CONTENTS
Managing Time Supervision: Overview Harried supervisors want to organize their lives. Shorter deadlines, endless meetings, interruptions, and ever higher quality expectations are just some of today's time challenges. The fast pace of modern life brings no closure to work issues. Even when away from work, the supervisor's mind constantly races through scenarios that happened at work.
Supervisors are knowledge workers. They are not expected to punch time clocks, but face the dilemma of too much to do and not enough time to do it. Thus, time, not activities, is the limiting factor. Use of time determines how successful supervisors will be in a work environment that is limited by hours and human energy. Successful supervisors work smarter, not harder, with time management tools designed to help them make more effective choices about what to do and what not to do. As organizations ask fewer people to do more work in today's environment, the top performers are those who can make the critical choices.
The essence of time management is really self-management. Time is not adaptable. The number of hours in the day remains the same, 24. However, the supervisor can adapt himself or herself to the passage of time.
* List SMART objectives.
* Prioritize those objectives.
* Don't procrastinate. Do it now even if there is a long lead-time available.
* Make a daily "to do" list.
* Schedule time for best advantage. Interruptions are part of the job. Expect unpredictable actions when supervising people. Be flexible and schedule time each day for the unexpected. Encourage people to set appointments.Managing Stress
The effectiveness of a supervisor is the result of the way he or she practices managerial skills on a day-to-day level. Thus, the proper use of time becomes a measure of success. Yet, desire for success can yield unexpected results: exhaustion, dissatisfaction, and insomnia. The need for success can lead to stress.
Stress is a mental and hormonal response to the pressure of outside events or internal problems. That arousal response gives people the burst of extra energy needed to do their best work and to jump out of the way of a swerving car. This response is known as "flight-or-fight" (fight or flee from enemies). Trouble comes when the "flight-or-fight" response is triggered by too many challenges at once, or when it goes on for too long. Then, people can get stressed out, physically and mentally. If left unmanaged, high levels of unrelieved stress can wear down natural defenses against disease.
Supervisors who can manage their time are rewarded with a sense of control over their lives. With that sense of control comes a sense of peace - diminished stress. Franklin Covey chairman Hyrum W. Smith says "what we really sell is the acquisition and maintenance of inner peace."
However, in order to move to a higher level of peak performance, supervisors have to manage their stress. Increasing their health can do this. Exercise, nutrition, relaxation, and sleep are important to managing stress.
Review
Today's Manager Managerial Functions Management Levels Managerial Roles Management Skills Management History Business Environment Supervision: Planning Planning Process Operating Guidelines Objective Setting Action Plans Problem Solving Supervision: Organizing Organizing Process Power and Authority Delegating Communicating Managing Time Supervision: Directing Teambuilding Consensus-Building Selecting Training Leading Motivating Supervision: Controlling Controlling Process Coaching Counseling Disciplining Evaluating Terminating
