A group of four students (Travis Dodge, Miguel Lara, Sarah Hamilton, Nichole Buck) and I created this presentation for a leadership course in Clark University's Graduate School of Management. The presentation topic is organizational skills and is divided into three major parts 1.) practical/hands on organizational skills 2.) time management 3.) bridging the gap between individual organization and managerial organization. Enjoy!
2. “Some people are naturally organized, but their habits
which they adopt to become organized are not that
difficult to learn”
Mancini, (2003)
Words of Wisdom
3. Pitfalls to Organization
Strategies for Being More Organized
Time management
Traditional Managers
Organization for Managers & Leaders
Road Map
7. Finding Out what Needs to Be Done:
“Information flows at us continuously from email, voice mail,
meetings, cellphones, mail, magazines, books, newspaper,
Web, TV”
→ The trick knowing what information is valuable and
what is not
Having a Method & Using it Consistently
Once you receive a task write it down, set an alarm, put it in your
phone.
Whatever you do- Do it Consistently
Gathering Tasks
8. When Does it Need to be Done by:
Deadlines
create a sense of urgency
help prioritize which tasks are most important
“Non-time targeted tasks don’t get done! Give every task a
deadline. Until you set a deadline for a project, it’s more like a
wish not an action”
Someday is Not a Day of the Week!
Gathering Tasks
9. Involves a written plan which specifies the steps needed to
achieve a desired result
You cannot plan and work at the same time
“ Suppose you wanted to build a deck, you wouldn’t buy the
lumber and start sawing the wood without planning how large
the deck should be”
Defining Tasks
10. Use your Question Words:
Who
Personal Tasks
Delegation - Do I have time? Would it be a better project for someone
else?
When
Deadlines
What
What exactly needs to be done?
How
Break it down into smaller steps
Work Back from a deadline to identify the action that needs to be taken.
Defining Tasks
11. At the End of the Day
Tidy Up
Take 5 Minutes to clear your desk for tomorrow
Evaluate the Day
What worked, what didn’t work, what would I do differently?
Preparation
12. Creating a plan for Tomorrow Today
Define what needs to get done, and by when
Work in what will be done differently tomorrow
Example
Looking at schedule/planner before bed every night
Helps Determine:
What needs to be done, and when I am going to do it during the
day.
Preparation
13. “With practice practitioners can improve their organizational
skills through consistently following an organizational process and
developing positive and helpful routines and habits”
(Wicker, 2009)
METHODS
Lack of consistency results in a loss of
information and time
Pick a single reference tool
14. Help with awareness of where things are located.
Filing:
File Systems
Excessive
“Is it conceivable I
might want to
refer to this file in
the future?”
Always a Yes
Sensible
“If I wanted this
item again and I
didn’t have it,
what would I do?”
Usually you’ll get
along fine without
it
15. Physical Record Keeping
Portable - Easy to Carry Essentials
Folders
Home
Folder
Pocket
Files
16. Master List
“Reservoir or catchment basin in which you capture
everything you have to do”
Daily List
“Each morning or night, create a new daily list for the day
mostly including things from the master list, but also adding
sporadic things that have just arisen”
Should be specific, limited, and timely
Lists with Dates
19. Benefits
Technology
Easy for simple routine tasks time after
time
Organizing lists of items & displaying in
various ways
Cloud Technology - Access anywhere, no
need to bring a planner
21. No method is perfect
They all have different benefits & downfalls!
Consistency is the key!
Methods – Take Away
22. Instructions:
You will each receive a handout that contains a few different types of
tasks to be organized for two months!
Use:
One of the techniques discussed
A hybrid technique
Your own method to organize these tasks
You can use the Calendar provided on the back, your planner, or any
device you have with you!
Assume Today is November 1st!
Some Tasks Don’t have dates – Use your own judgment
You have 5 Minutes!
Time: 5 Minutes
Class Activity
23. Things to Note:
Not all tasks have dates – Emails, Phone calls, ASAP
Should use your judgment and assign a date yourself
Repetitive Tasks – Make sure you write-in for every date
Big Tasks – Start taxes, Organize personal Finances, Submit Quarter Reports
Probably require breaking into smaller tasks & and assigning shorter deadlines
Continually Update these lists – Planner, App, Outlook
Any Different Methods we haven’t mentioned?
Activity DeBrief
25. S.M.A.R.T Goals
Goal Setting
Specific What are your goals?
Measurable How will you measure your
goals?
Attainable Are the goals achievable?
Realistic/ Relevant Are the goals realistic and
relevant?
Tangible/Time-Bound Are the goals tangible and
when will it be accomplished?
26. Tasks
Important and Urgent
Important and Not Urgent
Urgent but Not Important
Busy Work
Wasted Time
Priorities
Set prioritizes by:
Importance and
then urgency
What are the Priorities?
28. Directions
Because you don't seem to be getting as much
accomplished as you would like, you decide to analyze your
activities for one day. You kept a record of your job routine
and personal activities in 15-minute segments. Following is a
summary of what you accomplished during the day.
Analyze the activities for the day and suggest some areas
in which you might save time.
Organizational Skills Activity
29. How would you save time?
Skip breaks?
Skipping breaks will
actually hurt your
productivity
Different Ideas:
Supplies
One trip for all supplies
Have them delivered
prior
Organize in advance
Not as many personal
calls
30. What else can help with managing
your time?
Breaking down large projects into smaller tasks
Setting a due date for yourself
What else can you do?
32. Why are these skills important for managers?
Scheduling?
Organization?
Task management?
Discussion
33. Classical Functions of Management
1) Planning
2) Organizing
3) Coordinating
4) Commanding
5) Controlling
Henri Fayol (Istanbul, 29 July 1841 – Paris, 19 November 1925)
34. Mahoney, Jerdee, Carroll (1963, 1965)
P Planning 19%
R Representing 2%
I Investigating 26%
N Negotiating 07%
C Coordinating 21%
E Evaluating 9%
S Supervising 12%
S Staffing 5%
35. GE study (1957) Planning Organization Production
Stagner (1969) Organizational Planning Profitability
Boyatzis (1982) Goal setting Planning Effectiveness
Studies over the years
39. Skills have been known as “threshold capabilities”,
Goleman, (1998)
Managerial and Leadership-styled skills combined are
necessary
Functional overlap between managers and leaders
Cultural differences still prevalent
Each is used to balance one another
Managers are Leaders
40. Cycle between Managers and
Leaders
Planning &
Budgeting
•Setting
Direction
Organizing &
Staffing
•Aligning Vision
Providing Control
& Problem Solving
•Motivating
41. Functional Overlap
Verma and Kamlesh (2001)
Articulate that there is a
functional overlap based
off of two components:
Human Factors
• Managers
• Organizing &
Staffing
Interpersonal
Activity
• Leaders
• Motivating
• Richard
Nicolosi – P&G
42. Managers and Leaders have taken different approaches to
organizing teams
I.E Japanese managers seen as leaders, Ravichandran (2000)
U.S, Japan, and China ,Weihrich (1990)
Cultural Differences
U.S.
•Emphasis on
the Individual
•Clearly Defined
Responsibilities
Japan
•Collective
Approach
•Informal
Organizational
Team Structure
China
•Emphasis on
the Individual
•Identify with
the company,
no team spirit
43. Skills Apply to
Both Managers
& Leaders
Strategies for
Being More
Organized &
Time
Management
Pitfalls of
Organization
Conclusions
44. “The real challenge is to combine strong leadership and
strong management and use each to balance the other”
Kotter, (1990)
21st Century Leadership
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Bliss, E. C. (1976). Getting things done: The ABCs of time management. New York: Scribner.
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Crisfield, P. (1994). Time Management: Balance, sport, work, and home more effectively. Leeds: National Coaching Foundation.
Dalton State College. (n.d) Module 7 Organizational Skills (pgs. 13 & 14.). Retrieved from
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Digital Nation [Online Video} (2010). Frontline-PBS-WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved From
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Goleman D. (1998). What Makes a Leader?, Harvard Business Review Press, 1-11.
Gorlick, A. (2009, August 24). Media Multitasks Pay A Price; Stanford Study Shows. Retrieved November 20, 2014, from https://01256631-a-62cb3a1a-s-
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Iu5SUDF0XgShMytmiT71s5wKPOZ1b7Gu76idjFwKMCnQLjRSlMo_jknzMa5VRNLhmEiEbg14sTMGljs5QiByBlWtSgRY5T73ifEQhlNri5rKdgV1T6HXxG1T0fVeeZ6c1z
N06GjE0tCTWB6EHh55Pxf5BL1bCYF92JWNeA9VHMDnsF2wSPAC-nmkq8JOFT-TuHg%3D%3D&attredirects=0
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Works Cited
Notas del editor
(Mancini, 2003)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-kriegel-phd/unplug-recharge_b_1333126.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/06/16/eight-ways-goofing-off-can-make-you-more-productive-3/
Taking Breaks leads to a rejuvenated and clearer mind, which helps assist in making better decisions, being more organized, more creative, and more productive. Even though you feel you are too busy, and you can’t take a break because you don’t have time. It is often true that taking the break will leave you so refreshed your work output will increase in quantity as well as quality. When you are in a “time-out” you produce your best and most creative thinking. So plan ahead, make time for yourself, organization can lead to a healthier lifestyle.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/06/16/eight-ways-goofing-off-can-make-you-more-productive-3/
MultiTasking is something we all do. It is highly prevalent at MIT where professors acknowledge the change in atmosphere as a demand for a change in their teaching methods and a concern, while students feel very positive about their multitasking. A groundbreaking study was then completed at Stanford to measure the effectiveness of multitasking. Several students who were surveyed as the most intense multi-taskers (meaning they participate in 6 different tasks at minimum at most points throughout their day) Despite the belief by these students that they were getting a lot more done this way, and were a lot more efficient the study proved that they were actually very bad at multitasking. The concerns from the study grew to be that we have a lot of people who can not form complete thoughts, or are really absorbing in-depth concepts, or are effectively learning and thinking. If tasks are planned out in advance the need to multitask can be avoided completely. Leading to better organization and higher productivity.
http://clarkconnect.clarku.edu/file/Test2.pdf
Discipline could be defined as gaining
control by enforcing order, while
procrastination is the act of habitually and
intentionally putting off or delaying a task. A person who is
disciplined will be more likely to be
organised. Procrastination is often the result of fear, for
example fear of the inability to undertake
the task, fear of the consequences of the
task, fear of failure, or fear of the task itself.
http://clarkconnect.clarku.edu/file/Test2.pdf
The best way to reduce Job stress is to emphasize taking care of yourself by being self-aware and active towards healthier behaviors. To help with stress it is important to organize and prioritize to proactively feel more confident in your work, your efforts and what lies ahead. Don’t overcommit yourself, schedule breaks, create a balanced schedule, and leave early to be timely.
Bliss, (1976)
Adair & Allen, (2003)
Bliss, (1976)
Adair & Allen, (2003)
Bliss, (1976)
Wicker, (2009)
As a future business manager it will be your responsibility to not only stay organized yourself, but to organize and coordinate the activities of your team. The key organiizational skills that we have showcased for you will therefore be magnified in importance and crucial to your success. To see just how crucial these traditional organizational skills are for managers we will trace the literary evidence through the years, beginning with the great great grandfather of management theory, Henri Fayol.
Most management textbooks for the last 60 years are in some way based on the original classical management functions first introduced by Henri Fayol (1949). Fayol's work was one of the first comprehensive statements of a general theory of management. He proposed that there were five primary functions of management; planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding, and controlling.
Planning, managers must plan for future conditions, develop strategic objectives and secure the achievement of future goals. Therefore, mangers must evaluate future contingencies affecting the organization, and shape the future operational and strategic landscape of the company.
Organizing, Managers must organize the workforce in an efficient manner and structure and align the activities of the organization. Managers must also train and recruit the right people for the job, and always secure a sufficiently skilled and educated workforce.
Coordinating, Managers must harmonize the procedures and activities performed by the company, meaning that every activity of each organizational unit should complement and enrich the work of another.
Commanding, Managers must supervise subordinates in their daily work, and communicate company goals.
Controlling, Managers must control that company activities are in line with general company policies and objectives. It is also the responsibility of the manager to report deviations from plans and objectives, and to make initiatives to correct potential deviations.
His work has been both elaborated upon and criticized over the years, however it is clear that they form the basis of the formula for management success. This set of basic managerial skills are what we have come to call threshold leadership skills, and have been the center of discussion in management literature for decades. Although the current literary discussion focuses on new leadership skills we will show you that practicing these key classical management skills in your daily life will make you a more effective leader.
Mahoney, Jerdee, and Carroll (1963, 1965) reported that managerial time can be allocated to a set of eight basic managerial functions which can be called "PRINCESS" factors (Planning, Representing, Investigating, Negotiating, Coordinating, Evaluating, Supervising, Staffing). This study of 452 managers, in which Fayol's five function were expanded to eight, indicated that there appeared to be a minimum core of time spent in each of these functional responsibilities and that managers in various job and level categories had different tie patterns with respect to these responsibilities.
See chart*
Fayol (1949) and other classical writers said that not only do managers carry out the classical functions, but that their skill in such areas was related to managerial success. A number of studies indicate that time spent by managers on some of these classical functional areas and skill in performing them does result in higher organization and unit performance. (Miner, 1982)
For example a GE study (1957) found that foremen with higher production records spent more time in long-range planning and organizing than did formen with poorer production records.
Stagner (1969) found that the time 109 chief executives spent in organizational planning was related to the firm's profitability.
Boyatzis (1982) also found a goal setting/planning skill of competence related positively to managerial effectiveness.
Other studies also partly support the validity of Fayol's conceptualization of the manager's job. In a Hughes and Singler (1985) study , more than 700 managers were surveyed about the relative importance of various functions. They found that the importance of directing, controlling, and organizing was fairly constant from one level to another, but the importance of planning and staffing increased as managers progressed to higher levels.
Successful vs Effective Managers
University of Nebraska’s Fred Luthans found that although managers who are successful (that is, rapidly promoted) may be astute politicians, they are not necessarily effective. Indeed, the so-called successful managers may be the ones who do not in fact take care of people and get high performance from their units. Vs. Effective managers, the ones with satisfied, committed subordinates turning out quantity and quality performance in their units.
Who are these managers? They are found at all levels and types of organizations with titles such as department head, general manager, store manager, marketing manager, office manager, agency chief, or district manager. In otherwords, maybe the answers to the performance problems facing organizations today can be found in their own backyards, in the managers themselves in their day-to-day activities.
With grant from the Office of naval research, he observed detailed behaviors and activities of 44 real managers. Unlike Mintzbegr's and Kotter's managers, these managers came from all levels and many types of organizations (mostly in the services sector- such as retail, hospitals, corporate headquarters, railroad, government agenicees, insurance companies, newspapers office, financial institutions, a few manufacturing comanies.) Luthans found that effective managers engage more in traditional management, or the activities of planning, decision making, and controlling. The observed behaviors of traditional managemetn in this case include setting goals and objectives, defining tasks needed to accomplish goals, scheduling employees, assigning tasks, providing routine instructions, defining problems, handling day-to-day operational crises, deciding what to do, developing new procedures, inspecting work, walking around inspecting work, monitoring performance data, and doing preventative maintenance.