Professor Zdzisław
Jasiński
Alicja Smolbik-Jeczmień,
PhD
Working time of managerial staff
Abstract
The
paper addresses issues involved in time management of managerial staff, with
particular focus on significance of time management skills in achieving managerial
success. Research findings are also presented, regarding use of working hours
in everyday practice of managers both in Poland and abroad.
Introduction
Polish
economic transformation of recent years compels the managerial staff not only
to produce quality effort in relation to economic, technological and
organizational sphere, but also to change basic ways of thinking, perceiving
and understanding present and future tendencies of their economic surrounding.
Particular responsibilities of managers for efficient operation of a company as
a whole require the ability to cope with and proficiently manage a wide range
of tasks and undertakings at hand. Therefore, skilful time management should be
one of the top priorities of a competent manager.
Chaos
is an inevitable aspect of modern times; the gaining momentum of tasks seems
unavoidable. Modern managers tend to stretch their time to the limit. They make
systematic arrangements and timetables, but unforeseen events keep robbing them
off their precious time. Managers live in a restless rhythm of chores,
telephone calls and e-mails. Making informed decisions is getting harder, since
the constant race of events does not leave time to take matters from proper
distance. All this takes its toll on health; battle with time is fought every
day, but failure is imminent. Constant pressure to keep up with time results in
depression, anxieties and life under constant threat of collapse. Chronic
stress, permanent fatigue, weariness and burnout syndrome are common.
Polish
managerial circles also follow this model of behaviour – overtime work is
perceived as proof of involvement, diligence and professional attitude. ‘No
time’ and overwork, in some environments, is perceived as trendy – the less
time you have, the more important you are in the organization. Such attitude
results in the universal pattern of our culture, expressed in the belief that
‘we have no time for anything’. The so-called ‘time paradox’ phenomenon
(shortage vs. overabundance of time) is misleading, since twenty-four hours a
day is a universal standard for all of us. The only differentiating factor here
is the use of time at our disposal.
Time
is a capital for life – we lose it day by day, with no prospect of resupply.
What is lost is gone forever, and each of us has got a limited number of years
to experience time and find ways to use it efficiently [Fontana, 1999, p.13].
Time units cannot be stretched nor compacted, bought off, sold out nor stored
away. Use of time depends only on the time management skills. Managers often
fail in this respect due to inherent human nature – tendency to idleness and
reluctance to effort. Skilful time management requires careful analysis of
one’s system of values and undertaking of organizational measures. The constant
overworkers fall in the vicious circle of ‘I will deal with this when time
allows’ attitude, while the postponing approach results in chronic sense of
time shortage.
Practice of time management
Each
human being, and managerial cadres in particular, is characterised by specific
and individual predisposition to skilful and efficient management of time, be
it in the context of present tasks or in a wider perspective of future events.
In this respect, one can distinguish two basic approaches to time: ‘in time’
and ‘through time’ orientation [Liszka 2004].
The
‘in time’ orientation can be expressed in the popular
sentence: ‘What must be done today, is better left for tomorrow’ – with
tomorrow getting postponed with every sunrise. This attitude is typically represented
in Eastern and Latin cultures – future is perceived as a series of consecutive
present moments, so that the need for diligence lacks force while keeping up
deadlines and punctuality seem a chore. Managers of that orientation tend to
have problems making decisions and taking on commitments; they are
characterised by lack of realistic perception of the here and now, as well as
tendency to postpone business matters, at the obvious cost of efficiency.
Orientation
‘through time’, more typical for European cultures, is
characterised by respect for time. Here, time is a resource, an asset, in line
with the principle ‘Time is money’. Managerial cadres representing this
approach typically expect diligent observance of schedules and keep up their
own obligations, as defined in another popular saying: ‘Not all at once. All in
its own time’.
Either
of the two approaches has its own faults and benefits, therefore it is
advisable to move flexibly along the time axis stretched between ‘through time’
and ‘on time’ organization, trying to find the point of equilibrium, since
improper time management tends to create problems – both in the present, and in
the immediate future.
It
is extremely important for managers to learn proper time management, both in
relation to current matters and other issues, such as time for personal
development, social contacts, recreation and unforeseen circumstances. They
should also take stock of time orientation of their customers, co-workers,
superiors and subordinates, since problems in interpersonal relations may be
caused by differences in time perception.
Many
faults and deficiencies can be found in relation to time management of the
executive staff. Results of studies done by H. Minzberg in Canada and W.
Kieżun in Poland show that::
·
The working day of a manager is
overexerted, amounting to 8,48 – 14,43 hours a day (should be in the range of 8
– 9 hours).
·
Structure of a manager’s working day
is overly fragmented, with 43 up to as much as 583 activities daily (should be
10 – 15 activities), resulting in constant distraction and spontaneous tendency
to overwork.
·
Managers prefer spontaneity and
immediacy of action to serious and planned activities.
·
Extremely low degree of planning
efficiency was found, with effective completion of only 20% of the planned
activities (should be 60 – 70%), resulting in impetuous behaviour and tendency
to succumb to outside pressure.
·
Managers are fed with too much
irrelevant information that does not get filtered beforehand. Too few routine
tasks are properly delegated to subordinate staff, resulting in overwork.
·
Time expenditure for self-improvement
is as low as 2 – 4%.
·
Too much time is spent on meetings
and briefings, with an average of 20 to 60% of the working hours [Bieniok
1999].
Research
on time use of German managers [Siewert, 1998, p.19] shows that only 8% of
people on managerial positions do not need extra time for their duties, while
the majority reported their need of 10% to100% extra time. In total, 65% of
managers displayed chronic lack of time, with reported 20% time increase needed
to solve their problems.
The
authors’ study of managerial work time shows that:
·
61% of managers
perform under time pressure,
· 38% of managers think they take too many
duties,
·
34% of managers do not balance the time
intensity of tasks with the amount of time at their disposal,
· 32% of managers do not set up priorities in
their duties, lose time due to improper workplace organization and obligation
to keep elaborate documentation,
· 30% of managers report their meetings to be
pointlessly prolonged,
· 25% of managers report cases of tasks
completed long after the designated deadline.
·
17% of managers lose too much office time on
conversations unrelated to business matters.[1]
The
above findings suggest that work time of this particular group of employees is
disorganized, and mostly wasted on idle and ineffective activities, due to such
reasons as: lack of clear objectives, lack of planning and failure to set up
priorities. Meanwhile, the same group of respondents declare constant lack of
time, pointing out irrelevant duties (in their opinion), such as needles
reports and analyses. They report their everyday communication to be
time-consuming, yet they do not feel obliged to make notes during meetings and
briefings.
On
the other hand, there are managers who seem to achieve success without effort
and have plenty of time for everything. In fact, the key to their success lies
in proper time management skills. They retain control over their time and
duties, instead of letting those factor control them. It seems that the most
advisable approach is one advocated by Parkinson: ‘cut the time planned for a
task to have it done quicker!’
Results
of research done by M. Szewczuk also corroborate subject literature theses,
showing that the majority of managerial cadres display wrong approach to time
management. In the sample under study, only 34% of managers properly manage
their time, with further 25% showing
weak, 26% - bad, and 15% - no time management whatsoever. Of the subjects under
study, 46% keep a set of established professional and personal objectives at
all times, 29% - fairly often, and 25% set those objectives sporadically or
fail to do so. With a time-framed activity at hand, 40% concentrate solely on
the task, 20% - often refer to the task, with the remaining respondents
choosing to multitask at all times. Majority of respondents – 60% often and 23%
always – spend more hours at work than their subordinates. Excessive perfection
in completion of tasks is reported by 34% of respondents ( 20% - always; 14% -
often). Tendency to attend personally to all matters is reported by 29% of
respondents. Nearly 50% of subjects under study report too much time pressure
to keep up important deadlines. Over 40%, instead of delegating responsibilities,
choose to perform routine activities by themselves. One positive feature of the
group under study is their declared intent of not postponing unpleasant and
time-consuming duties ‘until tomorrow’ – this attitude is reported by more than
70% of managers. However, they too often take their work home – with over 50%
reporting to do so. Over 40% of managers
have all their tasks planned, with 49% of those declaring their ability and
intent to set task hierarchies by priority. The latter, together with aptly
defined objectives, offers a strong basis for improving time management skills [
Szewczuk 2005].
By
comparison, an average office worker is reported to:
• spend 6 weeks a year (150 working hours) searching
for misplaced documents
• make 19 copies of a single document
• lose one document out of every 20
• have his/her wastebasket replaced once every 5 years
• use only 200 document sleeves a year
• have his/her stapler and punch replaced once every 5
years [www.kadry.2006].
Improvement of time management processes involves
many problems, of which the most important ones are: self-discipline in the
fight with time-consuming matters, planning with proper designation of
important and urgent tasks, delegation of duties and responsibilities, and
implementation of planned tasks from the most important downwards [Bieniok,
1999. p.61]. Basic advantages of improved time management include, in
particular:
·
completion of tasks with less effort
and time expenditure,
·
better organization of own work,
·
less chaos and stress, with better
work results,
·
feeling of job satisfaction,
·
stronger motivation,
·
having more time for tasks of ‘higher
order’,
·
less pressure at work,
·
decreased number of errors
·
faster path for completion of
professional and personal objectives [Jasiński 2005 p.2008].
Conclusions
Managerial staff, in order to gain efficiency and
effectiveness, should strive to develop management skills, as well as improve
their managerial knowledge and work organization, with particular regard for
proper time management. At present, managers are subject to the dictate of
haste; their pressure of business is too often coped with by multiplication of
parallel tasks. Moreover, they are often characterised by pathological urge of
activities, known as the hurry sickness, further emphasized
by modern communication technology, such as e-mails and video conferences [Hirn, 2000, p.38-41]. It is expected that such
tendencies will be reinforced by new ‘hurry’ factors in the immediate future,
hence the importance of proper work time management and delegation of routine
tasks, competences and responsibilities will be even more significant.
In particular, two principles will be of substance in this respect:
•
effective work means better and more
accurate completion of properly designated tasks,
•
efficient delegation is the core of
efficient management [Penc, 2005, p.308].
At present, particular attention should be paid
to skilful time management, realized through proper attitude to the value of
time, self-discipline, development of proper time structure, liberation from overwork and overabundance of
duties through delegation of responsibilities to subordinates. Managers should
be particularly well aware of their time and role to fulfil; they should strive
to improve their time management skills in order to attain consistent
performance in objective completion, since self-improvement and development of
proper work methods are important factors of success in every dimension.
The skill of proper utilization of time requires
deep knowledge of own predispositions, investing own potential in proper
activities, preference for tasks that are in line with own hierarchy of values,
as well as elimination of bad habits that lead to improper use of time. Lastly,
it also requires good knowledge of the object of work – its determinants,
principles and mechanisms of operation.
Reference:
1.
Bieniok H. (1999), Zarządzanie czasem, AE, Katowice.
2.
Hirn W. (2000), Dyktatura pośpiechu, „Zarządzanie na Świecie” nr 7.
3.
Jasiński Z. (2005), Podstawy zarządzania operacyjnego,
Oficyna Ekonomiczna, Kraków.
4.
Liszka M. (2003), Aby czasem rządzić czasem,
www.praca.onet.pl.
5. Penc J. (2005), Role i umiejętności
menedżerskie. Sekrety sukcesu i kariery, Diffin,Warszawa.
6. Seiwert
L.J. (1998), Zarządzanie czasem –
bądź panem własnego czasu, Placet, Warszawa.
7.
Szewczuk M. ( 2005 ) Nie
marnuj swojego czasu, www.webpark.pl.
8. Wykorzystanie czasu pracy (2006) www.kadry.
[1] The survey
studies were conducted on a sample of 100 managers of chosen companies, working
on various levels of organization