Three Tips That Will Help You Improve Your Time Management Empower your employees by delegating more responsibility.

Hector Hernandez, CEO, Founder CUBE-USA

It happens all the time. You start the day with a specific to-do list and then spend your time doing a whole host of completely different tasks.

Sound familiar? You are not alone. This situation is incredibly common, particularly among small business owners. Unfortunately, this very common practice can lead to stress, disharmony and actually prevent your business from reaching its full potential.

So why does it happen? Nobody ever plans it that way, and even though most of us recognize that we are guilty of it sometimes, we don’t seem to be able to stop it from happening again!

I had a think recently about some of the reasons that have led me to get into this situation.

1. Unnecessary interruption: I had someone in my office every thirty minutes asking me questions they already knew the answer to, or seeking validation on something they had done. I am a huge believer in an open-door policy, but how many times can you explain to the same tech how to connect a relay to a starter?
2. Unnecessary meeting: I have been drawn into countless unplanned, internal meetings, only to realize at the conclusion of the meeting that the team could have reached the same conclusions on their own.
   
3. Unnecessary firefighting: In order to fix a mistake, problem or to satisfy a customer, I have jumped into action “doing what needs to be done,” often till late in the day in order to meet a deadline.
   

These are just three reasons I have experienced, and they crop up consistently in survey responses from our customers. Your reasons may be entirely different, but I wanted to share some tips that are currently helping me to take back control of my day-to-day activity.

1. Track your day and document it: I know what you are thinking. I’m asking you to take MORE time out of your day that you just don’t have! But believe me, this is a critical step. In order to fix the problem, you have to identify the cause.

2. Create a plan to correct the problem: Looking back on your data, you will be able to identify the issues that are preventing you from focusing on what’s important.

3. Break the cycle: In many ways, this is the easiest step to complete, but we find it is the one that business owners rarely take.

Through step 1 and step 2, you have a clear understanding of what is happening within your business and what impact it is having on your own time. NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT! Take positive, definitive action to address the issues you have identified. Implement training where there are knowledge gaps. Create clear lines of communication and procedure that mean you are not required to affirm every tiny decision. Empower your employees by delegating more responsibility. Whatever the issue is, it will not resolve itself.

We hope you find these tips as useful as we have!  To have access to more articles like this, visit our website www.cube-usa.com or call us at (855)-928-2387.