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Lesson
75

Time Management When There’s Not Enough Time

by František Šofranko

Success Problem

Time Management When There’s Not Enough Time. Project managers are taught from the very start that how they manage their time will be critical to their success. Choosing what to focus on first, where to concentrate their efforts and what to defer or delegate is critical not just for the PM, but also for the project. Sometimes PMs just don’t have enough time to do everything. What do you do then?

Impact

Recommendation

Eisenhower Matrix. The Eisenhower Matrix, also referred to as Urgent-Important Matrix, helps you decide on and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance, sorting out less urgent and important tasks which you should either delegate or not do at all. How to use the Eisenhower Matrix? Prioritizing tasks by urgency and importance results in 4 quadrants with different work strategies: 1. Do First: First focus on important tasks to be done the same day. 2. Schedule: Important, but not-so-urgent stuff should be scheduled. 3. Delegate: What’s urgent, but less important, delegate to others. 4. Don’t Do: What’s neither urgent nor important, don’t do at all.

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9 Comments

  1. I agree that for immediate prioritizing, the 4 strategies you write are correct. I would add that ultimately, the Eisenhower matrix is better as an assessment tool. Most people are going to have a huge quadrant 1 and a small quadrant 2 : everything ends up being important and urgent, and they will not really improve in time management. The ultimate goal is to move as much activities from 1 to 2, and being able to be more pro-active than reactive over time. Simple but not easy.
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    1. Absolutely, it is one of the recommended technique how to manage priorities which doesn't mean should fit all. However, each of us knows better which method or technique help him/her manage priorities.
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  2. I think the 4 options are valid if you answer the question that is infront of you. I think there are always different ways of achieving an outcome and one of the qualities of a project professional is their creativity. My prefered approach is to reframe the issue into one that there are more options to achieve the outcome.
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    1. I can only agree, see my comment above.
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  3. Interesting and efficient tool (I used it unconsciously myself at crisis project management at 2 projects with vast scope and very tight task schedule), I am just missing the part Impact - short description of impact in case Eisenhower matrix is used and if it is not. That part of the blog is very important for busy people to recognize faster the consequences of using it.
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  4. I consider the Eisenhower Matrix as a personal development tool, not a day-to-day management tool. It helps to build a good mindset, necessary to make quick decisions on what to manage and what not to manage. Nevertheless, I use to recommand an other approach: design & build a management system to make sure issues are addressed at the right moment, by the right person and efficiently managed. It provides time and tranquillity as you would not be bothered by topics in quadrant 4 at all :-) Because it takes time to assess it anyway (read a mail, listen to a colleague, participate to a meeting, ...). By the way, some of those topics in your Q4 may be in some or of your colleagues' Q1 so it mabe dangerous for the organisation to apply the "don't do" policy...
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  5. All previously mentioned approaches/techniques work very well and are ready to help a project manager to accomplish project on time. I would also add: Paretos 80:20 rule, 7 simultaneous task enough and last but not least right strategical objective based on solid SWOT, simply "To do right things right".
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  6. Worth to mention another tools which prevent project manager from sacrifying of quality or verification due to time stress: FEL/FEED front end loading or front end definition process and BIM robust software tool. First is designed to mitigate idle and no value adding steps in early phase of business case, feasibility study and project planning. Second is designed to simplify communication and review within crossfunctional and multi disciplinary distributed teams.
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  7. Dear all. Thanks to all of you for sharing your opinion and other tools & techniques ... much appreciated that.
    Reply Upvote post

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