In any organization, time is the most precious resource of all. Here are ways a manager can save time by investing it wisely with their staff.
- Make it clear to your staff what you want and expect from them. Give feedback on how their work is going. Get people involved early and reinforce your expectations often. You’ll spend less time at the end of the day scrambling to close any gaps.
- Use a schedule and schedule important things. Don’t rely on good intentions to remember a task on your to-do list. A schedule keeps urgent tasks from overtaking the important work you prioritize every day, and scheduled events are harder to cancel than informal ones.
- Make interaction with your staff more productive and meaningful by making a conscious effort to upgrade every routine interaction you have: Applaud good writing. Attack a reporting problem. Take the extra minute. It will pay off.
- Work the room. Take time to ask the most dangerous question of all: How are you doing? You’ll build a relationship that is richer than a transactional conversation of daily tasks and responsibilities.
Taken from 100 Ideas to Make Your Journalism Better, a webinar replay at Poynter NewsU.
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