What are the biggest time management challenges people face at work today? Back to back meetings. Overwhelming workloads. No time to think. The boundaries between our work and personal lives have disappeared and burnout is rampant.
As the world continues to navigate the biggest disruption to the workplace since the industrial revolution, the question many leaders are asking is: how do we leverage this moment to create a better workplace? One that attracts and retains top talent, creates a space to produce exceptional work, and cultivates wellbeing?
The answer lies in Time. Why time?
Time is the oil in the machine of life
Take a moment to picture everything you want to achieve this year as a company, as a professional, and as a person. Do you want to raise revenue, learn how to delegate or get back into shape? Now, consider this question: What role does Time Management play as an ingredient in your ability to achieve those goals? Anything we want to achieve in our professional or personal lives, the only way to get there is by applying time and focus.
Time Management Doesn’t Happen in a Vacuum, it Happens in a Community
Yet, the way we have approached time management is incomplete. We historically treat time management as an individual challenge and skill set. BUT one thing I learned in over 30 years of doing productivity training and coaching with companies around the globe is that Time management isn’t just an individual set of habits, it’s also a collective one.
How each person operates has a direct impact on the ability of everyone around them to get things done, for better or for worse. That creates a culture of time in every organization, formed consciously or unconsciously (usually, unconsciously)…..simply by the way people manage their workloads.
Consciously Shape the Culture of Time
So, take a moment to consider….what is the culture of time at your company right now? Does the way people spend their time align with the values and goals of the organization? Does the collective culture around meetings, email, slack and taking time to focus on deep thinking projects enable employees to get the highest priority work done? If the answer is no, you are not alone. Our collective habits around time weren’t great pre-Covid, and they got worse during the unexpected shifts over the last three years.
We are at a tipping point.
I have been speaking about the Time Culture of companies for over 15 years. And, I am thrilled to say I have never seen a more exciting time or bolder action taken by companies and executives to reshape their time culture from the top down. Leaders across the globe, and across every industry we work (consulting, finance, pharma, non profit, Real estate, consumer products, and more) recognize that the way we’ve been working just doesn’t work anymore. And companies on the cutting edge are taking action to create time leaders at every level of their organization.
Definition of Time Leadership
We are sitting on an opportunity to consciously reshape the culture of time by adopting a new form of leadership for the 21st century, what I call Time Leadership.
Time leadership is about creating an environment that brings out peak performance in yourself and your most valuable resource: people.
It involves collaborating with others to ensure the highest and best use of everyone’s time, [by talking about time in the everyday flow of work]
It’s about taking control of time, individually and collectively, by intentionally building new skills, habits and norms that reflect the values and goals of your company.
I’ve seen Time Leadership transform the work experiences of individuals, teams and organizations as they develop a common language and set of practices that fuel efficiency, speed communication and focus everyone on the highest priorities. Time Leadership is a learnable skill that brings energy, empowerment and meaning to how we spend our days and get things done.
We’d Love to Help
If your organization needs a time culture shift and you want to be a time leader check out our Time Leadership suite of offerings or simply reach out and we can set up a time to talk. We’d love to be with you on your Time Leadership journey.