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Delivering Time Management for IT Professionals: A Trainer's Manual

Delivering Time Management for IT Professionals: A Trainer's Manual

By : Jan Yager
4 (1)
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Delivering Time Management for IT Professionals: A Trainer's Manual

Delivering Time Management for IT Professionals: A Trainer's Manual

4 (1)
By: Jan Yager

Overview of this book

Table of Contents (19 chapters)
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Delivering Time Management for IT Professionals: A Trainer's Manual
Delivering Time Management for IT Professionals: A Trainer's Manual
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
Preface
Preface
Introduction
Introduction
Free Chapter
1
Why Time Management Is More Important Than Ever
Why Time Management Is More Important Than Ever
Introductory exercise
A definition of time
A definition of time management
Why time management is more essential than ever before
How time management relates to productivity
Managing time in the IT world
Consequences of poor time management
Benefits of excellent time management
Time management is a series of skills that can be taught
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
2
How Efficient Are You? Self-Awareness of Your Body Clock and Work Style
How Efficient Are You? Self-Awareness of Your Body Clock and Work Style
Time management self-assessment
Daily time log
Setting up a weekend time log
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
3
Setting Goals and Prioritizing
Setting Goals and Prioritizing
What you need to know about goal setting
Setting a measurable goal
Goals should also be S.M.A.R.T.
Setting short- and long-term goals, and why it will make you more effective
Prioritizing goals for greater clarity and productivity
Pareto's 80/20 rule
Re-evaluating and setting new goals
Using a to-do list to prioritize goals
Using the ACTION! system
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
4
Getting Organized
Getting Organized
Organizing your day: the value of routine
Causes of disorder and how you can overcome it
Organizing principles to apply to your things
Organizing your desk
Clearing the clutter
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
5
Identifying and Overcoming the Top 15 Time Wasters
Identifying and Overcoming the Top 15 Time Wasters
Procrastination
Perfectionism
Poor planning
Poor pacing
Failure to delegate
Doing too much at once
Complaining
E-mail addiction
Fear of success
Internet surfing
Fear of failure
Depression
Over-valuing or under-valuing your worth
Jealousy
Blaming others
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
6
Dealing with Distractions, Interruptions, and Handling Change
Dealing with Distractions, Interruptions, and Handling Change
Taking control of your time and your day
Improving your concentration and focus – understanding your brain!
Dealing with distractions
Most typical reasons for distractions at work
Coping with the most common causes of work distractions
Limoncelli's mutual interruption shield approach
Cirillo's The Pomodoro Technique®
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Multitasking – does it work?
Handling change
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
7
Enhancing Your Verbal and Written Communication Skills for Efficiency
Enhancing Your Verbal and Written Communication Skills for Efficiency
How body language impacts on how your words are perceived
How improved verbal and written communication skills will enhance your productivity by setting goals
Writing effective e-mails
Improving your listening skills
Making the most of meetings
Using your phone more efficiently
Communication time saver
Activities
Bibliography
Summary
8
Setting and Meeting Deadlines
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Setting and Meeting Deadlines
Why do so many people dread deadlines?
Changing attitudes toward deadlines
Deadlines as a useful time management tool
Guidelines for how to set realistic deadlines
Project management basics
Working with a project manager – is this something you should be delegating? If so, to whom?
Strategies if you agreed to an unrealistically quick deadline
If you and your staff practice effective time management, you are more likely to set and meet deadlines
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Associations
Summary
9
Improving Your Work and Personal Relationships
Improving Your Work and Personal Relationships
Why work relationships matter
Getting along better with others at work
Dealing with conflict
Making time for connections at work
Tips for improving your business relationships
Collaborating for innovation and efficiency
Successful delegation
Why delegating is a time saver
Selecting the right person to delegate to
Dealing with the poor time management skills of those you work for or report to
Fostering better personal relationships
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Networking groups
Summary
10
Cultivating a Work-Life Balance
Cultivating a Work-Life Balance
Defining work-life balance
Why having a work-life balance is so important
Recognizing if your life is out of balance
The reality or myth of work-life balance
Creating your ideal workday
The hazards of being a workaholic
The top six ways to develop work-life balance
Why taking vacation time is key for your work and for your greater efficiency and balance
Making the most of your evenings and weekends
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
11
Closing the Training
Closing the Training
Keeping up with technology
Time and culture considerations
Cross-cultural issues
Top 12 time management ideas for IT professionals
Creating a work and personal self-improvement plan
Conducting your Q&A session
The final review of the training
Distributing and collecting the training evaluation
Activities
Bibliography
Resources
Summary
Appendix
Appendix
Sample training agendas and additional forums
Sample agendas One-day time management training for IT Professionals
Two half-day time management training for IT professionals
10-week course schedule for time management training for IT professionals
Two-day comprehensive time management training (retreat) for IT professionals (agenda)
90-minute time management training for IT professionals (GPS)
Daily time logs
Daily phone logs
ACTION! plan
Glossary

Deadlines as a useful time management tool

Let's discuss how and why deadlines help to keep you and your projects on track.

What deadlines do you have to deal with? The first is the one that a client or customer sets for you: "We need the new software by this date."

The second deadline is the one that you and your team know is possible. The third deadline is the one you all agree to. Ideally, the first and second deadlines should be the same, or at least close together, so that the third deadline that everyone agrees to is realistic and possible.

Setting and meeting deadlines can be a challenge especially if it's a new client or customer, or a new product or project, so that you do not have any similar successful projects to fall back on as a way of assessing the time frame. Of course as you do more and more similar projects, either for the same client or for other clients—but the projects have similar elements—you will get better at assessing how long something should take. Similarly, with...

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