Reference no: EM132167501
Overcoming Time Management Problems
With some people, time management can be a minor problem; however, with others, it is a source of considerable stress and anxiety. Your co-worker and friend, Chan, works in another department at Supreme Appliances and has come to you for help. She recognizes that she has problems managing her time. She shares the following situation that occurred last week. Her report was due on Wednesday, so she started last Monday.
Her desk is cluttered with project notebooks, file folders, and articles, so she decided to work on her laptop on another desk in her area. When she began the report, she discovered she needed some information from the Accounting Department. Rather than obtaining the information at that time, she thought she would begin another part of the report and would get the information later in the day. After about fifteen minutes of working on the report, her supervisor asked her to attend a meeting that will take about one-and-a-half hours. Because her supervisor was called upon to attend another meeting, Chan was asked to attend in his place. After the meeting, she returned to her office to find your e-mail asking her to go to a new restaurant for lunch, and she agreed to go. During lunch, Chan mentioned she had a report to complete by Wednesday; you recall that she mentioned, "I'm more productive when I work under pressure. I have plenty of time to complete the report." By the time Chan returned from lunch, she discovered that her supervisor had delegated additional task, all of which needed to be completed by Monday afternoon and by noon on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, she finishes the tasks and returns to the report. This task proved to be more difficult than she thought it would be. She needed advice from her supervisor, who had called in because he was ill and wouldn't be in the office for the day. She phoned another manager, but all she got was a voice mail saying she was in training for the day. Chan began to think she wouldn't get the report finished on time. It needed to be on her supervisor's desk the first thing on Wednesday. She'd have to do some quick work on Tuesday afternoon; it wouldn't be her best work, of course, but that couldn't be helped. Late Tuesday afternoon, Chan remembered to contact the Accounting Department only to discover a voice mail indicating the person was on vacation and would be out for the week.On Wednesday morning, Chan wakes up after 7:30 a.m., having found she had forgotten to set her alarm clock. She reaches her desk twenty minutes late.
Your Task: In a report, list Chan's time management problems. List at least four time management strategies and explain how Chan could use these strategies to overcome her time management problems.