What is the best way to deal with a manager who has poor time management skills?

My suggestion is to make sure your time management and project management skills are exemplary. Often times, the way you handle your time and projects will offset any other manager or colleagues deficiency in this area. Use your anticipatory/proactive skills, time and project management skills to decouple yourself from the impact of their poor time management skills.

  HR in SAP   Apr 6, 2024   81  Add to Reading List
  • Whenever you are given a new task, verify the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How’s BEFORE you accept it. Paraphrase or repeat the significant assignment instructions to verify that you understood it correctly. Provide your own Time Estimates to completion BEFORE accepting the assignment. If your time estimate doesn’t match the expected time frame, work with the manager to Delete, Delay, Diminish, or Delegate pieces to bring in the time estimates and create a more realistic schedule
  • Whenever you are given an assignment, review your current task list with your manager BEFORE accepting the new assignment. Discuss the priorities of your current task list and your time estimates until those tasks are completed. Ask if this new task/assignment changes the priorities of these other tasks. Work with the manager to Delete, Delay, Diminish, or Delegate the other pieces in order to be able to accomplish this new task.
  • If the manager doesn’t arrive until 10am in the morning, and you need instruction by 9am; then drop by his/her office before you leave the evening before. Get those instructions the night before, such that you can start your work when you arrive in the office the next morning.
  • If you know that the manager has a habit of texting your in the evening because they forgot to tell you something that day, make it a point to drop by their office every day before you leave - to ask them if they need anything before your leave. At that time, mention that you probably won’t be responding to any text message or phone calls about work after you leave; so if they need anything, please let you know now. If you consistently do this, they may still text, email or call you after hours- but you don’t have to feel a need to respond. You can feel comfortable waiting until the next business day.
  • If you know that your colleagues or manager is always running late for the meeting, regardless of what time you schedule the meeting, place their agenda topic or presentation toward the middle or end of the meeting. Or ask for their representative to give the presentation in their stead. Then tape/record the meetings so they can catch the pieces that they have missed.
  • If you know they have poor time management skills and you need them to review and approve something by Monday, March 13th at 9am; then send them the proposal by March 6, actually set a review meeting with them on March 8 and actually go through each line and explain everything at that meeting. Jot down any notes, change requests and revisions. Setup a final review meeting on March 10 to review only the items that were changed/updated. Get their signature on March 10th at the end of that meeting. Incorporate those extra reviews and effort into your realistic project schedules. Plan and block out time for these extra steps to assure things get accomplished on time.
  • If you know your colleagues or manager have poor time management skills, expect them to have poor time management skills. Anticipate and be proactive. Arrange your time and projects to expect these inevitable outcomes. Plan and block out time for these extra steps to assure things get accomplished on time.
  • If you know they have poor time management skills, don’t conduct your business as if they “should have better time management time”. Should have/would have/could have doesn’t get the job done. Be rational and reasonable. Work with the data and facts that you currently have at the time. Right now - they have poor management skills. So - right now - use your exemplary project and time management skills to compensate.
  • Don’t create “emergencies” for yourself by not being realistic.
  • I’m not suggesting that you “work overtime” or “weekends” to make up for their poor time management skills. I’m suggesting to anticipate those needed extra steps into your realistic schedules so that you don’t “work overtime” or “weekends” to make up for their poor time management skills.

When the manager or colleagues decide that they want to and actually do improve their time management skills, then you can change your methods to match that new reality. But until that happens, you need to work with the current reality.