Managing time takes cooperation from everyone on your team, and in your family, for it to work. If everyone isn’t on board, you’ll end up with problems and urgent last-minute tasks that you want and need to avoid.
* Create a Shared Calendar – Whether it’s for your team members for your business or for your family, create a shared calendar to use so that nothing gets forgotten; whether it’s seeing a movie Friday night or getting some work done on Tuesday for the project due on Thursday. Shared calendars prevent issues from arising and anything being forgotten.
* Appoint Team Leaders – This works for business and family. If someone is in charge of a particular project, it will help you avoid having to put out lots of little fires. The team leaders can deal with the small fires and only pass things on to you if they become more serious.
* Set Meaningful Deadlines – Don’t just give a deadline for the main project; assign smaller deadlines and checkpoints throughout the work on any main project. The main deliverable has many different tasks that need to be done and if you and the team leaders are ensuring that the smaller checkpoints are being done on time to a high standard, there will be no reason not to meet the ultimate deadline.
* Use a Project Management System – There are many ways to manage projects, from cloud-based systems like Basecamp.com to using a series of spreadsheets, documents and files that are shared with everyone. It’s up to you how you want it to work, but do seriously consider using a system that was made for organizing projects.
* Craft a Shared Vision – Nothing gets a team more creative than a shared idea or vision to guide them through each project. If everyone is on the same page and understands the ideas and values that you’re trying to represent in each finished project, it will help move things forward by creating limits. Contrary to popular belief, limits do not always stifle creativity.
* Systemize Everything – If you have created a system for everything from landing new leads, to converting leads, to a contract, to working on the actual project, you’ll find out that feels as if you have a lot more time on your hands. You can carry this further by systemizing your family life too. The more often you do things in the same way, the faster you’ll get.
* Delegate Responsibility – Appoint other people to be in charge of different aspects of the business. Virtual assistants enjoy being in charge of other team members, as do children at home. Give someone dominion over something, with clear expectations of what the deliverable should be, and people will surprise you.
* Allow Everyone to Contribute Ideas – If everyone gets to openly contribute to ideas, without any concern of poor reactions, you’ll get more ideas. Not all ideas are going to be good ideas, but the more ideas that are generated, the more likely you’ll find truly profitable ideas to develop further. Set aside time once a month or so just to throw ideas around.
By allowing everyone to have a say about the time they spend, and what on, it’ll make it easier to manage time as a team for your business or as a family at home. Time management takes everyone on the team to work together. Teams can consist of those you hire, outsource to, or family members.