9 time management techniques to improve team productivity

If no one understands what they are responsible for, chaos begins. People do the same work, forget about important things and simply waste time.

How to implement:

• Define clear roles and responsibilities for each participant.
• Use a RACI matrix (who does, who consults (gives advice), who is responsible for the result).
• Check weekly for duplicate or stuck tasks.

Imagine that your business team is a car. If you don’t manage it correctly, it will start to slip, lose fuel (time and money) and eventually break down.

Do you want your team to work faster and more efficiently? PAnDiKubiz consulting company specialists have identified nine methods that will help you manage your team’s time.

When a team works without clear goals, projects drag on, tasks remain unfinished.

How to implement:

• Each goal should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and with a deadline.
• An example of a poorly set goal is “Improve customer service.” A well-set one is “Increase customer response speed to 2 hours by May 1.”

A common mistake is to have several people responsible for one project. The result? Everyone thinks that someone else should do the work.

How to implement:

• Appoint a single responsible person for each project, advise managers of PAnDiKubiz Cyprus.
• He does not do everything himself, but coordinates the process and monitors deadlines.

Small tasks accumulate, distract, and eventually turn into a snowball.

How to implement:

• If a task takes less than 2 minutes, do it right away (reply to an email, transfer a document, write down an agreement).
• Don't put off small tasks, they eat up more time than it seems.

Time Blocking: Work Without Distractions
Correspondence, calls, meetings, messages – if you don’t control them, you may not have time left for work.

How to implement:

• Define time blocks when there should be no distractions (for example, 10:00-12:00 – work without chats).
• Set aside separate time for meetings and checking email.

Minimum meetings – maximum results
Meetings are a huge time-waster if they are held without a clear plan.

How to implement:

• Each meeting should have a goal, agenda and time limit.
• If a meeting takes more than 30 minutes, it can be replaced with a clearly written letter sent to employees.

Deadline control
If the team does not have a clear deadline control system, projects are delayed.

How to implement:

• Use the Agile approach: short sprints (1-2 weeks) with mandatory analysis of the results.
• Visualize tasks on the Kanban board (Trello, Asana, Jira services) - this will clearly show who is working on what.

Managers are often afraid to delegate tasks, which leaves the team idle and the leader overwhelmed with work.

How to implement:

• Identify tasks that do not require your personal involvement and delegate them to the team.
• Use the 70% rule: if an employee can do a task 70% as well as you, it's time to delegate.

80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts. And the remaining 80% of the work is a waste of time.

How to implement:

• Identify the key tasks that provide the main result.
• Remove unnecessary processes that do not bring real value.

Time is the team's main asset. If you do not manage time, you will lose productivity, money and motivation. Start with at least 3-4 methods from the PAnDiKubiz list, and in a couple of weeks you will notice the difference.