Timeboxing: A Time Management Strategy
Four Steps of Timeboxing
This time management process occurs in four steps. These steps are.
1. Finding Appropriate Tasks
To achieve productive timeboxing, one ought to find the tasks that they lack the motivation to do. These tasks are usually overwhelming activities that require a lot of effort. By dividing such activities into smaller and manageable chunks, they become less daunting.
Timeboxing can also help accomplish obnoxious tasks that one doesn’t want to spend too much time on. These types of tasks are usually necessary yet unpleasant. They include sorting emails, cleaning the room. By setting a time limit on such activities, they get accomplished without dragging on or consuming more time than necessary.
2. Defining the Goals
After choosing the tasks intended, the next step is defining the goals achieved by tackling these tasks. If the goal is to finish the said amount of work in a week, it becomes easy to allocate a certain amount of time each day to the particular task. At the end of the week, the chore will be complete without breaking much sweat.
3. Set the Time Limit
After deciding on the tasks and the goals to the next step is to allocate time limits. In this step, each duty gets assigned a time limit (when it starts and ends.) The time limit depends on the volume or the goal of the task.
For example, if the task is a 7000-word novel and the goal is to complete it in a week, one can allocate a time frame that allows writing 700 words a day. This time allocation will ensure the completion of the work within seven days.
4. Work then Assess the Results
This action is the last step of timeboxing. Here the activities get tackled within the time set for each task. If a chore remains incomplete within the allocated time, one moves on to the next quest. This strategy avoids wastage of time tackling one activity while other tasks remain undone.
Once the day is over, and there is still some time left in the schedule, unfinished tasks get tackled again.
Advantages of Timeboxing
- Boosts work motivation.
- It is easy to accomplish.
- Tasks get divided into small portions that are not overwhelming.
- More chores get carried out without spending too much time on one.
How Poor Communication Can Lead to Micromanaging
As more people settle into the work-from-home routine, many of the communication issues that go unnoticed at the office have become apparent. When an employee feels like their manager is never off their case, the problem is usually caused by each party’s inability to understand the other.
What Micromanaging Looks Like
When most employees are asked what micromanaging is, they all have the same answer: micromanaging occurs when a leader is overly involved in their employee’s work. Running a team is all about trusting each member to do their job. If the manager steps in too often, it can leave the employee feeling frustrated, disrespected, and undervalued.
In the work-from-home world, micromanaging often takes the form of checking in too often. Many employees complain that they can’t work if their boss constantly asks them when the work will be done. Managers can also overstep their bounds by making surprise changes to projects, completing responsibilities that belonged to someone else, or asking to review the project at each small stage of development.
Of course, accusations of micromanaging aren’t always accurate. Managers need to check-in with their employees regularly, and they should also be involved in the development of a project. This is why it’s important to develop a healthy relationship with team members to ensure that no one feels like they’re being left out.
Learning to Communicate as a Leader
One of the best ways to stop micromanaging employees is to learn to communicate more effectively. Most employees thrive when they receive fewer messages that are more clear and to-the-point.
Struggling managers should ask a neutral third party to assess their current communication skills. Show the party the messages in question, and ask how they would feel if they were a team member. Receiving criticism can be difficult, so make sure to be patient and maintain a calm attitude.
Next, start identifying the issues that have led to the communication problems at hand. Work to make all messages clear, concise, and directed. Ensure that both managers and employees know their responsibilities and what kind of check-ins they can expect. With a little work, most micromanaging issues can be left behind in favor of clear discussions and steady workflow.
Proven Strategies for Scaling a Business Quickly
One of the biggest keys to success in any business is to do good research. By finding out what’s working for others in a given industry, it’s possible to construct a template to follow. Research is also one of the best ways to identify existing gaps in the marketplace. Understanding the landscape of an industry is the first step in making a successful foray into it. The most important cohort to research is any existing consumers a company already has. Understanding who buys and why can mean selling more in the future.
Partnering with related brands is another great way to get ahead. Customer research can be key, here, too. Knowing the consumer can mean knowing their other interests. If a product appeals to people who are also heavily invested in an activity like gaming, partnering with a company that makes games can be a great idea. Best of all, it can be a great way to put a related product in front of a new and very interested audience.
Lead magnets are incredibly important for any business. Getting people’s attention is the best way to get their contact information. Showing them some expertise up front means they’ll be more willing to let a business into their inbox. Directly contacting people whose trust has been earned is a proven way to convert leads into sales. Managing these customer relationships is best done with CRM software like SalesForce or Hubspot, rather than paper-based tracking tools.
Finally, one of the fastest ways to grow is by buying another company. This brings new locations, inventory and customers into the fold of the purchaser. It’s even one way of expanding into new industries. However, it can be a mixed blessing. Takeovers can be complicated. Making some employees redundant can damage morale. In cases where a former competitor has been purchased, retaining customers who’ve been loyal to that brand can sometimes prove challenging.
About Gorman Houston
Gorman Houston is an esteemed professional in the fields of education and business. He is an inspiring leader with years of experience in communication, management, and team-building.
His mother was a businesswoman and his father was an attorney, providing a perfect support system early on. Prior to seminary school, Gorman majored in economics. His first degree was a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia, which was followed by a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Alabama. He then earned a Master of Divinity from Yale and received his Doctorate in Ministry from Emory University.
After 25 years as a minister, he started working in business when he began teaching at the university level. As a professor, he has always inspired students to achieve academic and personal success. As a member of the graduate faculty at Kaplan Test Prep, Gorman Houston taught and tutored students to prepare for their LSAT exams. At the University of Alabama, he continues to manage and expand faith-based ministries on the campus while teaching courses in management and marketing. He is the founding pastor of Pure and Simple Lifestyle Christianity and serves on the preaching staff at First United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, preaching regularly in both the traditional and the contemporary services. He also preached for a year as interim for “The Bridge” service at the First United Methodist Church.
Gorman has a long history of helping businesses in his community. His technique is to first create a vision for a company’s transformation, and then help them meet goals using a team-based approach. He specializes in group-leadership, team-building, budget management, negotiations, fundraising, marketing, and human relations.
One of his most notable projects was the rebranding of the Dauphin Way United Methodist Church, where he developed, wrote, managed and oversaw the production of a major marketing campaign. As a result of this campaign, the church saw a broader, more positive awareness grow in the community. As senior minister, he has helped many organizations expand and grow in membership, attendance and budgeting.
Fundraising is also a big part of Gorman Houston’s life. He served as Chairperson of the Capital Fund Campaign for Blue Lake United Methodist Camp, where he helped raise $3 million in gifts and pledges. He was one of the 15 members of the United Methodist Central Conference Pension Initiative, which helped raise $20 million. He led a campaign to establish a YMCA in Greenville, Alabama, and chaired the Capital Fund Drive to build an interfaith chapel at the Mobile Metro Jail. Gorman has restored, renovated, and expanded facilities of several churches and has achieved all of this by working respectfully alongside architects, contractors, church staff, building committee members, historic neighborhood associations, fundraising teams and the congregations.
