Ref no. 20-65A-11-2011 Dated : 30-11-2011
NESCON (Retailer and seller of AT&T cell phones) Mr. SAFDAR PERVAIZ (Head HR department) 110-A, DHA, Lahore Cantt., Pakistan. Subject: PROPOSAL FOR CONDUCTING A WORKSHOP ON TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS TRAINING Dear Mr. Safdar, With reference to your letter no. 238760087/2011 in which you have asked for conducting a workshop on time management skills training, we have sent you a proposal covering all the aspects of this workshop such as its effect on employees, company’s increased productivity & the facilities provided. A professional power point presentation would be given. The targeted learners would be customer service and sales representatives. The learners have limited prior knowledge, since this subject is usually not covered in great detail at home, in grade school, or in college but here they will be guided thoroughly. The delivery system is a traditional classroom setting which is the normal mode of delivery at an organization. Learners will be motivated to learn these skills so that they can excel in their current job & can apply these skills to their personal life and professional lives. Domain of learning will provide a brief insight about different time management skills which eventually lead to success. Yours sincerely, Tahir usman Senior consultant TIMES SOLUTIONS 24- link Shadman road, Lahore, Pakistan.
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION SUMMARY OBJECTIVES PROCEDURE PROBLEMS ASSESSMENT POSSIBLE CAUSES REMEDY DOMAIN OF LEARNING SKILLS BACKGROUND EQUIPMENT FACILITIES FUTURE MANAGEMENT PLANS APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS
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INTRODUCTION: Time management means “WHAT TO DO AND WHEN”.
It is the act or process of exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase efficiency or productivity. Time management may be aided by a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals known as time management skills . This set comprises a wide scope of activities which include planning, allocating, setting priorities, analysis of time spent, organizing and scheduling for maximum productivity. Initially, time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually the term broadened to include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods. Usually time management is a necessity in any project development as it determines the project completion time and scope.
"Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste your life, or master your time and master your life." - Alan Lakin Realize time management is a myth. No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. Time is limited. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have. The focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. Here in this research, we are also trying to convey the same idea regarding time management by using different skills such as creating a to-do list, avoiding wasters of time and distractions, planning a-head and many more. In this way a person can make most of his valuable time and can perform well in his monotonous tasks. In this research we will provide a brief guideline for using various time management skills by using these a person will be able to reduce his anxiety, feels relaxed and stressed out, and motivated to complete his tasks. Since our research is related to a busy office whose employees don’t even bother to follow time management and as a result are always facing problems in making up customer demands and company’s economy graph is gradually becoming low. B y the end employees will be able to achieve the desired results faster and quicker, stay organized and balanced between their work and personal time, enhance their personal effectiveness and work performance and can also gain personal fulfillment and success.
"It is the ability to get what needs to be completed, finished in the correct amount of time. It means being able to use your hours and minutes wisely, and get everything finished when it should be." (Debra)
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SUMMARY:
The following is a case study regarding a busy office focused on customer service and sales which badly requires a session on time management by a private consultant firm “TIME SOLUTIONS”. The sample organization is a reseller of AT&T cell phone service. Failure to follow up on customers accounts can result in customer complaints, can hurt the image of the company, and can cause the company to lose its valuable customers. It has been suggested to the company by a consultant that problems like these stem from poor time management skills and their only option id time management skills training. For this purpose a professional PowerPoint presentation will be designed. A complete list of performance objectives will be listed after the introduction. In the body of the presentation, each objective will be covered in detail along with tips and tricks for better performance. The goal of the instruction is to build worker’s time management and organizational skills, so they can utilize this knowledge in the workplace. A Reference booklet will contain the most important tips and tricks for each objective. Each learner will be given a reference booklet so that they can use it as a refresher when they are back at their desk. Handouts will contain quotes from influential role models in society that practice time management skills. This will be used to motivate learners, and to sell them on the importance of learning time management skills. OBJECTIVES:
Developing time management skills is a journey that may begin with this Guide, but needs practice and other guidance along the way. One objective is to help yourself become aware of how you use your time as one resource in organizing, prioritizing, and succeeding in your studies in the context of competing activities of friends, work, family, etc. Objectives of this study include: knowing yourself, knowing your work, getting yourself organized, working smarter, working better as a team, communicating & delegating effectively, taking control of your time to learn how to expect the unexpected, to establish routines and patterns of work to improve efficiency, to concentrate on being effective, not on being busy and to minimize wasted time. The learner should learn to create a to-do list of activities to be accomplished during the business day with 100% accuracy, to keep a log of daily activities, to highlight or circle the activities that need to be done immediately and which ones can be done later, to set deadlines to ensure that tasks are accomplished in a reasonable timeframe during the course of business and to flag issues that need to be looked at for timely follow up. The priorities being your key goals and objectives should be planned in bite sized chunks, break complicated or difficult tasks into achievable elements or steps the first step could be to investigated. PROCEDURE: In time management skills training session, at first a power point presentation would be given showing the basics and also the tricks of time management skills and guiding the employees both mentally and psychologically so that they can accomplish various tasks efficiently in the light of these skills. Then practice sessions would be conducted. They will be given a separate sheet of paper and asked to create a to-do list (ten items) of their daily business tasks that are needed to Page 4 of 7
be accomplished. The goal is to get them thinking about organizing and making the best use of their time in the workplace. Then they will be provided a large ring binder for keeping a log of their daily activities and will be asked to answer a few more questions regarding their encounters with their customers in the office. Then will be given 5 items and asked to prioritize them. Then they will be asked to flag above mentioned items that can be followed up later. In the end, they will be given reference booklets and handouts to practice time management skills in future for efficient working. PROBLEMS ASSESSMENT: The following is a case study regarding a busy office focused on customer service and sales. The sample organization is a reseller of AT&T cell phone service. A performance problem within the department is following up on customers accounts. The office is usually swamped with customers with complex billing issues and during our downtime employees try to catch up on their work, like following up on customer accounts. However, errors happen because a follow up on an account is not done. For example, the office has had a lot of computer systems problems lately that kick back error messages. Sometimes the problem cannot be fixed while the customer is in front of the representatives and an important billing feature like unlimited text messaging will not be added to a customers account, which can (and has!) resulted in a Rs.2,000 phone bill. Many times the representatives must research the problem that prevented the transaction from going through in the first place. Additionally, a customer may request a phone that is not in stock in the office so the representative will need to get in touch with the other offices to see if they have a spare phone. The representative must send an email and track the phone and let the customer know when the phone is in stock. The representative should call and update the customer on the status of their phone; however, when the reps get backed up with customers in front of them they may forget, miss place the paperwork, or just plain fail to follow up on requesting inventory for a customer.
Failure to follow up on accounts can result in customer complaints, can hurt the image of the company, and can cause the company to lose its valuable customers. It has been suggested to the company by a private consultant firm that problems like these stem from poor time management skills. A good needs assessment should be done to see if something can be done to help the representatives and its only remedy is training on better time management skills. This problem can best be assessed by measuring customer complaints and billing/service related disconnects. We can establish the current percentage of customer complaints and disconnects related to service/billing, and work to decrease that percentage to a much lower and attainable goal. A huge problem in customer service is following up on cus tomer’s accounts. When time is managed poorly, errors can occur in follow up, which can hurt business. POSSIBLE CAUSES: Poor time management skills can result from the fact that most people are never trained on the factors that make up proper time management. The complexities of the job and emotions from dealing with the often difficult public make employees just want to relax and regroup on their slow time. However, it is vital that they use the few hours a week when the office is slow to catch up on the work that needs to be done to keep the office running smoothly. Page 5 of 7
REMEDY: Training on TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS is needed badly. DOMAIN OF LEARNING SKILLS: The instructional domain of time management skills falls into intellectual skills. Everyone in the office wants to cut down on their errors and be able to follow up on all of the work they have. However, they do not have the necessary intellectual skills yet to accomplish this task. Through the proposed instruction, the employees will be taught the tools that will aide them in developing time management skills that will improve the office as a whole and in turn enable them to accomplish their desired goals in time. Find out where you're wasting time: Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. Tracking Daily Activities explains how to track your activities so you can form a accurate picture of what you actually do, the first step to practice time management skills. Create time management goals: Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by eliminating your personal time-wasters. For one week, for example, set a goal that you're not going to take personal phone calls while you're working. (See Set Specific Goals for help with goal setting.) . In the early stage for a fun, look at behaviors that can interfere with successful time management. Implement a time management plan: Think of this as an extension of above time management skill. The objective is to change your behaviors over time to achieve whatever general goal you've set for yourself, such as increasing your productivity or decreasing your stress. So you need to not only set your specific goals, but track them over time to see whether or not you're accomplishing them. Prioritize ruthlessly: You should start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your performance benchmark. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish? Jot them down on a separate paper. Learn to delegate and outsource: No matter how small your business is, there's no need for you to be a one-person show. For effective time management, you need to let other people carry some of the load. You have to decide yourselves that in which task you are good enough to handle it. Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible: While crises will arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow routines most of the time. Setting time limits for tasks: For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit of one hour a day for this task and stick to it. Be sure your systems are organized: Are you wasting a lot of time looking for files on your computer or on your office desk? Take the time to organize a file management system. If your filing system is still slowing you down? Redo it, so it's organized to the point that you can quickly lay your hands on what you need. You can be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish once you've come to grips with the time management myth skills and taken control of your time.
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BACKGROUND: TIMES SOLUTIONS is one of the world’s best solution providers. We provide our services in various fields worldwide. We arrange seminars on time management skills, project management, supply chain management and many more throughout the year EQUIPMENT: There is one training office that is utilized by three branches at separate times. An overhead projector, a whiteboard with erasable markers, and computer equipment will be utilized. The computers are new and are equipped with high speed internet. Each worker will be equipped with appropriate time and office equipment. Daily planners, organizers, and filing equipment will be available for each worker. FACILITIES: The facility is neat and brightly light. It is a very comfortable learning classroom. Constraints are reduced because learners are taken out of the high stress environment and placed in a classroom away from distracting customers. Every workplace could benefit from time management courses. This office is no exception to that.
Reward system: The training will provide intrinsic results because learners will grow both personally and professional. Managers will seek to enhance these rewards by giving recognition and praise. Managers will support the training by giving employees uninterrupted planning time during the day so that they can take the necessary time to follow up on customer accounts (i.e., making calls, working in the activation and system.etc.
FUTURE MANAGEMENT PLANS: In the future after this training, employees will be able to work more efficiently. Company should keep on arranging such workshops and practicing sessions for its employees in order to achieve better productivity results. Now the customers would have no complains against the company. The trained workers would encourage other workers to get themselves trained and to excel in their life with the ladder of time management. APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS: Current applications: Learners can immediately apply their knowledge to the job. Future applications: Learners will constantly benefit from practicing time management skills. Time management is a valuable life skill that can reduce stress and improve productivity. The skills that employees will learn will be utilized in a busy customer service and sales office to keep a record on each work going on. By managing your time well, you will have an easier road to success. Allow you to spend your life doing the things you really want to do. Personal satisfaction.
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