Business

Time Management Seminar Proposal

How many hours are lost per year because of people mismanaging their time? Has your company experienced a problem with people missing deadlines and costing your business money? Poor time management is a widespread issue among working professionals, and it stems from not knowing the best ways to take care of your assigned tasks. Background

Time management can be a powerful tool for professionals to reorganize their operations to better suit the needs of their business. In most business contexts, it's far established that the expectations of professionals rely on their ability to accomplish goals within the timeframe of business hours. However with the ever increasing global context in which business are to operate, the scale of duties that professionals are expected to attend to are ever increasing and ever more time consuming. To make matters more muddled, the rise of social media and interconnectedness has made the lives of professionals fully accessible at all times, no more is the ability for modern businesspeople to separate their lives from the hours they spend within the office.These factors have become a barrier for the individual success of each professional, and risks the success of the business as a whole. It is then imperative for businesses to understand time management, and in addition to make sure their professionals are introduced to the methods that ensure the greatest use of the time they have.

It becomes imperative to ask when addressing time management, what is causing

professionals to not use their time effectively? Research shows that the rise of multimedia factors such as technology and social media have led to a rise in professionals feeling that they struggle intensely with the use of their time (Mayberry, 2015). This is a byproduct to the ever increasing interconnectedness that many technological advancements has strived to create. This has only been compounded with the necessity of these tools to professionals, whose presence on social media has become a fundamental aspect to their personal as well as professional identity. This problem compounds the list of priorities that many professionals have come to face. And many agree that it is an important part of their long-term career goals and expectations (Hill, 2018). To that end, the nature of multimedia is a factor that must be expected and accounted for within time management, as it serves as a constant throughout the modern business world.

The solution then is to determine how can professionals manage their priorities in an

effective and meaningful way while they are about their business. Many studies have agreed that effective time management relies on essential skills of prioritizing, scheduling, and maximizing (Atkinson, 2009). Prioritizing asks professionals to recognize what tasks are of importance, and to seek to complete the most meaningful task before moving onto lesser ones. Then, its relating those tasks to a schedule, then moving within that schedule to meet those deadlines effectively. Finally, its then through the maximization of resources that time management can be habitualized. Delegation of tasks is a key factor of maximization, allowing

professionals to set roles with one another towards tasks ensure the most effective use of time between all workers in a business (​Francis-Smythe & Robertson, 1999​). This ensures that professionals can recognize who in their teams can address specific tasks most effectively, and in turn improve overall productivity.

It should be considered that the tools for time management are effective as long as the

professionals who employ them are able to recognize when their time is to be used effectively. Research suggests that professionals will require downtime throughout their day, which is the leading strive for more effective time management (​Kneale, 1997​). However, the importance of downtime is to be recognized as part of time management. Professionals will, even when accomplishing their tasks on time and effectively moving onto their next tasks, face moments of burnout and have their attention be swayed. This can be anticipated and embraced with proper time management, as effective prioritizing should allow progress on tasks while simultaneously giving workers the ability to keep their energy high and their quality unmitigated.

Benefits of Our Program

With our program specifically, the idea is to not only teach employees how to be more productive but to structure their workday in a way that is going to improve their quality of life at work. Happier employees make for more productive workplaces, and empowering your workers to have the skills necessary to not only do good work but excel and enjoy doing it is going to result in a huge net positive shift in your culture. We emphasize an environment that minimizes stressors and promotes healthy working habits. Learning Goals

Our learning goals are as follows: 1. Learn what time management is at a deeper level than most people understand 2. Understand the impact time management has on you, the worker 3. Learn strategies to improve your habits 4. Understand what those techniques will do for you and the quality of your workplace

Sample Agenda

Agenda:

● Introductions (1 minute) ● Background on time management (3 minutes) ● Explanation of strategies (5 minutes) ● Interactive activity (5 minutes) ● Conclusion (1 minute)

Our interactive activity will consist of each person being given a list of tasks that they

must address. Each one will be assigned a deadline, and it will be up to the employees to

quickly use their newfound knowledge to properly prioritize the workload in order to fit everything they need to do into a workday. There will be no grading or review of each person’s answers, but the conclusion will include our suggested priority so employees can see if they’re on the right track.

We appreciate you taking the time to read through our proposal for our training program. We hope that you now feel, as we do, that our seminar will be a good fit for your company and will serve to increase your employees’ productivity. Time management is one of the most important skills in the workplace, as we have discussed above, and we would be delighted to share our expertise with My Eye Dr. Our team looks forward to hearing from you, and to working together soon.

Bibliography

Adams, R. (2017). 15 Time Management Tips for Achieving Your Goals. Entrepreneur. Retrieved 7 November 2019, from ​https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/299336

(Maleeha) This article was written by Robert Adams, who is a software engineer, blogger, and entrepreneur, someone who has a busy work life like this are bound to bump into problems with time management. This article goes on to discuss 15 tips that would help with time management. This article has a huge focus on self relaxation, for example he mentions “taking walks, listening to music and painting”. Although his tips help with how you can manage your time he does have a making sure that you are not ignoring the times where you enjoy yourself as well as get your work done. This articles limitations is that it might be too similar to the previous ones, but does have its own unique focus. This would be useful in my research because it has its own views, and can get a perspective from someone who has an intense job, and struggles with managing time himself. Adebisi, J. F. (2013). Time management practices and their effect on business performance. Canadian Social Science​, ​9​(1), 165-168 (Pegah) In this article, Adebisi carried out a study to establish time management effect on business performance. The author of the article collected data from forty-three small and medium businesses and established that effective time management is a tool for businesses to survive competition in the market and gain a competitive advantage. The study established that organizations encouraging time management among its employees got things done of time and effectively and this was a great contributor to overall business performance. The article concluded that time management is important for every business and recommended that business should train their employees on time management. This article is a scholarly article making it a credible and reliable source. Besides, the author of the article, in addition to primary data, has supported arguments with scholarly sources, thereby enhancing the quality of the source. However, the study was carried in a developing country, Nigeria, and thus, the study findings may not be generalized to the developed countries. Nevertheless, regional differences may not affect the topic under discussion, time management, and thus, this article is an important source in documenting the significance of time management to a business. Arnold, E., & Pulich, M. (2004). Improving productivity through more effective time management. The health care Manager​, ​23​(1), 65-70. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5889/02e2f7105230ddec2f1920d0b95f33900dfc.pdf (Pegah) The authors of this article recognized that time management is an important aspect for every company manager seeking to achieve organizational goals and objectives. The article details the reasons why time management is an important element is any organization. The authors note that improving time management calls one to examine individual attitudes towards time, examine time-wasting behaviors, and develop time management skills. In each of these strategies, the author presents interventions to achieve every strategy. The authors of the article conclude that effective time management enhances one’s performance and productivity. The article is published in a scholarly journal, meaning it has been assessed and reviewed by

experts in the arena, making this article a quality, credible, and reliable source. However, this article was published more than ten years ago, reducing time-relevancy of the information. Nevertheless, the topic under discussion is time management, and thus, the information presented in this article is still relevant. The information in this article will be of great significance in detailing strategies to enhance time management to improve performance and productivity.

Atkinson, F. (2009). ​Part 2: Time management tools - chapter 08: Essential time management

skills​. Richmond: Crimson Business Ltd. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/742656248?accountid=14541

(Jacob) Atkinson’s book on time management skills is handy when considering what skills one can use in order to promote proper time management. It goes in-depth into the qualities of a schedule he believes to be important. The chapter also explores procrastination, its sources, and what can be done to prevent it from happening. He explores concepts like list oversaturation and physical organization, and explains how understanding and addressing the root causes of the problems that occur in an office can promote good use of time from employees. The only downside of this piece was that it is somewhat dated, being from 2009, and so contained outdated and irrelevant information. It is uncommon nowadays for people to be able to “ignore a phone call when needed,” as cell phones make everyone more accessible. The information from this article was useful in constructing the learning goals of the proposal.

Crotti, N. (2014, May 26). Commentary: How to: Time out for time-management tips.​ Finance and Commerce​ Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/1530257548?accountid=14541

(Gr​ant) How to: Time out for time-management tips by Nanci Crotti was published in the Minneapolis-based Finance and Commerce journal. The commentary discusses the value of time management and how it in itself should be given appropriate time to be detailed and customized to the one who needs to sort out time management. It stresses the importance of scheduling appropriately for success. As well as the value in due diligence being a priority through the process of more effective time management. The source comes from a trade journal, signifying that the writer as well as the audience are industry professionals who would regard time management times with high esteem. The limitations of the source is found in the scope, as the overt focus in relation to business operation is neglectful to the situations of professionals in the operations. For the research it dedicates itself to enforce the tools that successful time management can employ.

Farrell, M. (2017). Time management. ​Journal of Library Administration​, ​57​(2), 215-222. (Pegah) The article examines time management as an important aspect of leadership. The author of the article points out that the development of strategies to maximize time among leaders is vital to achieving both personal and organizational objectives and goals. The article presents interventions to achieve effective time management and details time-saving approaches. The interventions to ensure effective time management explored in this article

include planning, setting goals, task delegation, maintaining work-life balance, decision authority. The author concludes that time management enables a leader to account for an important organizational commodity, time. The article is a scholarly article making is a credible and reliable source. Also, the article was published just two years ago, making the information in this article most current. This article is important to the current research, time management, as it serves as a quality source for the significance of time management and strategies to enhance time management. Francis-Smythe, J., & Robertson, I. T. (1999). On the relationship between time management

and time estimation.​ British Journal of Psychology, 90​, 333-347. doi:​http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1348/000712699161459

(Jacob) This source, from a psychology journal, went deep into detail on how people perceive time, as well as how that influences the way they manage it. It brought up an interesting concept in time estimation, which is defined as the way that people think about how much time they have to complete a project. If an assignment is due in a week, for example, the week may feel like a long time. However, if a year-long project has only a week left, that week may feel incredibly short. In this way, it is possible to manipulate one’s own time estimation in order to increase one’s productivity. When one has a long-term project to work on, it is helpful to establish benchmarks to hit along the way. This is useful because it gives a short-term goal to work towards, and each point leading up to the final product becomes a new reference for time estimation.

Hill, A. (2018, Jul 02). The madness of executives' obsessive time management usa region]. Financial Times​ Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/2081213​315?accountid=14541

(Grant) ​The madness of executives' obsessive time management ​by Andrew Hill was published in the london-based ​Financial Times ​and delves into the fascinating conception of time management at the executive and higher echelons of the business world. The article specifically explores the research and discussions leading business professors of Harvard University have with major firm executives from many spheres of business. More specifically, their explorations into the lives of these high-performance professionals and how they manage their time to the maximum efficiency of their roles.It seeks to understand and highlight the importance of time management to many executives both with their professional duties, but also with the wants and goals outside of their positions.

I2 mag: Time management 101: Time management techniques for better efficiency​ (2015). . Chatham: Newstex. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/1694909222?accountid=14541

(Grant)​Time management 101: Time management tips for better efficiency​ was written by Karen Chopra on the ​Newstex Trade and industry blog. ​The post expands on multiple aspects that contribute to both effective and contributive aspects that better a worker’s ability to be

successful with time management. The article argues that with the advent of a constantly expanding and revolving global economy, it is beyond evident that businesses and professionals are faced with continually rising expectations and tasks that contribute to their respective success across the entire professional world. This rise in task leads to the need for organized prioritizing, the article points out that success is found in listing priorities and accomplishing them based on the plan. Karen Chopra also points out that the rise of interconnectedness has created a dearth in parts of time management, advising to steer clear of distractions when the need arises. Finally, the article supposes the need for understanding delegation, and how professionals should strive to accomplish what they can effectively, not absolutely. These tips are essential to the philosophy of effective time management.

Jackson, V. P. (2009). Time management: a realistic approach. ​Journal of the American College of Radiology​, ​6​(6), 434-436. (Pegah) This article recognizes that time management is an important element in improving employee productivity. The article presents time management elements, including realistic goal setting, organization, delegation, and relaxation. The article presents that setting goals, organizing tasks and time, delegating some tasks, and relaxing to reflect facilitates effective time management. The article further presents time management blockades, including perfectionism and procrastination. The author of the article concludes that realistic time management is a pathway to enhancing employee productivity and improving individuals’ quality of life. The author of the article has supported the presented arguments with scholarly sources, making it a credible and reliable source. Besides the article is published in a scholarly journal, making it a quality article. However, the article is not recent but based on the topic, time management, the information presented in the article is current enough. This article is important in presenting time management elements and stumbling blocks. Juneja, P. Benefits of Time Management. (2019). Managementstudyguide.com. Retrieved 7

November 2019, from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/time-management-benefits.htm

(Maleeha) This article written by Prachi Juneja is mainly focusing on the benefits from time management, in contrast to the other benefits article, this one is more detailed and specific on how these benefits come about. She starts out by saying that an individual that manages time enables them to do the right thing at the right time, this stood out to me because this is an inner benefit that an individual gets from managing their time, she also mentions how time management plays an important role in one's professional and personal lively hood. She then lists 9 benefits from time management and the ones that stood out to me where “boots individuals morale and increases confidence, becoming a better planner, and gives less anxiety and stress” these benefits were not mentioned in the previous article which gives it its own importance in this research. The quality of this article is very strong, focuses on benefitting mentally and not just productively, as opposed to other articles. This is a very useful source because not many articles are mentioning how this benefits your mental health by reducing

anxiety and stress this is a huge part in today's society, and this article discusses how time management can be a support in that. Khan, I. A., Khan, U. A., Ahmad, S. M., & Naseer-ud-Din, M. (2015). The effect of training on

principals' time management practices: A focus on time management areas, school's level, locality and complexity.​ FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 9​(2), 82-94. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/1761253579?accountid=14541

(Jacob) This article concerned the efficacy of training on people’s time management habits. It was a unique perspective to explore for the writing of this proposal, because if time management can’t be taught there is hardly a point to attempting to do so. However, the findings of the study were very much the opposite. In fact, the people who were instructed in time management habits became much more productive employees. This was refreshing in drafting the proposal because it reassured the group that the methods being drafted could be helpful to a workplace. It also influenced the methodology of the presentation, leading to a structured plan of which parts should be more important and therefore allocated more presentation time. The findings reflected that hands-on experience is most memorable, so a large portion of the proposed agenda is dedicated to that style. Klein, C, (2011, December). Central Authentication Service (CAS) - CAS – Central

Authentication Service. (2019). ​Search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2019, from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/927746066/fulltext/AB9AE87B2BB C4ABDPQ/3?accountid=14541

(Maleeha) In this scholarly journal its written from the view of a professor discussing how he taught his students about time management. He discusses his frustrations with giving students ample time and reminders to work on certain assignments, and how his students end up waiting last minute to complete it. The next following sections he goes on to discuss his idea on improving how his students use their time with a “time card”, helping them focus on their goals of the day and certain milestones they want to have done by the end of the day. The quality of this article is well thought out and different, most professors don't go out of their way to help their students with their time management and expect them to figure it out on their own. The only limitations to this source would be that it's too personal, maybe having more structural advice rather than all experience based would be more effective. This is very useful because it gives a perspective from a professor and helps us use examples from different people. Kneale, P. E. (1997). Maximising play time: Time management for geography students.​ Journal

of Geography in Higher Education, 21​(2), 293-301. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/214757567?accountid=14541

(Jacob) A somewhat unconventional, though recently more accepted, theory is that downtime is necessary to keep a healthy mindset when working on projects. It is just as important to manage the time spent not working as it is to manage the time spent working. To do so properly prevents fatigue on a project, and it is therefore in the best interest of everyone involved for employees to take time to refresh themselves. A common misconception among managers is that a lunch break is all that is needed to stay fresh for the day. Kneale suggests a different approach: have employees take short breaks at regular intervals throughout the day. By doing so, the individual will not overwhelm themselves with too much to do all at once and has the breaks to figure out any problems they may have come across in their time working. This article influenced the lesson plan of the proposal, leading to the emphasis on including scheduled breaks throughout the day. Mayberry, M. (2015). Time Management Is Really Life Management. Entrepreneur. Retrieved 7

November 2019, from ​https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242855 (Maleeha) This article written by Matt Mayberry starts out by saying how important time management is to us in our daily lives and focusing on making everyday count. He then goes on to five major points that he believes will be most effective while trying to manage your time. A huge point that the other articles did not include was evaluation, and this article mentions how you should evaluate how your spending your time and how you can figure out where your spending too much time on and where you can improve. The only limitation to this source is that it was written in 2015, and people tend to move away from older information. This is a useful source because it gives more advice than the others, for example mentioning that its ok to take breaks when needed, to decrease stress levels. Overall, this source is very useful because it gives more so advice in contrast to the other articles. Sutharshini, B., Thevanes, N., & Arulrajah, A. A. (2019). Effective Time Management as a Tool for Individual and Organizational Performance in Financial Institutions. ​IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior​, ​18​(2), 25-41 (Pegah) This article explores the correlation between time management and employee and organizational performance. The authors of the article gathered data from 120 employees at manager levels in financial institutions and established a positive relationship between time management and employee and business performance. The study found that time management enhanced employee performance and corporation performance. The authors noted that by enhancing individual employee performance, time management enhances organizational performance. This is a scholarly article and thus, a quality, reliable, and credible source. The article was published this year, thereby making the information presented in this article current enough. However, the small sample of this study reduces its validity, but the findings are important in understanding the correlation between time management and employee and corporation performance. This article is important in the current research since the information is vital to documenting the significance of time management to employee and firm performance.

The Top 10 Life Benefits of Time Management. (2013). Time Management Ninja. Retrieved 7 November 2019, from https://timemanagementninja.com/2013/10/the-top-10-life-benefits-of-time-management/

(Maleeha) This website wrote an article summarizing the basics within time management, and their beliefs on the most effective ways to make use of time management. They begin discussing how obtaining ways to create more value for yourself and your team is the overall objective. They then go on to list out 10 benefits from a successful time management use, for example “less stress, less rework, more free time, and more opportunities”. They end the article with brief statements of hoe managing your time will lead to improving your life. The quality of this source is is subpar i would say, it's quite short and general, however it does have good information. Limitations from this source is that it does lack more tips on how to manage your time, and focuses mostly on benefits from time management. This is useful to my research because I believe it gives a good summary of benefits from managing your time.

Time management. (2014, Jul 21). ​Financial Times​ Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/1554774910?accountid=14541

(Grant) The simply titled ​Time Management ​published in the london-based ​Financial Times explores a brief and fascinating professional perspective on the need of time management for professionals facing the multiple constraints that the modern world imposes on them. The article laments on the position a young professional has in regards to time management, how the expectations of both her position within the banking industry and the duties of being a student weigh heavily on her day-to-day actions. And the article asks the reader to look introspectively, to understand the priorities of their path and recognize the tools they have to face ever changing challenges. This can be helpful to understand time management and why it is important for the professional, and reinforces that with case study into executives.

Time management tips and time management strategies for achievers: Getting results the agile way. getting results the agile way is a simple time management system for meaningful results in work and life. (2011, Oct 28). ​PR Newswire​ Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/900751804?accountid=14541

(Grant) Time management tips and time management strategies for achievers: Getting results the agile way. getting results the agile way is a simple time management system for meaningful results in work and life was retrieved from a newswire video organized by Eileen Meier. The source presents a new method of time management and then explores the current use of that system with professionals in the time management industry. The source shows that the method of time management has been instrumental to the improving of the business practices as well as the method has become fundamental to the culture of the business as the professionals change their habits for more effective time management. The Source should be limited to its function on how time management methods can be both helpful for the work but also good for the happiness and competency of the professionals. For the research it shows that the conscious effort of time management has been useful for professional environments.

Wilson, B. (2016, 03). Looking at time management differently!: When it comes to time

management, it’s all about energy.​ Personal Excellence Essentials, ​Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/1954816825?accountid=14541

(Jacob) Similarly to the Kneale piece from the ​Journal of Geography in Higher Education​, Wilson’s article reflected that it is highly important for people to think of their energy throughout the day when scheduling tasks. It is critical for each person to identify when he or she is the most energetic and assign the most difficult assignments for that time. This can make the difference between going into a project with enthusiasm versus dragging one’s feet on a difficult or obtuse problem. For the proposal, this philosophy is reflected in the interactive activity, when the team members doing the presentation will encourage everyone to reflect on when he or she is most productive and create their schedule with this concern in mind.