Stop Wasting Time as a Leader

As a leader, you may find yourself strapped for time, especially when you are juggling clients, team members and the constant flow of work that comes in any leadership position. Learning to manage your time more efficiently, then, is a very valuable lesson for you to learn as a leader. With that in mind, here are some ways to stop wasting time at work. Take note and speed things up!

1. Have Fewer Meetings

Never schedule a meeting when an email or phone call could accomplish the same goal.

When you do have meetings, make sure they are as efficient as possible. Have a structure, know what is going on, and work to ensure your mutual goal is met. That way you will start to dread meetings less and less!

Meetings are the bane of most workers’ lives, so reducing them as much as possible is the only way forward. Reduce the meetings, and make the ones you keep more productive.  You may be surprised by how much more both you and your staff get done!

You may aspire to be an inclusive leader. But if you’re not there for your employees, they won’t feel supported. Learn to strike that delicate balance.

2. Streamline Tasks, But Not at the Expense of Quality (Usually)

Have you ever spent a long time doing something which you know isn’t worth that much effort? You may have a process with unnecessary steps, create reports no one reads, or over-engineer a simple task. Have you considered how you can work to reduce that effort?

Seriously consider whether you can sacrifice quality for efficiency. For example, if the work is not customer-facing, you may be able to skip the third round of edits. In some cases, quality cannot be compromised. Know when your shortcuts could put your credibility at risk, and act accordingly.

3. Get a Plan in Place 

Failing to plan is planning to fail. The better the plan, the more likely your team will succeed. “Better” doesn’t always mean “more detailed.” Strike a balance between structure and improvisation that works for your team. Remember, plans change. Review your plan frequently, and communicate changes to everyone who needs to know, You will build trust by showing that you are competent and reliable.

Make sure that you have a day, week and even monthly plan which you base your working life around. Good planning can save you a lot of time as a leader and help to give you more room to deal with the little emergencies that appear every day.

4. Keep Your Priorities Balanced

Prioritising is one of the hardest parts of any job. Especially as everyone thinks the tasks you’re doing related to them is the most important thing for you to be doing. Learning to balance and manage these tasks, then to prioritise them, then, can be quite difficult.

If you want to be a good leader, this is a balancing act. Make sure you address all of the important issues, but don’t overlook what your subordinates are asking of you. It may seem relatively small in the grand scheme of things, less important than x, y or z on your list. Yet, sometimes prioritising the little things can make you a better leader.

At the very least, communicate to those you lead that you care. Let’s face it, every molehill can feel like a mountain during a bad day at work – whether you’re a PT, officer of the law or corporate solicitor. Mountain or molehill, you need to help your team to the top of either one.

5. Stop Being ‘Busy’

Busy work is a real issue when it comes to leadership and wasting time. You may find yourself doing way too much of it. Much like anything else, being busy is great until it becomes detrimental to your working life.

Busyness preoccupies a lot of managers. When employees notice this, it is all too easy for them to become resentful. They see themselves as doing the real work.

Stop being ‘busy’ and start being productive. You will be surprised by how much more you accomplish!

Final Thoughts

Leadership doesn’t have a secret formula. You can’t become an amazing leader by reading a self-help book, though that would be nice. It’s trial and error, learning to communicate, and being open to change. When you quit wasting time, you’ll create space for that growth!

Permission to Reprint

Permission to reprint articles by Amy C. Waninger is hereby given to all print, broadcast, and electronic media, provided that the contact information at the end of each article is included in your publication.

Organizations publishing articles electronically must include a live, clickable link within the body of the article to:

www.LeadAtAnyLevel.com 

For print publications, please mail a copy of the publication to:

Lead at Any Level, LLC
11650 Olio Road
Suite 1000 #391
Fishers, IN 46037

Permission to reprint articles by Amy C. Waninger is granted at no charge with the agreement that:

  • The author’s full bio (see below) is included with each article.
  • One copy of the publication in which the article is published is provided to Lead at Any Level.
  • A fee of $300 per article will be expected for articles published without the closing bio and contact information. Contact info@leadatanylevel.com for an invoice and payment instructions.

Permission is also granted for reasonable:

  • Content editing and addition of industry-specific examples
  • Length
  • Change of article title

For reprint permissions of other Lead at Any Level authors, please email

info@leadatanylevel.com

Amy C. Waninger Author Bio

Amy C. Waninger is the Founder & CEO of Lead at Any Level, where she improves employee engagement and retention for companies that promote from within. Amy offers assessments, advisory services, and training on essential skills for inclusive leaders. She is the author of eight books. Learn more at www.LeadAtAnyLevel.com

Also available for download: profile photos, extended bios by industry


Posted

in

733 words by

Comments
2 responses to “Stop Wasting Time as a Leader”
  1. […] Disorder, but a whole range of mental, intellectual, and emotional conditions.) I learned to adapt, structure my time differently, and incorporate new routines. I hastened my own recovery and shifted my focus back to my […]

  2. […] without a safety net. Parents learn how to figure things out on a dime, how to negotiate, how to make the most of time and, importantly, they develop empathy. These are extremely valuable qualities in any team […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.