Time management for leaders: The Outlook game!

Dear Managers and Leaders!

Have you ever experienced the panic of having a line-up at your office’s door? Have you ever forgotten to act on an action item that your boss gave to you? Have you ever forgotten about that “important” task that you delegated to someone on your team (ouch!)?

You know, as you grow higher in an organization, when you start to take on more leadership roles, more responsibilities, you also start to be connected with more people and to be involved in more activities. You almost invariably end up with a busier schedule! This can be tough to manage when you are not used to it.

There is also a weird shift that is happening when you get to a leadership position. Before, when you were an individual contributor, you almost had complete control over your schedule. Maybe your manager had a weekly meeting with you but, aside from that, you were the master of your calendar! Once you are in a leadership position, the situation often changes dramatically. People around you start to take control over your calendar. People schedule meetings with you, you have to participate in all sorts of activities, you have to represent your team to upper management, etc. All sorts of things to reduce the time you have to focus on what you have to do!

On top of all those activities, you have to monitor what your team is doing. You have to interact with your team several times a week, if not several times a day to make sure that your team members are staying on course. If they are blocked on something, you need to help them find solutions. If people complain about your team, you have to calm them down and make sure that your team delivers. All this is tough to manage, no?

As you can see, it is tough for a leader to find time to perform his work! There is always something else to do, and there will always be more people asking for your attention! However, there is work that a leader needs to do on his own. A leader must find time to think about solutions to issues, he must close action items, and he must find time to delegate tasks properly. This is essential to the success of the leader and to the success of his team.

The secret is to make room in your agenda. You must reserve space in your agenda that no one will ever be able to steal. When you plan for your week, you first have to estimate the amount of time that will be required to complete all the things that you need to complete by yourself during that week. Then, you have to block enough space in your agenda to do all the activities that you have planned for the week. That way, people will see that you are busy during those hours and no one will be able to steal that precious time from you. This will allow you to perform your work and succeed! I call this secret "Playing the Outlook Game"!

As you plan for your week, please be realistic! If you pile up so much work for yourself that you no longer have time to spend with your team, then this will not be good at all! You have to consider the entire picture and balance the time you spend alone in your office working on your personal activities and the time you spend with your team and other people in your surroundings. Also, it is always possible to realize at the beginning of the week that you have too much to do. This is when you start asking yourself what can be delegated to your team members! Isn’t it good to have people on your team?

And you, dear leader, what are your tricks to reserve time in your agenda? Is there anything special that you would like to share with this group?