Earning a living and pushing the boundaries in the workplace can be exciting and exhilarating. It can also be stressful and overwhelming. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) about a half of workers consider problems with work-related stress common in their workplace.
Among the most frequently mentioned causes of work-related stress are:
- Job re-organisation.
- Job insecurity.
- Working long hours.
- Excessive workload.
Technology has both enhanced and damaged our working environment. The ability to log in at any time of the day or night has given employers and employees a 24-hour working window.
With the help of resource management tools and time management techniques processes can move forward and employees can communicate efficiently and effectively.
Forecasting Time Management Processes
How does one forecast how much time a project will take? It involves an understanding of both subjective time and objective time. The former indicates a clear idea of measured durations whilst the latter is based on individual experiences and beliefs. So how does this effect time management in the broadest sense? The simplest answer is that without a clear understanding of expectations a project cannot be completed successfully.
For example, the manager might think a job will only need three days to complete, whilst the employee believes it will ‘take as long as it takes’. Creating more hours in the day will not be possible if these ideologies are not married and agreed upon. Avoiding conflict it key to success.
Simple Solutions To Workplace Conflict
A simple solution to workplace conflict is to adopt a centralised way of getting the job done. Technology, whilst at the heart of many of our time-management issues, also contributes a great deal to the success and efficiency of workloads. Resource management tools and apps can streamline office procedures and give managers a clear idea of the bigger picture.
Good use of a resource management tool allows planning weeks, months and even years in advance whilst co-ordinating a number of different resources (such as people, rooms and equipment).
Add in the ability for a number of people to work on the same resource at the same time, then project managers can realistically track what’s going on across the company. In a world where business is being done on an international stage, clarity is key to both efficiency and time management. No more minutes wasted on planning for an employee to work on a particular job if the equipment required isn’t going to be there for them to use.
With resource management tools also offering options such as a drop-and-drag facility to move around the resources in real-time, managers get a clear picture of operations that are always up to date. Without it practises become muddled and confused. Using it correctly offers transparency across all areas.
How Technology Can Help With Time Wasting
Technology can also help with the workers biggest enemy – procrastination. How long do you spend overthinking your workload and never making a decision? You’re not alone.
- Procrastination was found to take up 2 hours and 2 minutes a day. That’s 10 hours and 10 minutes a week wasted.
- Successful time management techniques such as defining goals, prioritising, planning ahead and delegating are concepts most of us are familiar with, but how many of us put them into practise?
- Eliminating distractions, avoiding wasting time, and ‘working smarter, not longer’ is key to the success of The Pomodoro Technique.
A simple but incredibly effective time management tool it recommends that employees use a kitchen timer in the shape of a tomato (hence the Pomodoro reference) to focus their workload. By cutting down tasks into bite-sized chunks it hopes to focus the worker and increase efficiency.
Each task it dictates should involve setting the timer to 25 minutes during which period the worker should work hard to complete a task. After the first of these sessions, it then recommends they take a short break, before completing three more ‘Pomodoros’.
On completion of each period the employee is told to take another break, making sure it is longer than the last, building up to 30 minutes. At the end of the sessions users are told to grab a coffee, go for a short walk and move away from the work-related tasks.
With less time wasted, users of the technique found they completed tasks quicker, made more efficient decisions and actually got the job done. Certainly one way to get more hours into the day.
Apps are too helping with solving procrastination. Toggl is an app that allows you to track each piece of work, hone in on what needs doing and achieve successful outcomes.
Technology is delivering key time management strategies
Technology has also jumped on-board to help with key time management strategies , allowing the millennial generation to track their hours, make to-do lists and limit their use of distracting social media sites.
RescueTime is one of the most successful of these and has a number of key features which allow you to limit your email response times to one hour a day and set an alarm when you spend more than two hours a day on Facebook. It also allows you to spot daily efficiencies and plan your day accordingly.
Disorganisation can cause a number of issues and the old-fashioned ‘to do-list’ has been updated with another app called Remember The Milk. Promoted as the ‘smart to-do app for busy people’ its functions include creating lists, hourly reminders and the ability to organise your day via smartphone functions.
Timely allows you track your team’s activities, your project milestones and create and share customized project reports in a few clicks using a public link. You can also record everything you work on using its magical Memory Tracker. All your tracked data is kept in a secure, private timeline only you can see.
Another key technological advancement is online resource planning software, from companies such as Ganttic. It can be used for managing a project portfolio, while also planning resources with maximum efficiency. You can create clear and comprehensive visual plans that give you an instant overview of all your resources and projects. Whether you are looking to build a very simple resource scheduling system, a complex resource management system, or something in between, Ganttic can help you to get things done efficiently and on time.
The Future of Resource Management For Wellbeing
It’s clear that efficiency is the responsibility of both the individual and the companies that employ them but workable solutions are available to combat a 24/7 culture.
With wellbeing now at the heart of many HR scenarios as companies begin to see the benefits of having a less-stressed and anxious workforce. It is only a matter of time before technological advancements in resource management tools and time-management protocols start to be at the forefront of business practice. Learning to apply techniques which help with focus and efficiency should allow us to reclaim our lives and get more out of our day – at, and away, from our desks.
Ganttic is high-level, online resource planning software, which can be used for managing a project portfolio, while also planning resources with maximum efficiency. With Ganttic, you can create clear and comprehensive visual plans that give you an instant overview of all your resources and projects.
Ganttic is highly flexible, designed to be used in whichever way that fits your organisation’s needs. Whether you are looking to build a very simple resource scheduling system, a complex resource management system, or something in between, Ganttic can help you to get things done efficiently and on time.
