Time and Productivity

Management
Good managers are good time
managers!
1. Are you too busy and always feel overwhelmed because there is too much things to
do?
Pre-class test : Do you need time
management
2. Do you often neglect one or many areas of your life, such as?
family and health?
Do the following situations often happen to you? , fill in "Yes" or "No”
Please count the number of questions answered "Yes" after completion
3. Do you worry about not being accomplished or successful enough?

4. Do you lack self-discipline and self-motivation?

5. Have you ever felt like a boat drifting in a heavy rain, driven by external forces that you
have no control over?

6. Do you always have a high sense of responsibility, and other people's expectations of your work, all
of which prevent you from relaxing, even in your spare time?
 Pre-class test : Do you need time
management ?
7. Do you always miss deadlines and find it difficult to gain a sense of
accomplishment from your work?

8. Do you have no expectations for success ? Does it feel like unrealistic

fantasy for you ?

9. Do you often feel regret and guilt about things you didn’t do?

10. Do you seldom reflect on your time usage habits ? Even if you do , do
you find it difficult to correct these habits?

11. Do you not have a clear and specific goal in life ? Even if you do , do
you feel that what you do every day has nothing to do with this goal?

12. When you feel the thought of procrastination , do you choose to

continue to avoid it instead of facing the problem directly?
 Pre-class test : Do you need time
management ?
13. Do you insist on making a detailed list of what you need to do every
day and work hard to complete the more important things ?

14. Do you try to do everything yourself and are not very good at seeking
support from others ?

15. Do you often think about how to work smarter ?

16. Are you confident in your ability to determine what to do first and what
to do next ?

17. Can you concentrate on one thing for a long time?

18. Do you value other people’s time and try your best not to waste other
people’s time with your actions ?
 Time management test results analysis
Scoring principle:

Questions 1-12 , if the answer is "yes", it will be scored as 1 point, if the
answer is "no", it will be scored as 0 points;

Questions 13-18 , if the answer is "no", it will be scored as 1 point, and if
the answer is "yes", it will be scored as 0 points.
Result analysis:

6-11 12-18
0-5 points
points points
Congratulations, you have no You are at the level of Be careful! You urgently
time management problems, keep most people are and there need to actively focus on
and stick to your methods! is room for improvement! time management
Open the time box
Course’s Content:
Stack time blocks

Who touched my time ?

Icebreaker: How much
time do you have?
 Open the time box
Every month, or even every day, do you count what
you spend?

Would you be heartbroken if it was wasted?

So, what about time ?

 Four unique characteristics of time
Every year has 365
days and every day Limited Confucius said, "The
has 24 hours, no deceased is like a man who
more time is for us. never gives up day and
night." Time cannot be
shortened.

Time’s Cannot
Nonrenew
able
characteris speed up
tics

Once time is lost, it will

be lost forever and no
one can regain it. Irreplacea
Time is crucial for any activity.
ble Therefore, time is
irreplaceable.
 Everyone has equal time

Time is the only resource that is fair to everyone

 According to your definition of success, let’s
take a look at the life paths of several people ...
Hoàng
- Hoàng graduated from a top university.
- His friends became international consultants, but
Hoàng chose a stable job at a local financial company.
- Consultants travel a lot, but Hoàng doesn't like that.
- He wants a job where he can use his skills and have
time for himself.
- Hoàng wants to learn while working and have a
balanced life.
Chi
- Chi studied accounting and worked at a famous
Japanese company.

- Because she loves traveling, Chi left her job.

- Now, she works for a while, saves money, and then

travels.

- She spends all her earnings on traveling.

- Chi sees herself as someone who follows her dreams

and explores the world alone.
An
- An worked in sales after college and admired her female
boss, dreaming of owning her own business like her.
- At 22, she met her boyfriend and planned to marry at 25
and start her business at 30.
- At 25, An proposed, but her boyfriend hesitated. She
gave him an ultimatum: marry or part ways.
- He chose marriage, and at 28, An started her business.
- By 30, her business was thriving, fulfilling her life goals.
Please rank the degree of success of the
previously mentioned people (Hoàng , Chi,
An) :

Rank the success : () > () > ()

Time management is to determine how
time is spent through a series of
activities .
 The purpose of time management

1. You will not regret wasting your time;

2. Manage your time well to achieve your goals and ideals;
3. To complete more important things within a limited time,
and improve effectiveness and efficiency;
4. To gain sense of control over your work and life, and
achieve a balance between work, family, social
interaction, and leisure activities.
If you need to buy a laptop, what
should you know in advance before
buying it?
 The concept of time management = compass +
clock
What are the similarities between using time and buying a
laptop ?

direction, time
goal is to treat time as a resource, plan and arrange the
Time management
use of this resource, and implement activities according to the plan.
Let's help together!
 Case 1
Quynh wears many hats at work.
• Quynh is a tech expert who's worked at his company for 16
years.
• He leads his team in new projects and writes papers in his free
time.
• Recently, he's been busy with meetings and projects, even
leading the company's labor union.
• But because of his busy schedule, he struggles to spend time
with his family or do research.
• Some projects in his team are stuck because of poor planning
 How can we help him?

1. Give Quynh time management skills so that he can

learn how to do more things in a limited time,
according to his various roles.
2. Let Quynh think about his role and work, find out
which tasks are important, and work hard to complete
those important tasks.
3. Help Quynh maintain a balance between work and life
by letting him learn to arrange his time reasonably.
- Lu Xun once said: "Saving time means making
one's limited life more effective, which is equivalent
to extending life."

- In other words, good time management is

equivalent to improving the efficiency of life.
Stack time
blocks
 Three principles of time
Priority
management
principle

Platonic Efficiency
principles principle
 1 Priority principle 2 80/20 principles
Important 80% of the value is generated by 20% time

II I
Important, Important,
How to master this 20/80 rule?
not urgent urgent
1. Analyze the goals and results you want to achieve
2. Find 20%
IV III

Not Not 3. Spend more time on it

important, important,
not urgent urgent 4. Try to spend as little time as possible on other things

Urgent

The priority principle is also a

tactical tool for time management, 3 Prime time principle
helping us determine our daily
time allocation. Arrange the time to carry out tasks reasonably
according to your and other people's work status.
Including: internal golden time (golden state,
average state, trough state); external golden time
(subordinates follow the work habits of superiors)
 1. Priority principle
The priority principle is a strategic thinking in time
management that helps us determine the direction
of life.

Areas of your life that require an investment of your

time include: career , family, social life , health,
education, spiritual or cultural life.
 Trade-off between goals
Time resources are limited, and in order to
achieve your goals, you need to make trade-
offs between goals.

The priority principle is also a tactical time

management tool that helps us decide how to
allocate time every day.
 The importance of tasks is divided into three
categories

Category A (very important): These are tasks that are crucial for
my performance goals, given by bosses or the organization. They're
important for the company and doing them well makes me more
valuable at work.

Category B (general) : These are general tasks assigned by the

organization or my bosses. They're part of my regular job
responsibilities and include everyday tasks.

Category C (not important) : These tasks aren't part of my job

goals or important for the company. I can pass them on to others
easily. My colleagues or subordinates can handle them alone, but
they ask for my help. They don't help me learn anything new.
 Strategies of each type of task:

A: Start implementing as soon as possible, but first, assess if you need to

do it yourself or if you can authorize someone else. Consider how much
coordination is needed and then decide what action to take.

B: Delegate tasks whenever possible, or do them only when you have

time, and it doesn't clash with other priorities.

C: Delegate tasks as much as possible, or firmly say "no" if it's not

something you can handle.
 Practice
For example, when I was making my weekly plan last week, I
found that I had some of the following tasks. What category
does each task belong to ? (A,B or C ?) How should I do it?

1. Go to subordinate branches to conduct research on process

reengineering work.

2. Attend training for negotiation skills.

3. Attend industry seminars as a representative of the

company.

4. The superiors requested a report of factories performance

in the first half of the year.

5. My colleague asked me to help with system upgrade work

2. Plato’s Principle -80/20 Rule

Effort and investment Output and result

80% of the value is generated by 20% of the resources

invested
20% are class A jobs!
Can you find those 20% of activities
that deliver 80% of the results ?

Focus category A (very important) jobs, and try to

delete category C (unimportant) jobs as much as
possible.
 Apply the 80-20 principle:
1. What did the sales department manager find?
2. What were the findings of the production
department and material control department?
3. What you discovered when training new
employees?
 3. Prime time principle

1. Prime time: The period when you are at your

best.
2. The golden time principle: Arrange the time
to carry out tasks reasonably according to
the work status of you and others.
Includes: internal prime time, external prime time
 Internal prime time
Biological clock theory determines your own internal prime
time
Golden state: Planning, solving and creative work, such as
preparing plans and analyzing results, as well as difficult work,
such as doing complex and difficult communications and
negotiations.

Average status: Personal tasks, general communication,

attending meetings, reviewing, etc.

Low state: Maintenance tasks: data entry, tidying up the

office, making phone calls, etc.

If you have several tasks of the same type, you can schedule
them to be worked on together.
 Case study
- Minh, a merchandiser in the sales department, is most
productive in the morning.
- His plan is to handle important production orders and
ensure data accuracy.
- Upon arrival, he first tidies up his workspace.
- Then, he checks and responds to company emails, including
researching past information for difficult ones.
- Minh believes organizing his environment and completing
tasks quickly allows for better focus.
- However, he often runs out of time for his main tasks.
- By the time he finishes, it's late morning, and he feels tired
with lunch approaching.
 What’s Minh's problem? Please select the
statement below that you think is true.

1. Not making full use of his prime time.

2. Putting off important work again and again.

3. No detailed daily schedule.

4. Failure to prioritize work.

5. His other non-important work are not properly arranged,

which affects his ability to complete his tasks.

6. There is no large time block for Minh to complete the task

External prime time
- Consider the problem from the other person's perspective,
be considerate of the other person's needs, consider the
other person's schedule, and when will it be easiest for the
other person to provide you with the help you need.

- As a subordinate, you should understand: Your boss's work

style and habits, including how he uses his time.
- For example, does he prefer to have meeting in the
morning or afternoon?
- Does he want your meeting to be very brief or does he
want to ask detailed background questions?
Prime
time
 Clear
Perfect
5 Steps
Rational
Schedul Firm
directio
plan decision e actions
n
Fifty thousand meters: my values

1. Clear direction
Forty thousand meters: my vision

Thirty thousand meters: mid- to long-term

goals

Twenty Thousand Meters: Key Areas

Ten Thousand Meters: Project

 2. Improve the plan
A plan is a specific course of actions to complete the
project. The benefits of good time planning:
1. Buy time for the work and goals that really matter
2. Get a clear view of all projects, jobs and activities
3. "Write off" completed tasks so that you can enjoy the
sense of accomplishment
4. Help you improve self-discipline and better arrange
your daily time.

Plato's principles come into play
Planning 3 -Element Tool: Planning
Sheet
One of my key goals is
A sub-goal that I must
achieve in order to achieve
the key goal

The steps I need to

Complete
complete in order to achieve Step
time
this sub-goal

A sub-goal that I must

achieve in order to achieve
the key goal

The steps I need to

complete in order to achieve
this sub-goal
 To-do list

Expected Completion
Goal Tasks Priority Remark
time mark

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 3. Reasonable choice
After preparing the to-do list, your work is not done. You still need to
constantly revise the list and make rational choices:

1. Spend 7 minutes before starting work every day to review your to-

do list and cross off completed tasks.

2. Review unimplemented or unfinished plans. You may need to

change the priority ranking of some projects. For example, something

that was originally graded as C may become " B" or " A" over time.

3. Arrange some tasks on the to-do list into the schedule.

The priority principle is used

4. Arrange schedule
The schedule includes three aspects:
1. Do high-priority items on your to-do list
2. The time it takes to complete these projects
3. How long do you plan to spend today (including
interruptions)
Every time you complete a task, please cross it off from the
"Schedule." for that day.
Before starting work the next morning, delete all the work
completed on the previous day from the "To-Do List" , and
continue the unfinished work. Stay on the To-Do List.
 5. Act decisively
Be determined to take action on the
following activities on your calendar:
1. Tasks assigned by superiors

2. Daily work

3. Requests from colleagues and

subordinates
4. What you need to do to accomplish

your goals


Use the golden hour rule
Who touched my time ?
 Game: Bridge across the Sea
Mission : Build a cross-sea bridge
Format: Group as a unit
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: some scrap newspapers, a roll
of tape, a pair of scissors, whiteboard
markers of your choice
Requirements: Bridge Squat – 2 (no more,
no less)
Bridge deck - single layer, width not
less than 20cm
Economy - save costs, raw materials
Beautiful - rich and varied colors,
novel and unique shapes, giving the
audience aesthetic enjoyment
Strong - quite strong against
magnitude 9 earthquakes, firmly gripping
the ground
Judging: The team with the longest
bridge deck and which can keep it from
collapsing for more than 15 seconds
wins.
 Cross-sea bridge sharing

How was the time allocated to the group that did the
best?

For groups that are worse, is there anything that can

be improved in terms of time allocation?

What is the most reasonable way to allocate time ?

 Please watch a day in the life of a
ManagerWhy is there not enough
time?
8:30 • The boss called Manager Nam and asked him to come and talk
about the company's human resources planning.

• During the meeting, the general manager answered phone calls,

guests visited, etc., and the conversation continued until 10:00 .

10:00 • Discuss the salary of the new recruits. He explained it until

10:20 .

10:20 • The arrangement work continued until 11:00 .

• Give instructions and process documents submitted by the

11:00 secretary: read documents, various reports.

• The proposal was waiting, and by 12:00 , some of it had not yet
been read.

• After a quick meal, he read the newspaper for a while and

12:00 chatted with his colleagues. Suddenly he remembered what his
manager had said.

• The human resources planning report had not been completed

yet, so he rushed into the office.
 Please watch a day in the life of a
ManagerWhy is there not enough
time?
13:00 • Discuss the recruitment of salespersons with the sales
manager. This should be the responsibility of his subordinates,
but Nam was ready to make plans himself.

• 2 hours to draft the recruitment plan, specific qualifications of

14:00 recruiters, recruitment channels and advertising releases .

• Just when he was about to write the company's human resources

report, a subordinate came in again to ask for instructions and
approval.
16:00
• We chatted for a while about personal matters and recent
company rumors.

• Called a meeting with subordinates because they reported that

16:30 there was some issues within the department.

• It also delayed the time, which lasted until 17:00 .

• After the subordinate left, it was already past the off-duty time.
There was no time to complete the report but he tried to finish
it.
17:00
• After I got home after finishing the report, it looked like he
would have to work overtime until midnight.
 Where is the time wasted?
Phone interference : It is not Nam’s job to explain salary
issues to company employees. Isn’t
there a salary director?
B

Do everything by
hand
He is not confident
about the work of his
subordinates, so he A C Summoned by boss
The boss's irregular
has to do everything
by himself and do the time meeting make the
managers' time
work for his
subordinates. As a
killer interrupted.
result, he worked all
day long.

E D Visitor interference
Inefficient meetings Visitors constantly ask for
The meeting arrangement was instructions, report, or chat,
unplanned, the meeting was delayed, which greatly wastes time.
the topic was unclear, and there was
no effective control over the meeting.
How should we deal with interference
factors that may appear at any time ?
Solutions to external factors that waste
time

ß Telephone?
External ß Email ?
factor
ß Visitor?
 1. Telephone
When we usually make phone calls ,
what situations make us waste time?
 Save time by calling this way
1. Focus on making calls and sorting them.
2. Before you call, compile the key points of the issues you want
to discus.
3. Before the call begins, tell the person you are calling about
the purpose of your call and then provide relevant
information.
4. Limit social conversations, provide brief answers to questions,
and keep conversations focused.

5. Ask the right questions to help you prioritize calls

6. Ask about the urgency of the issue rather than its importance

7. Use concluding words to briefly summarize the key points and

 This improves listening efficiency
1. You can try standing up to
answer the phone.
2. If you are unable to answer the
phone:
At the beginning, quickly explain
why you can't talk in depth
right now
Example: Sorry, I'm preparing an urgent
report and I'm afraid I can't discuss
it with you in detail right now.
Immediately agree with the other
party on a call back time
Example: Sorry, I'm in a meeting now.
Can I call you back in an hour?
 2. Email
When we usually send and receive emails , what
situations make us waste time?
 This is the most efficient way to
send and receive Email
1. Focus on checking your email at a set time every day.
2. Set up the BLOCK function to filter ads, or registering membership
information.
3. Use only 5 minutes to reply to each email .
4. When replying to an email, quote the other person's original copy.
5. Use the group sending function.
6. Prepare templates for frequently replied or repetitive emails.
7. When composing emails, keep your subject lines simple and clear.
8. When composing complex emails, word processing software is
more convenient than email.
9. Respond quickly to emails the first time you see them.
 Efficient ways to handle received
Emails

Email processing is to process the same
email only once.


Take proactive action when you first see a
new email :
1. Deal with it
2. Transfer
3. Archive
4. Delete
 3. Visitors
How do visitors cost us so much unnecessary time ?
How to avoid visitor interference ?
1. Pay attention to the layout and location of the
office.
2. Personal behavior.
 Disturbance-free office layout

1. Chair arrangement

2. If you feel that your back is

facing the aisle and you look
too out of place, you can turn
your desk at an angle, at least
not completely facing the
aisle.

3. Don't put a chair next to your

desk.

4. A clock can be hung on the

wall facing the visitor's seat.
 Personal behavior
In addition to reducing visitors through displays, you can also use
other behavioral and verbal cues to reduce the opportunity or
duration of interruptions. include:

1. Tips when getting started

2. Stand and talk to each other

3. Visit your visitors

4. Say "no" politely but firmly

 Tips for getting
started
When someone comes to you and asks if you have time, you
should let them know from the beginning that your time is
limited.

Example:

“Giang, do you have a few minutes now?

"What's the matter? A few minutes should be fine , but I'm
writing a report and have a urgent meeting this
afternoon ."


" Quang, are you free now?"

"I just have a few minutes. I have to meet with the leader
later. Is there anything I can do to help?"
 Stand and talk to each
other
- When the other party comes to see you, if there is no empty
chair nearby, you can stand up to greet the visitor and talk to the
visitor while standing. It wouldn't be too rude.

- If a colleague just drops by or asks a question, and you are

relatively familiar with the relationship, you can sit down and
answer his questions yourself without asking him to sit down.
 Visit your
visitors
- If you need to meet a colleague, go directly to his
workspace
- Someone calls you: Can I come to your office to talk? Tell
the other person: No, I'm on my way to your place now.
 Say “No” politely but
firmly
If the other party does not catch your behavioral
cues,
you should tell the other party directly.

You have two opinions, which one will you choose?

”Giang, I'm really sorry. I have another important thing

waiting for me. We'll talk about it next time."

”Giang, I'm really sorry. I still have some urgent work to do.
We'll talk about it next time."
 Say “No” politely but
firmly
When you want to end a visitor's visit, you can also use
other actions to hint to the other party:
- Summarize the actions you want to take from this
conversation and thank the other person.
- When the other party comes to you with documents, how
can you use them?
- When summarizing, what should you do if you have a
folder in hand?
Use working methods skillfully
to reduce time waste
Intrinsic factors in wasting time

Internal Personal working

factors methods and habits
 File Processing

The principle of file processing is to process the same
file only once.

Take proactive action when information is first
processed:
1. To deal with
2. Transfer
3. Archive
4. Throw away
 Four actions for document
processing
1. Processing
• Process documents in a sequential order, aiming to complete each
one before moving on
• If unable to finish a task in sequence, make progress on it by
pushing it forward each time you revisit it
• Ensure that each action you take includes deciding on the next
steps to be taken


Example :
• A colleague receives a project engineering plan and is asked to
modify a certain part of the design
• They recognize that the issue cannot be solved immediately
• Instead, they plan to bring it up for discussion and assign the task
at the upcoming regular engineering meeting
• This way, they have decided on the next step to be taken, even if
the original task cannot be completed right away
 Four actions for document
processing
2. Transfer

Before handing it over, consider why you are handing it
over and what action you would like others to take. Write
a brief note to help others understand the material and
work more quickly.


Don’t give a file to someone else just because you want
it to disappear from your desk or because you don’t
know what to do with it.
3. Archiving

Mark the archive destination (folder name) at the top of the file

Prepare a list of file directory structures

Develop filing habits

If the folder is shared by several people, hang a book on the
filing cabinet and divide each page into four columns: "Name",
"Place of Storage", and "Borrow Date" and "Return Date"

• The same principles apply to filing electronic

documents.
• Where possible, the results of the electronic
document are consistent with the structure of
the paper document.
• Remember to back up your files regularly.
4. Discard
When you receive a document, check “Do I need it?”
Once you find a file of the following types in your file heap,
throw it away without hesitation:
1 ) Outdated and useless files

2 ) Documents with unclear purpose

3 ) Electronic versions of documents are available
4 ) Completed project draft, keep the final results
5 ) Information that can be easily obtained elsewhere
6 ) Tear out useful articles from magazines and journals and
throw away the rest
In most cases, information has a limited “shelf life”.
 Practice

Hoa was engaged in secretarial work in the office.


Some time ago, the company made a promotional brochure.


Hoa was originally responsible for the copywriting part, but she
became interested in art design, so he bought a few books and
started to learn PHOTOSHOP software.


Her colleagues who are experts in art editing appreciated Hoa's
design. They incorporated some of her ideas into the final design
draft.


Colleagues all admire Hoa and think she is very smart. Hoa
herself is also very proud and feels a sense of accomplishment.


From the perspective of time management, what
problems might there be in Hoa’s approach?
From the perspective of time management,
possible
problems with Hoa’s approach:
1. At work, you cannot choose work tasks according to
your own interests.
2. Insisting on doing everything by himself may prevent
him from concentrating on doing the most important
work and writing high-quality copy.
3. It is impossible for any one person to be an expert on
all issues. It is very important to be able to use
experts.
4. Hoa’s work overlaps with that of her art colleagues,
which is a waste of organizational time.
Solutions to intrinsic factors that waste
time
Develop good habits of time management
Merge
Simplify
Delegation
repetitive work
activity
 1. Delegation
Delegation is a management skill that people
should learn, and it can also save valuable time for
us.
Benefits of authorization:
1. This allows you to free up valuable time to do more
important things, including thinking about the team’s
work goals and direction, guiding the ability growth of
subordinates, etc.

2. Delegation is an important means of motivating

subordinates.

3. Delegation can directly exercise the abilities of

 Four steps to
delegation
1. Decide the delegation tasks

2. Choose the right candidate

3. Provide your candidate with:
A. The goal of the task
B. Interests
C. Provide necessary resources and support

4. Provide supervision and feedback

Develop good habits of time
management
Merge
Simplify repetitive work
Delegation
activity
 2. Merge activities

Combining activities means trying to do two things at the same time
when possible

In fact, the most important thing is the awareness of saving every
minute. After you get the habit of cherishing time, you will feel
heartbroken about the waste of time, and naturally you will come up
with various solutions to merge tasks.
Develop good habits of time
management
Simplify repetitive
Delegation
Merge work
activities
 3. Simplify repetitive work
The two simplest ways:

1. Establish a process or material list

2. Use templates - standardization

 Quiz
Minh is responsible for the professional titles of employees in the
company. Recently the company has just promulgated a new
professional title evaluation policy. Every day, Minh receives more
than a dozen phone calls and several emails . In addition, employees
often come to his office for face-to-face consultation. This work takes
up most of Minh's time. How should he cope with it?
Which of the following methods is correct?

1. Continue to work in the current way. After all, his job is to serve
employees.

2. Publish a message on OA to ask employees to read relevant

documents carefully.

3. Use a unified EMAIL format letter, attach a summary of the plan,

and send it to each consultant.
 Let's start!
Take some time to work Take some time to dream
This is the price of This is the road to stardom
success

Take some time to think Take some time to care

This is the source of This is the true joy of life
strength
Take some time to be
Make some time for happy
games This is music of the soul
This is the secret to youth
Take some time to enjoy
Take some time to read
This is the basis of This is a gift for your hard
knowledge work

Take time to be kind to Take some time to plan

people You can enjoy the above
This is the door to nine kinds of happiness
happiness