PUB MANAGEMENT: HOW TO WORK EFFICIENTLY

 Know Yourself (SWOT)

 Know Your People
 Know Your Task, Objective, Goals (ST and LT)
 Determine how to achieve your TOGs by making the right people do the right jobs
 FOCUS
 Set a timeline
 Prepare for setbacks and plan Bs, Cs and Ds.
 Explore ways which can help improve and/or expedite the tasks at hand, even if they may
be new, unconventional, risky or even not advisable.
 Communicate. Keep lines open. Ask. Reply. Inform. Do not presume. Do not expect.
 Be the right mix of strict and considerate, focused and fun.
 Do not sacrifice content for aesthetics, convenience, trend.
 Seek help if you must.
 Learn from others but do not necessarily copy. Device your own ways based on your
self-evaluation.

1. Eliminate unnecessary meetings

To quote Dave Barry, “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not
achieved, and never will achieve its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.” One of the easiest
ways to improve your team’s efficiency is to get rid of unnecessary meetings. That’s not to say all
meetings are bad. Meetings can be productive, provided that there is a clear agenda, that the right
people attend, and that everyone is prepared to contribute to a solution, but that’s not always the case

If planned without a clear agenda or objective, even short 30-minute meetings can add up and eat into
the amount of time your team has to work toward tangible goals. Instead, ask yourself (and your team)
if you really need that meeting. If it’s an update on a project’s status, could you send out a digital
update instead? If your role in the meeting isn’t clearly defined, is your presence definitely needed? By
eliminating unnecessary meetings, you can give everyone more time to focus on the work that matters.

2. Prioritize work based on key results

On any given day, each of your employees may have ten different tasks to complete across multiple
projects. In the moment, each of them seems important and urgent. Where should they start? Where
should they devote the bulk of their time and brainpower to do their best work?

Naturally, some tasks and projects are more important than others. That’s where having a well-defined
set of goals and an idea of how your work ladders up to them comes into play. Your shorter-term goals
provide a firm foundation for longer-term goals, such as a product roadmap or release. Having a clear
vision for what tasks align with company- or department-wide goals helps keep everyone on the same
page and empowers individual team members to make decisions that impact the big picture.

When you have a clear understanding of how your work ladders up to company goals and objectives,
you can better understand which projects and tasks will have the largest impact. Focus on those pieces
of work before you move onto less impactful tasks. If a task or project is not supporting your company’s
larger, more overarching goals, objectives, or mission, rethink whether it’s necessary or not.

3. Delete, defer, delegate, or diminish lower priority work

Once you’ve taken a look at the bigger picture and identified what work needs to be done and which
tasks are a priority, here’s how you can make the most of your time: delete, defer, delegate, or diminish
lower priority tasks.

 Building on the principle outlined in tip two, if an aspect of a project does not support an
overarching company goal—delete it.

 If there is a more pressing project that has a greater impact on team goals, complete that task
and defer a less important task for when you have more time to tackle it.

 If there are two tasks of equal importance assigned to one person, delegate one of those tasks
to another team member with more bandwidth.

 If there is a task you can’t defer, delete, or delegate, find ways to diminish the amount of time
it takes to complete. Eliminate meetings related to this task, shorten meetings, or reduce their
frequency. You can also work on the highest priority parts of a project and defer the rest until
later.

You can usually only get three big things done in a week. The first should be something important and
strategic. The second should also be important but simpler that can get crossed off the list earlier. And
the third should be a reach for support.”

4. Leverage your team’s strengths when assigning work

No two employees are alike. Each person has different experiences, strengths, and weaknesses that
make them a valued member of your team. Similarly, different people enjoy doing different work. For
instance, one person on your team may enjoy conducting and organizing research into a report, while a
different teammate would rather chew glass than compile research findings.

Knowing who on your team excels at a particular skill, and finding ways for them to spend time on work
they enjoy, can help streamline tasks and projects. Additionally, if you know a person is more excited to
work on a specific task, they’ll be more likely to work with a higher degree of quality and complete the
task faster. Giving your team work they find personally rewarding or challenging can help everyone to
do their best work.

5. Map out your team’s work before beginning

Once you know what needs to be done and who will do it, it’s time to make a plan of action for your
team to follow. Having a well-thought plan that’s been clearly mapped out from the beginning can
eliminate additional “work about work” at a later time.

To start, make sure each of your team’s projects have a clear plan. Mapping out a project from the start
ensures that realistic timelines are in place for each project milestone, all the way up to completion.
Each person knows who is responsible for completing a piece of the puzzle and has 360-insight into
what’s underway and what has been completed. Then, coordinate and schedule all of your projects
across your program that make’s the most of your team’s time.
Using a work management tool can help you set up all of the smaller tasks that lead to accomplishing a
larger goal. Making use of existing or custom templates like google sheets, google drive, or even
facebook groups and group chats can help you replicate a process that’s worked before and make sure
that no step is left out and no work slips through the cracks.

6. Encourage cross-functional collaboration

Just because you work in a different department doesn’t mean you can’t work together. After all, you’re
working toward the same goal as part of a larger company. Knowing what other teams are working on
can encourage teams to collaborate with one another when work and goals overlap.

Work management tools (google drive, google sheets, facebook group chat, hangouts, viber) can
increase cross-team visibility, mapping each phase of a project back to a singular set of goals. These
tools can serve as a centralized hub to share what you’re working on with the rest of the team and
identify areas where people of different responsibilities can collaborate.

7. Promote full days without meetings

Attending meetings can disrupt your flow of productivity, making it harder to “get in the zone” and finish
a project. Having at least one full day at the office devoted to deep work—that sweet, sweet block of
several uninterrupted, meeting-free hours to dedicate to a project—can go a long way toward improving
efficiency and productivity.

8. Define the purpose of different communication channels

Every team has a variety of communication tools at their disposal, but they’re only useful if your team
knows how and when to use them. To help them out, clearly define the purpose of each communication
channel. For outside communication with vendors and clients, stick to email. For immediate answers to
questions, use an app like Slack. And to plan, manage, and communicate about actionable work, stick
to a work management tool like Asana.

While communication tools can make your team much more efficient, using them inconsistently can
actually create more work. If you see a tool’s purpose can be replicated through another channel (with
additional, unique benefits), it should be eliminated. As a result, your team will need fewer tools to
communicate with each other and use each one to their best benefit.

Help your team be their most efficient yet

Improving efficiency is a continuous process. It may seem overwhelming, but simple tools and tactics
can help make everyone on your team more efficient. And the more fluent you and your team become
in using these tools, efficiency becomes second nature and a built-in part of any project.
7 Tips to Increase Your Productivity as a Student

1. Track Your Time

It’s difficult to plan your personal time if you don’t know how you’re spending it. Tracking your hours is
an important step toward better time management. Start by breaking down a major project into
manageable individual tasks.

For your classes, you may need to complete an academic review, draft essay or answer a series of
questions. Each activity should take a set time that allows for edits and research. Allocate time blocks
to each assignment and take note of the time you start and finish the tasks.

It can be useful to use a time tracking app or simply the clock on the wall to make sure you stay on
track. Every time you need a break, get a bite to eat or let your mind wander, clock off and write down
your hours.

Eventually, you will be in the habit of accurately predicting how long a task is likely to take and can then
plan your week around that accordingly. By using this method, you’ll minimise time wastage and feel
more confident about your study habits. Time tracking is integral to many professional roles and will
skyrocket your efficiency, start this simple habit to help in your future career.

2. Take Regular Breaks

Believe it or not, taking a break will actually increase your productivity. Students who try to cram for
hours at a time do not perform at their peak. Our brain can only handle so much new information before
we begin to tire and lessen our retention.

By pushing our mind beyond their capability, we can only experience greater stress and fatigue.
Regular breaks will help to combat this development and maximise student productivity. As an
established professional, you may be used to long work days with only one lunch break. Adult learning
will reintroduce the concept of regular small breaks.

Whether you take 5 minutes every hour or 30 minutes a few times a day, find a schedule that works
best for you. Everyone is unique in their preferred study timeline but the most important thing is to stick
with your decision. Use these times to rest your mind and increase your productivity.

3. Set Yourself Deadlines

Now that you’ve already broken down your study into individual tasks, it will help to set yourself a
competitive deadline. You may have determined that your first activity will take three hours and should
aim to finish that section of the project at least a week before it is due.

This strategy will help to avoid leaving your study to the last minute, normalise deadlines and maximise
student productivity. Just like effective time management, juggling deadlines is a common requirement
for many senior jobs.

4. Plan Ahead

Use a calendar, diary or application to plan for the coming weeks and months ahead. This is part and
parcel of life as a student. Know when weekend trips or life events are coming and give yourself plenty
of time to plan around them. When you return to the world of adult learning, relying on the deadlines of
your calendar becomes an even more critical habit to maintain work/life balance.

5. Eat Healthily

A healthy diet is your brain’s best friend. We put plenty of strain on our bodies as students, where a
simple solution is to introduce more nutritious meals into your lifestyle. This will keep energy levels high
and make studying more productive. Student productivity relies on a great immune system and
optimum health.

6. Get Plenty of Sleep

At least 8 hours of sleep is essential for healthy brain function. Studies suggest that students may need
even more. To increase your productivity in the long term, be sure to wind down at the end of each day
and go to bed calm. Take measures to tire your body out and relax the mind, such as exercise or
meditation. Stress is a leading cause of lack of sleep so your primary concern should be to take care of
yourself.

7. Group Your Errands

Errands can eat up time like nothing else. Maintaining a personal and professional life alongside adult
learning can be challenging. Trips which should take five minutes end up taking an hour and before you
know it, your lunch break is imposing on your study time. Group your non-urgent errands and chores
together into a few hours and tick them off all at once.
Productivity Hacks for College Students

Try airplane time

Put your phone on airplane mode while you work, and (if you don’t need it for research) turn off your
Wifi, too. The constant distractions of social media and the news pull us out of our focused working
space and make it harder to be efficient.

Pomodoro method

One module of 25 minutes is called a “Pomodoro.” Work for the length of one Pomodoro, and then take
a five minute break. After four Pomodoros, take a 15 minute break.

Start your day early. Exercise in the morning

Get energized by working out for even a few minutes in the morning.

Keep a “to-do” list (segregated per priority) and “done” list

Keep track of what you’ve accomplished during the day by writing a “done” list. Every time you achieve
something, add it to the list. It’ll help you feel motivated while you work on new things.

Work in a clean space

Working in a clean space, free of distractions, helps you focus while working. So clear off your desk
and get to work!

Don’t work on your bed

Speaking of desks – use yours! Working on your bed will confuse your brain when it comes to both
sleeping and working. Let your sleep space be for sleeping, and your work space be for working.

Find your “golden hours” and don’t let anything interfere with them

Figure out which hours in your day are the best for productivity and efficiency and use them exclusively
for working. Make these your “airplane hours” if that helps.

Wear headphones

This is slightly antisocial, but it’s something I do sometimes when I need to focus. Wearing headphones
or earphones sends a message to the people around you that you’re not in a place to talk or do
something right now. You don’t even need to listen to music – just use them to send a message to
others and yourself that that this “do not disturb” working time.

Don’t multitask if you know you can’t

Forget what your mother told you – multitasking is a myth. What you’re really doing is switch-tasking;
going from one task to another and back in rapid succession. The time and productivity you lose with
each “switch” isn’t doing you any favors. Just focus on one thing at a time.

Switch up your surroundings

Break out of your routine by changing your study space regularly. The new surroundings will help your
mind stay alert and prevent you from slipping into autopilot.

Sleep and de-stress

I can’t stress this enough – don’t pull all-nighters. Don’t skimp on sleep. Being well-rested will help you
focus and be more efficient when it comes time to work. Also, don’t let the stress get to you too much.