In this Business English lesson, we look at how to talk about Time Management
What are the most important points when managing your time
- Examining current activities
- Organisation / Planning
- Monitoring your activities and time
Business English Speaking Skills | Time Management | A short 2 minute talk
Time management is a key skill that business people need to learn, develop and always be refining. Especially for those who work in extremely dynamic business situations.
There is a constant need to be reviewing and if necessary reprioritizing tasks which are pending so that at the end of the day, everything is completed as and when it needs to be, without any delays.
Normally the first step would be to examine current activities that are pending and then prioritize them in order of urgency, both in terms of time and the degree of impact they have on business operations.
It’s a good idea to use some type of time management software to get all the tasks in one place and in a format which is easy to manage, sort, and update.
Problem solving is usually among the top tasks, as it’s often urgent and can have a seriously adverse impact on aspects of the business if not resolved quickly.
Once you have a prioritized list of all issues, activities or tasks that need to be taken care of, it’s a good idea to review what organisation and planning is required to achieve solutions or complete these tasks.
This might involve delegating certain tasks or aspects of tasks to other employees or colleagues, recruiting external specialist help or liaising with suppliers, clients or other third-party agencies.
It’s crucial to establish who will be involved, doing what, and when whatever they are going to do needs to be completed.
So now you have a prioritized list of what needs to be done, by when, and who will be involved in the various tasks to be done. Then it’s a case of implementing each activity and following up on each one when necessary, so monitoring your activities and time allocated to each one becomes critical in order to ensure that all tasks are completed by the specified time.
Most people will normally use some form of time management software, project management tools or similar depending on the degree of complexity involved in the activities or tasks they are responsible for overseeing.
Visually tracking each activity and its progress is much easier than simply consulting a list. Using time management programs and other time management tools which show tasks, their progress, and deadlines in graphical form - all of which can be updated instantly, modified and shared if necessary. Using time management apps certainly makes time management easier and much more effective.
