In today’s workforce employers are looking beyond qualifications and selection criteria’s.

How you fit into the culture of a workplace is now a major deciding factor in the recruitment process. The ability to demonstrate effective time management skills is critical in the workplace, as it can significantly impact on your performance and attitude toward fellow colleagues.

Are you on time for meetings? Are you arriving on time for work? How do you manage multiple deadlines? How do you prioritise? What do you do when a deadline is going to be missed? These are common questions asked by managers during performance reviews. How would you perform? Failure to plan and you plan to fail: This has never been more important than it is today in the workplace.

Returning phones calls, texts, emails, faxes, snail mail and social media – the way in which we communicate has evolved and so must the way we manage our time. How can we achieve this as employees? Understand what you need to achieve, work with your manager to see the ‘big picture’ and where you fit in the organisation and the impacts your contribution has both negatively and positively.

If you require training in certain areas of your work this is your opportunity to ask. If you don’t ask, you don’t know. Time management tools • Outlook – prioritise your emails, use your calendar for reminders, don’t read emails and not respond. • Notebook – old fashioned to do list, make a list, and mark it off when you have completed. It’s a great feeling when you have achieved everything you have set out to do. • Ask for help – if you don’t know how to do something, always ask for help. Not only are you learning something new, your boss will appreciate you for asking. • Don’t jump from one task to another; always finish what you start before starting a new task • Think about what your time wasters are. How can you avoid them? • Communicate, communicate, communicate. If you are running late and if you haven’t finished something, do not wait to be asked about it. Take initiative and communicate it. Ask for an extension or ask for help. Be the solution. Time management can be a simple way to achieve your work, keep the boss happy and reduce your stress.