3 Management Productivity Hacks

As a supervisor of a team of one or one hundred, time is a precious commodity. Competing priorities, hard deadlines, and management issues are all at the forefront of your day-to-day. So, how can you remain productive as a supervisor without burning out?

Deadra Welcome, CPTD, CPTM, CVF, CPDC, CMLF, Founder/Principal Consultant, Concerning Learning, LLC, joined us to lend her insights for November’s New Supervisors in Government Community of Practice online training session, “3 Management Productivity Hacks.”

Check out a few tips from that session below, and watch the full session for more helpful productivity advice. Additionally, don’t forget to sign up for the December New Supervisors CoP, “How to Inspire an Unmotivated Team,” on Monday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.

1. Hack #1: Prioritize your tasks, objectives, and goals. Welcome suggested creating a daily or weekly task list so you can sort out what’s urgent, what can be delegated, and what doesn’t need to be focused on at this time. If a task can be delegated, make sure you are giving the right assignments to the right people and that you’re checking in on the employees who have received those delegated tasks to answer questions and check on progress.
2. Hack #2: Avoid multitasking. In order to be at your most productive, Welcome said time-blocking was key to creating dedicated space for not only administrative tasks but also specific work that needs uninterrupted concentration. Another tip? Set boundaries so that your staff knows when you are available to help or talk out a problem and when you aren’t, minimizing unnecessary interruptions.
3. Hack #3: Learn what works for you. Identify your work style by taking a self-assessment, Welcome said. “It will tell you how you prefer to plan and how you make decisions, allowing you to work more productively with your staff.” She added that understanding and respecting your staff’s communication and productivity preferences was also essential because “their style may be different, and the goal is for everyone to thrive.”