Prioritising & Time Management: Tools and Practices

2-Day Intensive Workshop

This is a 2-day intensive programme specially designed for TNT to provide its staff with the essential skills to prioritise and manage time effectively.

 Introduction

Most of us have, at one time or another, felt daunted and overwhelmed by the number of tasks and commitments that have been pushed in our direction. The key to tackling this situation is effective time management. It is more important than ever to develop highly effective time management skills to minimise stress, increase productivity, overcome procrastination and effectively delegate.

Understanding, identifying and defining your long-term goals is the very first step for an effective time management. With the broader goal in the background, you can now set your short-term goals that will effectively lead you to achieving your long cherished long-term goals in your life.

One skill that is prevalent in all leaders of repute is time management. People who use these techniques routinely are the highest achievers in all walks of life, from business to sport to public service. Managing time well enables you to be in control of your life; it allows you to act on situations rather than react to situations. When reacting to situations you are ill-prepared and under stress so your action is far from your optimum capacity. Whereas, when you act on situations it is well planned and thus allows you to function at your highest.

At the heart of time management is an important shift in focus: Concentrate on results, not on being busy. This is a one of the most important time management skills. Many people spend their days in a frenzy of activity, but achieve very little because they are not concentrating on the right things.

According to the Pareto Principle, or the ‘80:20 Rule’, typically 80% of unfocused effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort.

By applying the skills taught in the Time Management Workshops, you can optimise your efforts to ensure that you concentrate as much of your time and energy as possible on the high payoff tasks. This ensures that you achieve the greatest benefit possible with the limited amount of time available to you. Contrary to popular belief, effective time management is not based on doing more things in less time.

This Time Management Training course is about doing the right things and doing them better.

Learning Outcomes

• Set S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals

• Learn to prioritise effectively

• Plan strategically

• Gain lasting skills to tackle procrastination

• Learn to easily handle high pressure, crisis situations

• Learn to organise their workspace for efficiency and productivity

• Master when & how to delegate for maximum productivity

• Learn to set daily rituals for better productivity

• Gain insightful skills to better manage meetings and keep them on track

• Discover alternatives to in-person meetings

Course Methodology

This programme employs adult learning techniques which include active learning strategies to facilitate understanding and retention. Participants will spend approximately 80% of the time in individual or group activities which allow them to learn, develop and practise specific skills. A workbook is used to facilitate the programme and additional notes will be handed out where necessary.

Course Content

Module 1 Goal Setting •          The importance of Goal setting •          The Three P's •          S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals •          Prioritising your goals •          Visualisation Activity Individual Practice and Coaching ·         Set your own individual goals using SMARTER principals	Module 2 Prioritising your Time •          the 80/20 rule •          The Urgent versus Important Matrix •          Assertiveness Activity Individual Practice and Coaching ·         Create a list of your everyday tasks ·         Identify which tasks are urgent and important
Module 3 Planning Wisely •          The importance of a Productivity Journal •          Maximising the power of your productivity journal •          The Glass Jar: rocks, pebbles, sand and water •          Chunk, block and tackle •          Ready, Fire, Aim! Activity Individual Practice and Coaching ·         Create your own productivity journal ·         Which tasks take most effort? Which tasks has the most important outcome?	Module 4 Tackling Procrastination •          Why we procrastinate •          Nine ways to overcome procrastination Activity Group Discussion and Presentation ·         Discuss the task that you have put off and its impact ·         Discuss how to avoid procrastination
Module 5 Crisis Management •          When the storm hits •          Creating a plan •          Executing the plan •          Lessons learned Activity Individual Practice and Coaching ·         Highlight a crisis which was not managed well. Why? ·         Create a crisis management plan for this	Module 6 Organising your Workspace •          De-clutter •          Managing workflow •          Dealing with e-mail •          Using calendars Activity Individual Practice and Coaching ·         Highlight stuff that can be discarded at your workstation. ·         Create a workflow for a routine task.
Module 7 Delegating Made Easy • When to delegate • To whom should you delegate • How should you delegate • The importance of full acceptance Activity Individual Practice and Coaching ·         Highlight a task that you can delegate. If you can delegate, to whom shall you delegate it to? ·         Practice delegating and accepting delegation.	Module 8 Setting a Ritual • What is a ritual? • Ritualising sleep, meals, exercise • Examples of rituals • Using rituals to maximise time Activity Individual Practice and Coaching ·         Discuss your daily rituals at home and at work. Are there timesavers or timewasters?
Module 9 Meeting Management • Deciding if a meeting is necessary • Using the PAT approach • Building the agenda • Keeping things on track • Making sure the meeting was worthwhile Activity Group Discussion and Presentation ·         Are the meetings you attend productive? ·         How to ensure meetings are more productive?	Module 10 Alternatives to Meetings • Instant Messaging and chat rooms • Teleconferencing • E-mail Lists and online groups • Collaborating applications Activity Group Discussion and Presentation ·         Do you use electronic media and gadgets to save time? Which applications do you want to start using?

 

Course Timetable

Time	1st Day	2nd Day
9.00-10.30 a.m.	Goal Setting (M1)	Organising your Workspace (M6) Delegating Made Easy (M7)
10.30-10.45 a.m.	Tea Break
10.45 a.m.- 12.30 p.m.	Prioritising your Time (M2)	Setting a Ritual (M8)
12.30-1.30 p.m.	Lunch
1.30-3.30 p.m.	Planning Wisely (M3) Tackling Procrastination (M4)	Meeting Management (M9)
3.30-3.45 p.m.	Tea Break
3.45-5.00 p.m.	Crisis Management (M5)	Alternatives to Meetings (M10) Summary & Close

Trainer Profile

Dr.Arivalan Ramaiyah

B.Econs (Hons), UUM. MBA, UK, DBA Phil.

Dr. Arivalan has a proven track record in conducting training programs for various industrial, business, government and corporate customers for past 12 years.

Prime Areas of Expertise

Dr.Arivalan has developed and conducted Consultancy/Trainings in a wide range of subjects, which include, 5 Powers of Effective Management, Manage to Success, Transformational Leadership, Negotiation Skills and Deal Making, Problem Solving and Decisions Making, Emotional Intelligence: Applications and Practices, Customer Retention Strategies, Customer Satisfaction, Marketing Research,  Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Success in Personal Selling, Train the Trainer, Facilitation and Delegation Skills, Sales Re-Engineering Process, Motivation, Crisis and Effective Communications Skills, Creativity Marketing, Lateral Thinking, Seven Habits of Effective People.

His trainings are known to be highly interactive with valuable and relevant participant centered activities such as role play, brain storming, games, case studies, discussions, storytelling, video sessions, quizzes, individual and group exercises, ice breakers, presentations, mind mapping, scenario planning, small projects, and debates. His training programs are often tailor made to suit the participants’ expectation.

Partial list of participants who have attended the training programmes in 2011/12 via public and in-house programmes are from AM Bank, PETRONAS, PERMATA, Miri Port Authorities, Asian Bintulu Fertizers, E & O Hotel, Promenade Hotel, JobStreet, Borneo Travel and Tours, Nippon Oil, Borneo Springs, Murphy Oil, TNB, RHB Bank, Digi, Celcom, SESCO, Sin Chew Press, EON Bank, Proton, PUSTAKA Miri, Telekom Malaysia, Kia Motors, Intel, Miri Specialist Hospital, Bank Rakyat, and many others. Apart for Malaysian companies, he also has conducted training sessions for participants from Vietnam, Philippines, Middle-East, Tibet, China and Indonesia.

Some of his audiences include: general managers, managers, company directors, executives, principals, lecturers, supervisors, CEOs, front line staff, government officials, NGOs and general public.

Consultancy

Apart from training, he is also active in consultancy works in the area of marketing and management with various government and non-governmental bodies. The consultancy areas, includes marketing research, change management, feasibility studies on the viability of business projects, socio-economy impact, training need analysis and measurement of service quality by using SERVQUAL or SERVPERF instrument. He also had developed model and instrument to measure Customer Satisfactions Index (CSI) and Customer Loyalty Index (CLI) as stipulated in the ISO Standard requirements. These models can be applied in any firms easily to enhance the satisfaction of their customers thus improving the customer loyalty. Apart from Consultancy services, Arivalan also has conducted personal coaching on individual basis on various marketing and business related matters for CEOs, branch managers and executives.

Work Experience

Driven by his Mission in life, Dr.Arivalan embarked on a profession as a marketer, lecturer, trainer and consultant. He has travelled to many Asia Pacific Regions in pursued to develop network and partnership with various institutions and customer groups during his previous employment. He has successfully secured contract with many reputable institutions and organizations from UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia, India, Indonesia, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Previously, he held high profile positions as Deputy Director of Marketing at AIMST University and Principal and Dean of established private college in Malaysia. He was also a lecturer at Curtin University of Technology Sarawak campus for 3 years.  Dr.Arivalan’s earlier experience at a senior management level, international exposure coupled with his academic qualifications had helped him to develop his extensive knowledge in service quality, international marketing, customer networking and prospecting, sales, negotiation skills and leadership thus enabling him to become a high profile trainer. 

Academic Background

As for the education background, he obtained his first degree in Economics from University Utara Malaysia in 1994 and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland in 1997. He also possesses Train the Trainer Certificate from HRDC, Malaysia. He obtained his Doctor of Business Administration from Southern Luzon State University of Philippines.

Publications

Ramaiyah.A. Nurulazam, Malar, (2009) ,” A research framework for service quality research in Private Universities from Malaysia”. International Journal of Value Chain Management,  V 3, N4. pp 335-345.

 Ramaiyah.A. Nurulazam.A,(2008), “A research framework using SERVQUAL Instrument to Analyze the Quality of Services provided by the Private Institutions of Higher Learning in Malaysia”. Innovation in Management Practices. Macmillan Publishers India Ltd. Pp 316.

Ramaiyah. A., Nurulazam.A (2007), “Exploring the service quality dimension in higher education research”, Regional Conference on Quality in Higher Education: University of  Malaya, Malaysia.

Ramaiyah. A.,(2007), “Principles of Marketing: Graduate student workbook”, Wawasan Open University, Malaysia.

Muniapan, B., Krishnan, A., and Ramaiyah, A., (2006), “The Role of Tamil Film Song for the Development of Human Values: An Analysis of Aandavan Kattalai (1964) of Kavinyar (Poet) Kannadasan (1927-1981)”, Media-Asia Research Group Conference 2006: Media and Identity in Asia, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia, 15-16 February.