Lack of input into decision making
Reduce the unnecessary stressors in your life
Do you really need to be taking so many phone calls?
Do you really need to attend all those meetings?
Do you have to work so many hours?
Is it possible to protect yourself and your team from destructive office
politics?
Is there any way to renegotiate artificial deadlines or unrealistic targets?
Would less time spent on the Internet reduce your sense of information
overload?
Do you find news reports depressing?
Do television advertisements make you feel you should be purchasing
expensive or non-essential products?
Are you living beyond your means?
Would taking public transport or working from home occasionally reduce the
stress of your commute?
Could you reduce the time spent with a stressful friend or relative?
Improving your management of stress

Learn to recognise Manage your Manage your

your personal emotional reactions physical reactions
signs of stress to stress to stress

Look after your Look after your

physical health emotional health

ALTER
You can alter your approach by:
1. Thinking positively and having a
positive attitude
2. Improving specific skills that will help
you manage the situation
3. Doing something differently
THE TRIPLE A
AVOID
Avoiding the situation is appropriate if:
1. Repercussions are non-existent or
extremely minor
2. Other people are not negatively
impacted
Do not use this approach if:
1. Avoiding will cause more stress in the
long term than the
short term (for example, avoiding the
dentist or doctor)
2. Avoiding will transfer stress to someone
else
ACCEPT
Accepting the situation is appropriate
when:
1. The task must be done eventually
2. Avoiding or altering it would cause
undue stress to you or
another person
Accepting the situation is not
appropriate when:
1. You are doing so just to please others
2. You are accepting it because you feel
you have no choice
 ACTIVITY
SCENARIO ALTER? AVOID? ACCEPT? ACTION PLAN

Your neighbor always comes outside to talk

to you as you leave the house. You often
don’t have time for conversation, especially
since it is usually negative, but you feel bad
saying no.

You have just joined a new team at work.

You find your new manager abrasive and
that dealing with him is stressful.

Your mother-in-law is coming to visit next

week. You always find her visits time-
consuming and stressful.

You live in an area that experiences frequent

earthquakes. You find these events very
unnerving and hard to deal with.

You have been putting off your yearly dental

checkup for a few months because you find
it stressful. However, you developed a
toothache last week that is getting painful.