1
Personal
Productivity
Learning Objectives 2
When you have completed this module you will be
able to define the key concepts associated with
Personal Productivity and you will be able to:
Identify the main obstacles that prevent you from
maximizing your productivity
Understand the components of productivity and their
interdependencies
Learning Objectives 3
Understand the importance of proper planning
Use time management techniques to improve your
productivity
Explain the benefits of having an effective and
proactive approach to personal productivity
4
Introduction
Personal Productivity 5
Fact 1: People are the most valuable resource an organization
can have
Fact 2: In many cases people are the most under-utilized
resource in an organization
Fact 3: This under-utilization is in many cases linked to the
level of personal productivity
Fact 4: Personal productivity can be significantly improved in
most organizations
Personal Productivity - Benefits 6
Individual
Team
Organization
Personal Productivity - Benefits 7
Benefits accruing to the individual include:
Increased motivation
Decreased stress
Achievement of objectives
Reward and recognition
Personal Productivity - Benefits 8
Benefits accruing to the team include
Better working environment
Faster achievement of objectives
Recognition and reward
Motivation
Enhanced teamwork
Personal Productivity - Benefits 9
Benefits accruing to the organization include:
Improved productivity
Lower costs
Corporate image enhancement
Happier and more focused employees
Personal Productivity - Ownership 10
Ownership of Personal Productivity lies primarily
with the individual
The team and the organization have a responsibility to
ensure that the relevant resources are in place to allow
people to be productive
Basic Problem 11
The problem faced in the workplace is
not coming up with ideas or setting
objectives - but in being able to
convert plans into results
Resources 12
The basic problem as outlined in the last slide relates to
how resources are organized and used in the organization
Resources cover:
Money
Materials
Plant
People
Time
13
Time
&
Self Management
Time as a Personal Resource 14
Time is a valuable resource
It cannot be stored
It is totally perishable
It is limited
Therefore we need to manage it effectively
Time Management Systems 15
For a time management system to be effective, certain
criteria need to be met:
It must be functional
It should be simple
It should be portable
It needs to be used!
Time Management Systems 16
Choice of system
Paper based
Electronic : Portable
Electronic : Desk-top
Which one you use is dependent upon comfort, cost
and culture !
Key Information 17
The key information contained in a time management system can
be classified as:
Appointments
Dated deadlines
Project information
Key tasks
Work in progress and to do
Contact lists
Financial logs
Ideas and notes
Personal information
Pitfalls 18
The two main pitfalls are:
Disorganized System
Nothing can be found when required
Connectivity is absent
Clarity is impossible
Perfect System
Too much time is spent maintaining the system
There needs to be a balance between the two extremes so the system is
functional
Making Commitments 19
When making commitments that draw on our resources there is a
need to consider:
Impact of the action resultant from the commitment
Long, medium and short term
Organizational, Departmental, Personal
Resource requirements
Availability
Cost
Results
Value
Making Commitments 20
Over-committing may result in:
Crises due to colliding deadlines
Stress due to pressure of work
Poor quality due to resource issues
Under-committing may result in:
Crises imposed upon us by the people to whom we have
committed
Stress when deadlines are brought forward by others
Poor quality due to resource issues
The QCT linkage 21
In terms of our personal effectiveness, there is a need to
consider the linkage between
Quality
Any
Adjustment
Affects All
Cost Time
22
Planning
Planning 23
How we plan affects our personal productivity
Planning Ranges
Long Term Strategic > 1 year
Mid Term Tactical < 6 months
Short Term Operational < 1 week
Planning 24
For effective planning you need to know:
What exactly is being planned ?
What are the constraints that you are working under
that affect the plan ?
What are your priorities ?
What risks need to be taken into account?
Planning 25
Gauging planning accuracy can be achieved through looking at:
Completion Date
Planned v Actual
Resource Utilization
Planned v Actual
Result Achieved
Planned v Actual
Improved / Worse
Planning 26
To plan effectively there is a requirement to plan regularly
Regular planning is a habit
Take 30 minutes at the end of the working day to:
Review what has happened in the day just passed
Identify obstacles and problem areas
Plan activities for the next day
Proactive v Reactive Work 27
Reactive Work - concentrates on getting things done:
Handling daily routines
Dealing with urgency
Resolving crises
Handling interruptions
Proactive v Reactive Work 28
Proactive Work - concentrates on making things
happen
Developing plans and schedules
Focusing on key tasks
Achieving deadlines & targets
Managing projects
29
Putting Things
Off
Procrastination 30
Why do we put things off instead of doing them?
Response to stress that accompanies difficult or
challenging tasks
A habit that has formed
Poor prioritization
Poor or no planning
Procrastination 31
Results of procrastination:
Stress
Pressure
Crises
Continuous fire-fighting
Reduction in quality
Procrastination 32
When faced with a task - decide to deal with it according
to one of the following actions:
Do it
Delegate it
Dump it
Deadline it
Dissect it
Procrastination 33
If procrastination is having a negative impact on your
personal productivity - take the following action points:
Take ownership of your own procrastination
Do something to get things moving
Remove the fear of failure from standing in the way of
your effectiveness
Start today - right now!
Urgency and Importance 34
Use the prioritization grid to help you decide what tasks to
tackle:
Importance
Priority 2 Priority 1
Priority 4 Priority 3
Urgency
35
Objective
Setting
Setting SMART Objectives 36
An objective without a deadline is a wish!
To align personal goals and objectives with the
overall organizational strategy puts focus on
achieving real results
Objectives need to be agreed with managers
Clear objectives are the basis of planning
Setting SMART Objectives 37
To give actionable objectives use SMART criteria
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
Set the objectives so that they are clearly defined and so conform
to the criteria
Prioritization 38
Criteria for prioritization can be grouped into 4 main
categories:
People
Quality
Efficiency
Safety
Busy or Productive 39
Just because you are busy does not mean that you are
productive
Differentiate between
Effectiveness : Doing the right things
Efficiency : Doing the right things correctly
Rating Your Productivity 40
In order to rate your productivity you need to be clear
on:
What exactly are your objectives ?
Are you aware of how your productivity is measured ?
How certain are you that you are spending you time
doing the right things ?
Time-logs and Productivity 41
Log how you spend your time every day for 2 weeks then
identify the following issues that impact on your productivity:
Issues that you should not have dealt with
Issues where you had a high dependency on others
Issues relating to communication
Issues that relate to poor planning
Issues that relate to a lack of a particular skill
Issues that relate to bad habits
42
Obstacles
&
Opportunities
Communication & Productivity 43
Communication is required to generate focus when implementing
goals and plans
Failure to Communicate
Leads to Problems
Lack Lack
of of
Coordination Trust
Waste of
Frustration
Resources
Communication Challenges 44
These may be due to a lack of consistency in the overall
communication process
Problems with communication affects your personal productivity
Consistency in the communication process ensures that all
information is:
On-time
Relevant
Reliable
Coherent
Cooperation, Collaboration &
45
Competition
How you organize your daily work should take into account the
level of:
Cooperation
Working together, not necessarily towards the same goal
Synergy
Collaboration
Working together to achieve a common goal
Competition
Competing for limited resources
Clarity 46
The following factors have an impact on your
productivity
Clarity of Role
Clarity of Expectations
Clarity of Communication
Clarity of Goals
Clarity of Goals 47
Clarity of Goals
Metrics
Linkages
Alignment
Clarity of Roles 48
Clarity of Roles
Responsibilities
Linkages
Development
Clarity of Expectations 49
Clarity of Expectations
Organization
Supervisors
Operators
Managers
Clarity of Communication 50
Clarity of Communication
Process
Intent
Results
Attitude
Delegation as a Productivity 51
Device
You Must Do } Can’t delegate
You Should Do
You Could Do } Can Delegate
You shouldn’t
Others Should Do
Others Must Do } be doing these
anyway!
Obstacles to Organizing 52
These can be presented in 4 groups:
People
Politics
Systems
Environment
People 53
People can block organizing and productivity
through:
Personality clashes
Skill sets
Attitude
Commitment level
Power and influence
Politics 54
Issues such as the following may block personal
productivity
Power bases
Knowledge
Culture
Resistance
Systems 55
With systems, there are many obstacles that can
prevent personal productivity, such as:
Cumbersome systems
Complex systems
Lack of knowledge
Unresponsiveness
Environment 56
Consider the following elements which can damage
productivity in the workplace
Organizational Structure
Layout of the Workspace
Hierarchy
Culture
Self 57
So far the obstacles have been external to ourselves - the
following may be at fault:
Bad habits
Lack of confidence
Lack of skill
Poor goals
Overwork
58
Other
Considerations
Reality Check 59
When looking at the potential level of productivity we
can hope to achieve take a reality check on the
following:
Resource availability
Capabilities
Other demands
Crises Management 60
Why do crises occur?
Failure to recognize the crisis?
Under-estimation of time requirements ?
No contingency plan in place ?
No follow-up after delegation of tasks?
Crises Management 61
Need to look at
Frequency
Once-off
Sporadic
Continuous
Cause
Internal or external
Controllable?
Resolvable
Crises Management 62
You also need to look at
Impact
Personally
Across the organization
Time to benefit or recover
Solution
Cost
Stability
Implementation
Dealing with Documents 63
Document handling can steal a vast quantity of time
from our working day
Improve your document handling by:
Handling documents only once by :
Act on what is required by the document
File the document for reference later
Dump the document
Productivity Through ‘No!’ 64
Sometimes to safeguard our productivity we need to say no in a
professional manner
Offer suggestions for help at a suitable time
Offer alternatives
Use prioritization to deal with important tasks
Use non-aggressive body language and words
Explain why you have to say No
Productivity Through Teams 65
Teams present an opportunity for synergy - when the overall
result is greater than expected
Teams can allow us to maximize our own personal productivity
through synergy
To get to synergy there is a need for
Common Focus
Complimentary Skill Sets
Effective Communication Processes
Transparency and Trust
Integrity & Involvement
Summary 66
Personal productivity is our responsibility
Systems to help us manage productivity must
be in place and used
Summary 67
We need to define what productivity actually
means for us
Actively seek out and remove obstacles
Set objectives and define responsibilities
clearly
