Time Management. The bigger picture.

Jane Shaw is Learning & Development professional who started her career in the hospitality industry. She did a full time MBA at Henley then bought a pub in Suffolk, before going back to L&D, becoming an Associate specilising in senior leadership teams, EI, executive and group coaching. She is now starting a Masters in Business Psychology. She feels running a pub is very similar to learning and development. It’s about facilitating a room full of people - sometimes a very diverse group with some who want to be there and others that don’t.  

Jane considers herself a life long learner. For example everything she knew about leadership and management ten or twelve years ago has been reshaped completely.  Deepening knowledge also has the benefit of increasing self-awareness and the ability to empathise whilst exposure to different perspectives improves connection with other people. She also feels the process of learning is good for you with huge benefits to mental health. Learning or training whether academic or vocational is important to good mental health.

Jane doesn’t really believe in time management beyond the productivity checklist which she considers a helpful concept. She thinks time management is broader and bigger than this – it’s about how we manage ourselves and it links to many different things. Often people attend time management courses and come back very enthusiastic but after a short period slip back. Jane thinks the question we should be asking ourselves is how are we managing ourselves. In the bigger context it is apparent that more people are asking themselves this question now than three years ago. Post pandemic people are perhaps struggling to reset the boundaries, of what’s acceptable, about how they work, what productivity looks like and how that gets measured, how they compare themselves to others and their productivity and how they can still establish credibility with their bosses when there has been less presence around and people aren’t seen to be doing as much.

There is the question of whether it is about task management rather than time management. If you do the right things and do these things well then you are never doing nothing so why manage time when it’s about the choices you make. Every tool is about a task rather than the time itself. It's the same thing over and over again. The task is what matters not the time itself. You need to disengage to engage – its OK to not do anything, you just need to give yourself permission.

Leaders who inflict pointless meetings on the workforce are adding to burnout. The person who holds the meeting finds it more valuable and more enjoyable than anyone else. To many attendees it’s just a waste of time. Using Teams has made people feel that time is a limitless resource. Everyone is talking about going back to how it was but many people weren't happy with meetings before February 2020. Now it’s not about going back, it’s about cherry picking what was good and then moving forward. There is the opportunity to reframe. In poorly led organisations continuing to use the same processes and will produce inferior results and people will be expected to work harder but will still be doing the wrong things in the wrong way. Employees will walk away or end up taking time off with stress. People are slightly more fragile after Covid. Many have been stretched to the point of breaking but no one has informed the leadership world. Some old management ideas are still in place so it’s fundamental that we re-examine leadership to reset these ideas and be open to change. Influential thought leaders are saying that leadership cannot continue in the same way.

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