Time management

The challenge

A  Senior level manager from a leading manufacturer of medical equipment approached Festo to assist in designing and developing an in company management and development programme.  Once formulated, this provided a valuable structure however, it was quickly recognised by the manager that time pressures prevented an effective installation of the programme across the whole organisation. 

In particular the diagnosis revealed that the symptoms derived from:

• Difficulty in balancing strategic activities against operational needs
• Challenges in handling distractions from priorities
  

The solution

Recognising the managerial time pressures and wider organisational needs, our Festo Didactic Consultant, developed a one day in company time management workshop.  In order to maximise the impact of the workshop within the organisation three key identified needs needed to be addressed:

• Understand the basic principles of effective time management
• Provide a range of tools and techniques that are applicable to all systems
• Offer practical ideas based on recognition of symptoms  

The above key points provided a starting point for the structure of the workshop and these issues were further expanded upon within the four sessions outlined below:

Session 0:  Introduction to Time Management

Session 1:  “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”  Time planning: Fundamental tools and techniques

Session 2:   “Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow”   Time stealers:  Techniques and skills to reduce lost time.

Session 3:   “A stitch in time....” Time

Session 4:  “The wise man does no wrong by changing his habits with the times” Time investment: Getting personal payback

Client benefits

As with any investment in time, money and resources for training it was essential to see a return on investment.  When surveyed following completion of the workshop, 92% of participants found valuable learning points in all of the sessions.  Furthermore, after implementation of the new time control measures and tools it was calculated that the newly learnt skills would release on average ten to fifteen days per year for the management team.

Upon completion of the workshop all managers benefited from:

• A personal implementation plan to release productive time with key milestones to ensure success
• Tool kit to assist in effective prioritisation, setting of SMART objectives and planning of larger tasks
• Techniques to help identify and professionally handle ‘time stealers’
• More effective use of common activities such as emails, meetings

Customer quotes

“Friendly approach.  The ‘games’ were fun  and led to good visuals of the concepts.”

“Nice book!  Like the techniques that we learnt.”

“Was very interactive with different types of learning media and examples.”

“Good pace and relevant to my needs.”

92% of participants found valuable learning points in all sessions of the workshop