Project Time Management Example
Week 1 assignment Week 1 Project Time Management This assignment is about you. It is an assessment of your abilities and traits. Every week you will complete a personal assessment–your own personal leadership framework.Project Time Management Example This assignment will help you figure out what style of leadership you have been following and whether this style works for you. Through this assignment, you will find the various approaches of leadership that complement each other. There is no one theory that describes the only way to be an effective leader. Each theory focuses on different issues, but they all help you to better understand how to become a successful leader. Using the South University Online Library or the Internet, research about Time Management Assessment.
Note: You can also use the following link to access the Time Management Assessment: Time Management Assessment Based on your research and understanding, create a paper in a 3- to 4-page Microsoft Word document that: Incorporates your time management self-assessment information and the concepts learned this week (leadership theories, leadership versus management, professional nursing organizations, and time management. Includes identification of one leadership theory, which you feel best describes your leadership style. Includes a comparison between leadership and management Includes a suggestion on how to apply this week’s concepts to the work environment. Use this APA Citation Helper as a convenient reference for properly citing resources. This handout will provide you the details of formatting your essay using APA style. You may create your essay in this APA-formatted template. Submission Details Support your responses with examples. On a separate references page, cite all sources using APA format Name your document Project Time Management ExampleSU_NSG4029_W1_Project_LastName_FirstInitial.doc. Submit your document to the Submissions Area by the due date assigned. Week 2 assignment Week 2 Project This assignment will help you understand your personality type. Through this assignment, you will analyze how your specific personality type can enhance or hinder effective leadership in the health care environment. Using the South University Online Library or the Internet, research about personality types. Note: You can use the following link to access the online assessment: Jung Typology Test Based on your research and understanding, write a 3- to 4-page Microsoft Word document that: Integrates how your specific personality type can enhance or hinder effective leadership in the health care environment. Explains all four aspects of your personality gleaned from the assessment. Includes 2- to 3-journal article references. Use this APA Citation Helper as a convenient reference for properly citing resources. This handout will provide you the details of formatting your essay using APA style. You may create your essay in this APA-formatted template. Submission Details Support your responses with examples. On a separate references page, cite all sources using APA format. Name your document Project Time Management Example
The knowledge area of time management typically refers to the skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. To become an effective time manager, you should be able to clearly understand the activities of the project and have the necessary skill set to plan, schedule, and control a project timeline. Along with these skills, you must also be able to utilise time management tools to help you analyse, measure, and assess your time management techniques. Keeping all of this in mind, may I suggest four steps to help with project time management:
- Define the Activities
- Sequence the Activities
- Estimate Activity Resources
- Develop and Control the Schedule
1. Define the Activities
This step requires you to define the tasks, milestones, and other activities needed to complete the project. Start with a basic definition of each task and fill in the details as the project gets fleshed out.
A Gantt chart is a simple and quick way to outline the entire project. Use the Gantt chart to add tasks and their estimated time frames. Don’t worry about dates at this point, but rather focus on the time it will take to complete each individual task.Project Time Management Example
2. Sequence the Activities
Once the activities have been defined, you can start putting the activities in order. Without worrying about dates, order the activities in a way that makes the most sense to you. Create sub tasks as needed and organize the project in a logical manner.
Once you have the activities in order, add dependencies to each task. Using dependencies, rather than dates, will help you see the true timeline of the project. For example, if you are building a website, you’ll need to design the website before you can start developing it. The design activity is a prerequisite to the development activity. If the design activity is completed later than expected, the development activity will also be pushed out to a later date.
3. Estimate Activity Resources
This step is one of the more challenging steps because it requires you to assess the supply and demand of each resource/person and how it relates to your specific project. Do you have enough resources to complete the assignment as scheduled or do you need additional resources?
Assign specific people or job roles to each task and then revise the dependencies based on the resource allocation. If a Programmer is required for 15 activities and 10 of them overlap, then you can either hire an additional Programmer or accept that the project timeline will be pushed out further based on the resource dependencies.
4. Develop and Control the Schedule
If you used a Gantt Chart to create the project timeline, it should be fairly easy to develop a project schedule. Review the Gantt chart with the entire team and make sure you have complete buy-in before you start the project. Everybody should understand their role in the project and should be able to confidently commit to the timeline.Project Time Management Example
Controlling the schedule is a lot harder than planning the schedule and requires more one-on-one management than you might expect. The project manager should be carefully monitoring the status of the project and verify that the activities are being completed on time and within scope.
Note: Many service-oriented companies may also require time to be entered for each task. Ensuring that the hours are entered when the activity is completed will save you a lot of time and headaches when you get ready to send the invoice. An integrated project management tool can really help here.
Whether we assign a dollar value to it or not, time is valuable to us. Think about it: How much of your typical work week do you spend stressed about not having enough time to complete a task or reach a goal?
There are lots of different ways to tackle the issue of time management — you can download apps, adjust your sleep time, create lists, etc. But if you don’t fully understand why it’s important for you to better manage your time, those apps and lists aren’t going to help you. If you don’t have the motivation to use them, you won’t.
You have to first look at the big picture. Get a handle on why managing your time effectively is important, and what you stand to gain from it. You can get started by reviewing these 8 reasons time management is crucial:Project Time Management Example
- Time is limited No matter how you slice it, there are only 24 hours in a day. That applies to you, and to your coworker who only seems able to do half the amount of work you do. But it also applies to the former coworker who consistently accomplishes more than you, and was promoted as a result. If you want to rise through the ranks, you have to acknowledge the importance of finding a way to manage this limited resource.
- You can accomplish more with less effort When you learn to take control of your time, you improve your ability to focus. And with increased focus comes enhanced efficiency, because you don’t lose momentum. You’ll start to breeze through tasks more quickly (the workday will also seem to fly by).
- Improved decision-making ability Whether you rely on a time-chunking technique or discover the power of list-making, you’ll soon find that a nice side benefit of good time management skills is the ability to make better decisions. When you feel pressed for time and have to make a decision, you’re more likely to jump to conclusions without fully considering every option. That leads to poor decision making.Through effective time management, you can eliminate the pressure that comes from feeling like you don’t have enough time. You’ll start to feel more calm and in control. When the time comes to examine options and make a decision, instead of rushing through the process, you can take time to carefully consider each option. And when you’re able to do that, you diminish your chances of making a bad decision.
- Become more successful in your career Time management is the key to success. It allows you to take control of your life rather than following the flow of others. As you accomplish more each day, make more sound decisions, and feel more in control, people notice. Leaders in your business will come to you when they need to get things done. And that increased exposure helps put you in line for advancement opportunities.
- Learning opportunities are everywhere Obviously, the more you learn, the more valuable you are to your employer. And great learning opportunities are around you, if you’ve got time to stop and take advantage them.When you work more efficiently, you have that time. You can help out with that new product launch your development team’s been working on. Volunteer to help host your company’s open house. Even just enjoying a nice lunch with teammates in other departments can prove eye-opening.The more you learn about your company and your industry, the better your chances of making a positive impression on the C-suite.Project Time Management Example
- Reduce stress When you don’t have control of your time, it’s easy to end up feeling rushed and overwhelmed. And when that happens, it can be hard to figure out how long it’s going to take to complete a task. (Think of a time when you were about to miss a deadline and were frantically trying to finish the project. If someone dumped a surprise on your desk at that moment and asked you how long it would take to finish the surprise task, how could you even begin to answer their question?)Once you learn how to manage your time, you no longer subject yourself to that level of stress. Besides it being better for your health, you have a clearer picture of the demands on your time. You’re better able to estimate how long a given task will take you to complete, and you know you can meet the deadline.
- Free time is necessary Everyone needs time to relax and unwind. Unfortunately, though, many of us don’t get enough of it. Between jobs, family responsibilities, errands, and upkeep on the house and the yard, most of us are hard-pressed to find even 10 minutes to sit and do nothing.Having good time management skills helps you find that time. When you’re busy, you’re getting more done. You accumulate extra time throughout your day that you can use later to relax, unwind, and prepare for a good night’s sleep.
- Self-discipline is valuable When you practice good time management, you leave no room for procrastination. The better you get at it, the more self-discipline you learn. This is a valuable skill that will begin to impact other areas of your life where a lack of discipline has kept you from achieving a goal.Project Time Management Example
Time Management is essentially the ability to organize and plan the time spent on activities in a day. The result of good time management is increased effectiveness and productivity. It is a key aspect of project management and involves skills such as planning, setting goals and prioritizing for a better performance.
Why Is It so Important?
Have you ever thought “I just lost an hour of my life and I will never get it back”? You probably did a lot of times. There are a lot of ‘time wasters’ in our daily (working) lives, which is why we need a way to manage our time better. Time Management is often associated with business, but you need this skill in every part of life. For project managers, it is particularly important to possess time management skills to be successful.
A lack of effective time management can have a negative impact on a project in the long run. Time is one of the three triple constraints and any deviation from the schedule has an effect on the cost and scope of a project. In most cases time really is money. Ineffective time management can also increase stress and frustration in the project manager and the team members. Worst case scenario: a burnout.
Effective Time Management
The key to good time management is not to work more, but to work more efficiently. This means that you should structure your time so that you get more done in less time (without stress of course). A study from Stanford University found out that people who work more hours (more than 55 hours per week) do not actually get more done than those who work less than that. Here are some methods to manage your time more efficiently:Project Time Management Example
Avoid distractions
Today’s world offers a lot of distractions. Emails, instant messages, funny animal videos and so on. It is important to eliminate these distractions while working so that you can focus on the important tasks at hand. This doesn’t mean that you are never allowed to watch Maru jumping into a box, but there is a time and place for everything. If you manage your time wisely you will get work done faster, which leaves more time to relax – and yes, watch cat videos.
Task list and priorities
Planning is key in project management. An effective planning method is to identify all the tasks that you need to do to complete a project. This can be done by making a to-do or task list. The next step is to prioritize these tasks. Not all tasks are equal. You can implement methods like the Pareto principle or the Eisenhower method to identify which tasks take less time, but create the most value (Pareto) or which are important and urgent (Eisenhower). It’s better to do the more complex ones first. Doing easier tasks at the end is more sensible, because it is less likely that they will cause delays. Project Time Management Example
Estimate and track time accurately
After you have identified and prioritize the tasks it is time to estimate how much time it will take to complete them. Make sure that you include all constraints and other factors in your estimation. Most of the time things will not go as planned, so include buffer times for unforeseen events into your project schedule. Also leave enough time for research, testing, meetings and other necessary activities. Also keep your team members in mind. They are only human, which means that they can’t work non-stop, but need breaks to recharge.
Thankfully, there are a lot of applications that help you track the time nowadays. One more advantage of ‘digitalizing’ your schedule is that it reduces paper, which is not only good for the environment, but it also helps reduce the stress of having an inevitable paper chaos.
Create a schedule
After all the planning and estimating, you can create a project schedule, which includes all tasks and their duration. I know I mention them a lot, but Gantt charts are really a staple of project management that help you schedule activities and assign resources. For more complex projects, add a critical path to visualize which tasks are most important to complete the project.Project Time Management Example