Time Management and Personal Effectiveness Course

Introduction

Good time management lies at the heart not only of personal effectiveness but also of organisational success. Everybody needs to make the best of their own time and talent and those of the people around them if they, the team and organisation are to achieve their objectives and business goals. This intensive and comprehensive programme provides participants with the opportunity to explore the fundamental principles of time management, take stock of their current working practices and determine action to enhance personal, team and organisational effectiveness. Emphasis is placed not only on managing one’s own time but also on helping other people to manage theirs. The programme also focuses on the skill sets of personal effectiveness – such as communication, effective business writing skills, efficient reading, managing information overload and proactive self-development.

Who Should Attend?

• All professionals and administrative staff who have some discretion over how to manage their time and the need to balance priorities, to meet both immediate demands and longer-term objectives

Course duration

5 Days

Programme Objectives

• To help participants manage time better (their own and other people’s)
• To provide an opportunity for participants to explore the skills and principles of time-management and exchange ideas, tips and techniques
• To provide an opportunity for participants to take stock of their current working practices and decide on an action-based strategy to ‘work smarter’
• To encourage participants to be proactive in their continuous professional development and to provide them with a range of tools to support their learning

Course Outline

Day 1 - Dimensions of Time Management & Personal Effectiveness

• Programme introduction and objectives
• Action planning and enhancing personal and team effectiveness
• Making the most of office technology
• Chronistic intelligence
• Time-stealers and costs of poor time management
• Priority setting – rational and emotional approaches
• Ten principles of effective time management
• Handling and making requests
• Behavioural analysis and time management

Day 2 - Personal Planning Systems /Interruptions / Project Planning/Stress

• Getting the best from diaries and to-do lists
• Proactive planning to meet key responsibilities
• Developing time-based planning – daily, weekly, monthly plans etc
• Handling interruptions – developing a time sensitive culture
• Planning project-type work
• Principles of Critical Path Analysis and implications for priority setting
• Understanding stress
• Managing stress in self and others
• Dealing with change – taking and getting a positive response

Day 3 - Getting the Best from Other People / Communication/ Meeting Skills

• Delegation – giving and receiving
• Team-working and team building
• Improving communication and working relationships
• Assertiveness
• Effective and efficient meetings – ‘everybody’s a chairbody’

Day 4 - Office Ergonomics / Managing Information / Efficient Reading & Writing

• Optimising the office environment
• Handling the paper-load and developing paperless systems
• Managing e-mails
• Improving the efficiency of management reporting
• Using and developing relational databases
• Business writing and the principles of ‘rapid composition’
• Rapid and efficient reading – digesting and retaining  information
• Mind-mapping

Day 5 - Developing Creativity / Continuous Improvement / Self-Development

• Developing creativity in self and others
• How the brain works and creative thinking techniques
• Developing a culture of continuous improvement
• Implementing change initiatives
• Influencing skills – making a case and managing the ‘politics’
• Continuing professional development – a proactive approach
• Programme review and action plans