Are you short on time?

Time management is key when it comes to increasing productivity and efficiency, both in teams and individual work. The way we approach time management is the key for success, and various factors can affect the way we do so. Routines, planning and prioritising work will dictate our flow and our productivity, both individually and as a team. Clarity of communication, good division of tasks, well arranged meetings and having good tools will all contribute heavily when it comes to good time management. As a student, sometimes it is hard to be motivated and keep interest in a project. As such, positive thinking, the way people approach our work, the motivation the students get from their tutors and a good relationship and communication between both parties is key to keep a student interested in a project, working efficiently and being motivated. As a result, even though there is a limited amount of what is possible to do with our time, we can use some tools and strategies to make the most of it. Besides that, when it comes to a group project, there are ways to raise the efficiency of your team by not only each member implementing these tools themselves but also by changing the way we interact and work with them.

Introduction

Time is a resource that everyone possesses equally. However, the way each one manage it is the secret to achieve success, both professionally and personally. Finding a balance between your studies, hobbies and other activities can be challenging. In this research, we will explore strategies to improve your time management and also strategies to improve your team effectiveness and productivity.

The most important thing to manage your time and achieve balance is prioritise, plan and follow through with your plan. Managing well your time and approach your tasks with a positive mind and thinking allows you to be more productive and influence your team to be more effective. Communication and good teamwork practices can lead to success, but having a good team requires a lot of method, from efficient meetings to proper planning. Managing a team can be complex which makes having a good working environment essencial. Achieving this, requires establishing proper feedback channels, team building exercises and keeping the motivation high.

Productivity tools

🗓️ Routines, Planning and Prioritising

In order to achieve a well-balanced life, we need to be able to manage our time. As stated by Khanam N, et al [1]“Time management is the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling and budgeting one’s time for generating more effectiveness work and productivity”

Before we change the way we use time, we need to realise how we spend our time and in which activities. Knowing how we spend our time, there are 3 ways of “saving time” [2]:

According to Pareto’s law, 80% of the outcome comes from 20% of the effort and time someone spends in that activity, which makes prioritizing one of the most important aspects of time management [2] [4] [5]. In order to prioritize, it’s required to establish objectives and steps to achieve these objectives. So, the first step to achieve a good time management is to establish short-, medium- and long-term objectives [2].

These objectives must be SMART:

Specific
Measurable - to know when achieved
Achievable - realistic
Relevant
Time-oriented

They should also be positive and possible to be changed or improved .

Following the establishment of the objectives, we must ordinate them by its priority. Then, we should divide each objective in small steps and prioritize them [2].

Figure 1 - Example of a Eisenhower matrix [5].

We should work first in those which contribute to our objectives, leaving other activities for later [2][3][4][5].

In the interest of prioritising our activities, we must classify them according to the Eisenhower matrix, as well as plan your day according to the priority of the activities [2][4].

Figure (1) displays an example of a Eisenhower matrix, explaining how we should classify and prioritise our tasks.

Planning is also one of the most important aspects of time management. After knowing what tasks and activities we have to do, we need to plan when to do it. Planning must be done to three different periods of time: a semester, a week and a day [3].

Figure 2 - Example of a semester schedule [3]. Image Credit: Rawia Inaim

A semester schedule must include all important assignments, tests and evaluations that will occur during the semester, as displayed in figure (2) [3].

This schedule gives us a perspective of what will happen during the semester and also of what will happen weekly. It also allows as to realise when we will have more work to do [3].

Contextualised the semester, we should plan our day. First, we distribute our routine tasks, the ones that always happen. Then, we have to distribute the rest of the activities for the day [2].

The method suggested is the “NERAC method” which only takes 8 minutes a day. It presents all five stages which should help a person or an organisation to acquire a better management of time.

Figure 3 - NERAC method

Credit: Professor Dr. Manuel Firmino

We should spare 40% of our time for unforeseen events. Then, we must plan our day by doing a “to do list” by time in a planner. It’s estimated that by rationalising 10% of our time, we get an extra hour a day of work [2]. Beyond planning and prioritizing, there are some habits we should create in order to improve our use of time. We should create routines for some daily tasks. In that way, we won´t waste time thinking of what we have to do every step of the way. Finally, we should stop procrastinating [2][3][5][6]!

In the video it’s explained the most common causes for procrastinating and some possible solutions.

In order to overcome procrastination, we should develop strategies to get started. An important and well-know technique is “the pomodoro technique”, which consists of breaking down your work periods into smaller units. This technique incorporates five steps [4]:

Step One: Choose the task

Step Two:Set the timer for 25 minutes- no interruptions are allowed!

Step Three: Work until the timer rings- put a check mark on the paper

Step Four: Take a short break

Step Five: Do up to 4 pomodoros and then take a longer break.

That “longer break” is usually on the order of 15-30 minutes or the period it takes to make you feel recharged and ready to start another 25-minute work session. Repeat that process a few times over the course of a workday, and you’ll get a lot accomplished [6].

🧩From Projects to Micro Tasks

The existence of bigger goals or projects requires special attention, because it is easy to get frustrated, unmotivated or lost. To avoid this, these goals should be divided into several micro tasks [9]. However, it is not enough to create micro tasks. As mentioned by Gary Latham and John Locke in the goals-setting theory [10][11], these should be challenging and specific to:

Help focusing the attention to the most relevant and divert it from distractions;
Promote more effort, thus improving motivation;
Increase resilience and persistence;
Facilitate the development of strategies required to reach the clear goal.

Regarding projects, this segmentation into smaller tasks becomes even more important. Team members understand better the tasks and it helps the distribution and coordination of these. For projects, it is useful to use platforms, like the ones we are going to discuss below[9][12].

Figure 4 - Step by step

⌚ Project and Time Management Platforms

When it comes to project and time management there are a lot of tools that can be used. One of those being the classic pen and paper, but in the 21^st century there are other, simpler ways to carry around a “to do list”. Mobile phones and laptops are always with us and we can have as many lists and plans as we wish on them. There are a lot of applications that we can use to make such plans. One example is the “notes”, which is the virtual pen and paper, but with unlimited pages. Other examples of time and project management programs are:

Figure 5.1 - Trello

Figure 5.2 - Asana

Figure 5.3 - Redmine

Figure 5.4 - Bitrix24

Figure 5.5 - MeisterTask

These programs are great tools to keep your daily life and tasks organized. They allow you to track the current state of a task, define due dates, assign tasks to someone, separate tasks into categories and much more. These time and project management programs will also facilitate team organization, making it easier to keep everyone involved and updated on the current state of the task [13].

💼Meetings

Meetings can be an efficient way to keep team members accountable as if it is required to show some improvement they will be more likely to work consistently and follow deadlines due to social pressure [14][15]. Besides this, it is also a way to deal with problems as they arise from getting opinions from different perspectives while every team element stays up to date, not allowing problems to build up and become a barrier to progress in the current project [14][15][16][17]. It might be, on one hand, a successful way of dealing with multiple issues or restore some motivation or, on the other hand, a waste of energy and time where you leave and don’t recall any advance in the project’s state or feel that your presence was unnecessary [2]. To keep meetings short and efficient, there are some points you might want to follow such as [16][17][2][19]:

Define clearly the goal of the meeting and keep it in mind so that there is less chance to digress
Establish what points you want to cover and make sure you cover them all
Define a starting time and work forward to end it on time (the sooner the better)
If your goal is to discuss some results make sure everyone has time to read it previously so you can start to get some opinions right away
Make sure that the meeting is necessary and that the objective you want to reach with it is the most efficient one. For example, if you only want to show some info you can just send them and then ask for feedback or if the goal is to bring people together consider incorporating some breaks in the meeting or planning a dinner at other time.

Students' motivation

💡 Positive Thinking

Having a positive mindset towards everything we face in life can be challenging to mantain and even worse when it comes to group projects, especially if the work to be done is unattractive. But does thinking negatively change or improve the situation?

Well, there is no point in trying to do a task when you already think you will not be successfull. This will result in taking a long time to complete the task and general dissatisfaction [2][22]. Besides that, when working with others, that attitude might influence people around you to behave in the same way, leading to poor performance and reinforcing that state [21][22][23][24][25][26]. Instead of already assuming the task will fail, try to be enthusiastic about it and face it as a challenge by restricting the time you are allowed to do it and making sure it is done the best way possible [2][20][22].

As Stephen Covey said, “Start with the end in mind ”, meaning that you should visualize the success of having the task finished and, from there, do everything you can to make it a reality [21][23].

Finally, a positive mindset towards the work at hand might help your productivity as an individual and inspire others to do the same, contributing to a better work environment associated with a more efficient team [25][26].

Figure 6 - Allegory of the tire

👏Appreciation

One of the “easiest” ways to keep students motivated and interested in working effectively and efficiently is to appreciate the work done. Feeling that we truly matter is a big driver of safety and energy [27]. When our work is belittled or ignored, people begin to doubt about their abilities and value.

In order to start appreciating the work done by others, we could [28][29]:

1. Begin practicing appreciation with yourself. This helps to get used to appreciation and could be done by reflecting about our daily accomplishments or even by thinking about possible improvements;

2. Start thinking about positive behaviors, contributions or even qualities. It is easy to take for granted some of them. Then associate them with someone and praise it;

3. After mastering the first two tips, start to appreciate others’s work with the most impactful approach. Eg: It is often better to do it with a face to face conversation, rather than by e-mail.

Figure 7 - Examples of appreciation

🤝Team Building and Bonding

It is known that working with people you are confortable with leads to better results than working with strangers. A good team usually works together and getting to know each other before the work even starts is a strong first step to a healthy work environment, by getting rid of the awkwardness and other communication problems. Team building exercises are extremely effective at getting members aquainted with each other and they also add some fun element, but they are more than just an ice breaker [30].

Teams should be encouraged to perform team building/bonding activities regularly as to renew their group spirit and progressively develop their team’s emotional intelligence [31] [33].

There’s proof that these activities boost the group’s productivity and effectiveness [30], but its biggest effect can be seen in the group’s overall communication and confidence. Bonding exercises develop psychological safety in team members, by getting rid of the fear of judgement from their peers, thus improving communication greatly in delicate situations, for example, when asking for help from their colleagues or when providing feedback [32] .

📣Feedback

Providing feedback throughout a project is of utmost importance. Feedback is widely used as a quality assurance tool, however it should also work as a positive reinforcement. Regular and constructive feedback is the key to achieving a good final product. A student that receives good feedback on their work will be motivated to keep up the good practices and improve on their weakest points. Some guidance and suggestions on how to improve are always welcome, but should be given carefully. Taking into consideration where, when and with whom the feedback is provided can definetly make a difference, but the ‘how’ is equally important [30][34] [35].

There are several different methods to give someone feedback, but some are better than others. The better known formula to provide feedback is the ‘sandwich method’. The sandwich method divides feedback in 3 stages, thus making it easier to be accepted. One starts by stating something positive to capture the receiver’s attention, followed by some improvement points and finishing up with more positive reinforcement (or an offer to help them improve). This method can provide great results but shall not be unbalanced. A sandwich with too much or too little bread is not a good sandwich [36].

Workplace challenges

🔊Communication Clarity

Communication is a key factor in time management. In fact, bad communication can lead to a big waste of time, both in team and individual environment. Making sure that everyone understands the instructions will avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and maximize the amount of work made by the person/group. As stated previously, there is need to establish objectives, the priorities of said objectives and plan the tasks and activities. These must be carefully communicated to the individuals that will fulfil said tasks. To make the communication process more effective, one should [7][8]:

Simplify its dialogue so that everyone correctly understands the transmitted message. Over complication of dialogue may lead to confusion, demotivation and loss of important information.
Make the message to be transmitted shorter. Long speeches will slower the message processing by the listener.
Be brief and objective. Communicating clearly and getting straight to the point will keep the interlocutor focused.

☣️Toxic Teammates

The workflow of a project can be affected by a toxic co-worker. Their attitude can spread to others until there is no way to continue For the project to work efficiently, teams need to be more collaborative, adaptable, and proactive than ever. To do so, it is important to identify the source of the problem. There are a set of common toxic behaviors that can be easily identified, do you answer "yes" to the following questions, regarding yourself or your co-workers [37][38]?

Do you often criticise or blame your co-workers?
Do you gossip and spread rumors about the people you work with?
Do you try to avoid work and having responsibilities?
Do you always agree with decisions made, but do not realise your tasks?
Do you keep fundamental/important information for yourself?
Do you spend your time joking around and not actually working?
Do you only care about what you accomplish and how much credit you get from it?
Do you constantly delay working on what you are responsible to do?
Do you often tend to reject other opinions or are constantly against the decisions made by the group?
Do you harass or bully someone of your team ?

Even if the toxic co-worker is productive, wise and intelligent, you can't ignore their behavior with their teammates. To deal with them, we can[37][38]:

Have an honest conversation with the person - sometimes the toxic co-worker doesn’t have the awareness of the problem. That’s why you should give them feedback and hold them accountable;
Raise the "game" - you can give the example and keep the focus on the team's goal. Set a standard with the rest of the team that supports collaboration and open dialogue;
Make sure that everyone has specific tasks with well-defined due dates. Give each person a specific due date to develop parts of the task assigned to them;
As the last resource, talk to the project organizer. Sometimes the best course of action is to expose the situation to the person responsible for the project as he can take actions against the problematic member of the team.

Furthermore, the previous topics addressed in the student's motivation play an important role to avoid and deal with toxic co-workers.

This video covers several topics that we analyzed in this research, such as bad communication, feedback and appreciation.

Conclusion

To sum up, by planning and prioritizing our routines, we can do more in less time. There are many time management tools to improve our daily performance such as the NERAC method and the matrix urgent/important (Eisenhower matrix). We can also change the way we approach projects and meetings. If we do it, not only our performance but also our team achievements will rise.

In addition, there are also ways of improving the students’ enthusiasm. Simple things such as positive mindset, appreciation of work done and motivation events that help in team building and bounding. The latter is essential to improve team’s performance as a whole. It is not enough to increase productivity individually because the overall performance of a team is not the sum of the performance of each one (1+1=3). That is why feedback and clear communication are essential topics when talking about time management and motivation.

Additional Material

https://youtu.be/HxGq1waX9kw

12 Formas de Não Perder Tempo com Reuniões | Ep. 31 (casatrabalhocasa.com)

Ferramentas de Organização Para Uma Vida Mais Simples | Ep 17 (casatrabalhocasa.com)

É Tudo Para Ontem. O que Fazer? | Ep 07 (casatrabalhocasa.com)

References

Routines/Planning

[1] Khanam N, Sahu T, Rao EV, Kar SK, Quazi SZ.A study on university student’s time management and academic achievement. Int J Community Med Public Health 2017;4:4761-5. [Online]. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20175365

[2] P. Bird, Gestão de Tempo, 4^th ed. Actual Editora, 2004.

[3] M. Alger, L. Aguilera, K. Tomiak, C. Page, Adam Vincent, L. Benn. (2018, May). Time Management for Busy Students [Online]. Available: https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/timemanagement/

[4] F. Cirillo. (2007, June 15). The pomodoro Technique (The Pomodoro). [Online]. Available: http://www.baomee.info/pdf/technique/1.pdf

[5] L. Scroggs. (2020). The Eisenhower Matrix: Avoid the "Urgency Trap" with Dwight D. Eisenhower's famous prioritization framework [Online]. Available: https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/eisenhower-matrix

[6] C. Page, A. Vincent (2018, August). Learning to Learn Online. [Online]. Available: https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/learningtolearnonline/

Communication

[7] S. Tavares. (2018, Abr. 18). Comunique e não complique! A clareza na comunicação. [Online]. Available: Comunique e não complique! A clareza na comunicação

[8] J. Szyszka. (2017, Jun. 28). Main Principle of Time Management – Communication, Discipline, Memory! [Online]. Available: Main Principle of Time Management – Communication, Discipline, Memory!

Micro tasks

[9] K. Boogaard. (2019, Jan. 3). What's Microproductivity? The Small Habit That Will Lead You To Big Wins. [Online]. Available: https://blog.trello.com/microproductivity-break-tasks-into-smaller-steps

[10] H.J. Klein, E.M. Whitener, D.R. Ilgen (1990). “The role of goal specificity in the goal-setting process.”. Motivation and Emotion [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00995568

[11] G. Latham. (2016, May 09). “Goal-Setting Theory: Causal Relationships, Mediators, and Moderators”. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. [Online]. Available: Goal-Setting Theory: Causal Relationships, Mediators, and Moderators | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology

[12] M. Drillings, H. O'Neil. (1994). Motivation: Theory and Research [Online]. Available: Motivation: Theory and Research - Google Livros

Time management tools

[13] (2020, Nov. 16). Top 11 Free Task Management Software for Small Companies. [Online]. Available: Top 11 Free Task Management Software for Small Companies

Meetings

[2] P. Bird, Gestão de Tempo, 4^th ed. Actual Editora, 2004.

[14] S. Rowe. (2018, Nov. 06). How To Motivate Your Project Team. [Online]. Available: How To Motivate Your Project Team

[15] Sabell, H.(2020, Dec. 14). 7 Ways To Motivate Your Project Team. [Online]. Available: 7 Ways To Motivate Your Project Team

[16] V. Kashyap (2020, Oct. 16), 5 Tips to Running the Most Effective Team Meetings. [Online]. Available: 5Tips to Running the Most Effective Team Meetings.

[17] “Nove formas de tornar o trabalho em equipe mais eficiente • Asana,” Asana. [Online]. Available: https://asana.com/pt/resources/ways-improve-team-efficiency-work

[18] S. M. Heathfield (2019, Oct. 02), How to Develop a Meeting Agenda That Will Yield Your Desired Outcomes. [Online]. Available: How to Develop a Meeting Agenda That Will Yield Your Desired Outcomes

[19] J. Mario (2020, Nov. 26), Effective Team Meetings: 30 Criteria to Succeed in 2020 .[Online]. Available: Effective Team Meetings: 30 Criteria to Succeed in 2020

Positive thinking

[2] P. Bird, Gestão de Tempo, 4^th ed. Actual Editora, 2004.

[20] ADodd (2019, Sep. 24), The Power of Positive Thinking for Your Career. [Online]. Available: The Power of Positive Thinking for Your Career

[21] V. David (2020, Jun. 05), 10 Ways a Positive Attitude Improves Your Work Life [Online]. Available: 10 Ways a Positive Attitude Improves Your Work Life

[22] M. H. (2018, Feb. 08), The Power of Positive Attitude on Workplace Productivity. [Online]. Available: The Power of Positive Attitude on Workplace Productivity

[23] F. Sonnenberg (2019, Oct. 26), The Power of a Positive Attitude. [Online]. Available: https://www.franksonnenbergonline.com/blog/the-power-of-a-positive-attitude/

[24] R. Sasson (2020, Dec. 08), The Power of Positive Thinking. [Online]. Available: https://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/positive-attitude/positive-thinking/

[25] R. Wormley (2017, Jan. 24), 18 Simple Ways to Keep a Positive Attitude at Work. [Online]. Available: 18 Simple Ways to Keep a Positive Attitude at Work

[26] J. Post, (2019, Oct. 01) “Why a Positive Attitude in the Workplace Matters,” How to Develop a Positive Attitude in the Workplace. [Online]. Available: How to Develop a Positive Attitude in the Workplace

Appreciation

[27] T. Schwartz. (2012, Jan. 23). Why Appreciation Matters So Much. [Online]. Available: Why Appreciation Matters So Much (hbr.org)

[28] J. Vale. (2019, Jun. 06). Why appreciation is so important in the workplace. [Online]. Available: Why appreciation is so important in the workplace (guild.co)

[29] S.A. Alvares. (2019, Sep. 04). Appreciation at Work. [Online]. Available: Appreciation at Work (infoq.com)

Team building

[30] V. Kashyap. (2017). 10 Ways to Empower Your Teams to Be More Productive. [Online]. Available: 10 Ways to Improve Team Productivity and Efficiency

[31] B. McHale. (2020, Mar. 17). 8 Benefits of Building an Effective Project Team. [Online]. Available: 8 Benefits of Building an Effective Project Team (projectcentral.com)

[32] C. Duhigg. (2016, Feb. 25). What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team. [Online]. Available: What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team

[33] G. Windsor. (2019, Aug. 14). 7 Habits of Effective Project Teams. [Online]. Available: 7 Habits of Effective Project Teams

Feedback

[34] V. Kashyap. (2017). 10 Ways to Empower Your Teams to Be More Productive. [Online]. Available: 10 Ways to Improve Team Productivity and Efficiency

[35] S. Rowe. (2018, Nov. 06). How To Motivate Your Project Team. [Online]. Available: How To Motivate Your Project Team

[36] Bressler, Martin & Von Bergen, Clarence. (2014). The Sandwich Feedback Method: not very tasty. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business. vol. 7. pp. 2-5. Jan 2014

Toxic Teammates

[37] A. Chavez. (2018, Apr. 10). 4 Ways to Deal With a Toxic Coworker . [Online]. Available: 4 Ways to Deal With a Toxic Coworker

[38] P. Bailey. (2018, Jul. 26). What to do When a Member of Your Team has a Destructive Behavior? . [Online]. Available: What to do When a Member of Your Team has a Destructive Behavior?

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