The Checklist: A Simple Approach To Effective Time Management

It seems like every work environment struggles with prioritizing workload.  Humans are not born effective time managers and today’s modern office has countless technological distractions that can and will steal your precious time away if you're not careful.

It may sound simple, but creating a checklist is probably one of the most important steps towards effective time management.  You would be shocked by how few people actually list their tasks. A common reason I have heard is, "It wastes time that I could be using to do my job in the first place!"


But in reality, by documenting and prioritizing your ‘chores’, you are effectively freeing up time that can be allocated to tasks of greatest importance.  


If your work team is not checklist inclined, this blog entry will empower you to bring some sanity into their workweek.

Here are some vital steps to follow:

1.    Pick your platform.  I tend not too get very picky about this one.  It largely depends on the format and the level of complexity within the organization.  A note pad might work. Excel/Microsoft Work are also very common platforms. I have seen people even use 'Task Stickers' in the current versions of MS Office (although this format isn’t ideal in my opinion as its not as transferable).  


            But the point here is to choose a format that will work for the individual.

2.    Write down your tasks.  You need to write down everything that you do and preferably indicate whether the tasks are one-offs or are daily/weekly in frequency.  How you manage these tasks will be dependent on frequency and importance.

I am a big proponent of asking my teams to share their weekly tasks as a group.  In my past, I have asked all of my direct reports to create an active list of tasks that must be completed.  When initiating this process, I ask team members to bring their list to meetings.  Giving each member a couple of minutes to discuss what is on the plate allows all team members to ensure that the proper work was being done efficiently and equitably throughout the group.  Again, simple stuff but you would be shocked to know how little this is happening in today's work environment.

As I mentioned above, importance and time investment are the most vital dependencies when determining management of tasks.  When I have staff who struggle to complete tasks, I usually coach the individual to use the following graphic to assess their workload:

A template such as this can raise some provocative questions around why tasks are even being done, why they haven’t been automated and what tasks need to drop down in order to effectively deliver role value.

3.    Stay disciplined. Its vital that once this process is implemented, that you and your team stick to it.  Constantly monitor what is on the list and what is incomplete. Consider the commitment of a task as a promise of delivery.  If too many high important tasks are sitting for too long, its either because they are not important OR the resource is struggling.  Either way, it allows you as manager to escalate issues proactively and minimize impact.  This method of task prioritization is a perfect tool to drive personal productivity and accountability throughout your team.  It most certainly is worth the time.