Time-Management Strategy - How to Make Managers More Productive and Happier

The First Topic of January 2012 seminar named “Time-Management Strategy - How to Make Managers More Productive and Happier”, which organized by An Executive Study Group under the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp (HKSTPC) on 6 January 2012.

Mr. Mark Lee (MBA, CUHK) presentation content included “Working Hour Comparison of Hong Kong and Other Countries”, “The Importance of Energy for Managers”, “Organization Support” and “Group Discussion”.

Firstly, Mr. Lee introduced the survey of the opinions over 12,000 business people in 85 countries and found that over half of Hongkongers work nine or more hours per day and almost 40% regularly take home to finish in the evening.


It is because of negative loop of long working hours. Then Mr. Lee quoted Warren Buffett statement that "Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken".


Mr. Lee explained Four Main Wellsprings which could help managers to manage energy stopping the negative loop. They were "Body", "Emotions", "Mind" and "Spirit". Why it needs to implement energy management program (Terms better than time management program)? He quoted Dr. Harry Levinson (Industrial Psychologist) that "Managers tend to rely on their best people; but best people are more vulnerable to becoming burned-out people". It could be verified by the case study that participants employed the energy management program and got the better outcome.


The 1st Main Wellsprings - The Body (Physical Energy)

It was found that managers were inadequate nutrition, exercise, sleep and rest. Mr. Lee said the most important was to have a sufficient sleep. He quoted Dr. Robert Stickgold (Asso. Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School) said "A midday nap reverses information overload". It was good for designed breaks to recharge.

The 2nd Main Wellsprings - The Emotions (Quality of Energy)

Mr. Lee said even good management could de-motivate people because of finger-pointing as feedbacks from management. He said management should use "appreciation", "empowerment" and "independence".

The 3rd Main Wellsprings - The Mind (Focus of Energy)

Mr. Lee said multitasking increased 25% amount of time because of long setup time. From case study, it suggested to concentrate the 1st hour before Email Inbox so as to avoid non-stop email reply.


The 4th Main Wellsprings - The Human Spirit (Energy of Meaning and Purpose)

Sense of meaning, purpose and value was very important after experienced the value of the other dimensions energies (Physical, Emotion and Mind).

Finally, Mr. Lee said that top management support for using Energy Management was the key successful factor.

The following diagram showed how to use energy management to align people between manager and leader.


At the end of the seminar, we had an exercise to find out two of the most difficult thing to do and one of the easiest thing to do from 9 items.

After the seminar, my interpretation for restoring four dimension of energies included: 1) Sleep Early (Body); 2) Think Positive (Emotion); 3) Focus and Plan in the Morning (Mind); and 4) Link Work with You Interested Item to be Win-Win (Spirit).

Reference:

The Centre for Logistics Technologies and Supply Chain Optimization, CUHK: http://www.logitsco.cuhk.edu.hk/

HKSTP - www.hkstp.org