Why Is Time Management Important At Work?

Sep 10, 2023

Time Management Important At Work
Time Management Important At Work
Time Management Important At Work

You have probably heard the saying, Time is money in business. This is especially true when it comes to the concept of time management, as it directly influences the efficiency, productivity, and overall success of a business.

As an organization, you can use the best human resource management strategies to hire excellent talent. Likewise, the workforce in your organization can have the brilliant skills, knowledge, and experience that you are looking for in a particular job role. Better yet, they can be smart, hard-working, and enthusiastic in their role. However, all these traits can prove of no use or impact if your workforce lacks time management skills.

This article will clearly explain why time management is important at work and how it influences organizational operations.

Deliver Work On Time

Understanding why time management is important at work helps you allocate a finite period to complete your tasks on time. It lets you manage your workload effectively and in a more organised way. Having a time slot for each of your tasks helps your brain get rewired, allowing it to follow the structure and accomplish set tasks within a desired time frame. This results in the timely delivery of outputs.

More importantly, this is extremely beneficial in team settings or cultures where tasks are interconnected or codependent. For example, poor time management from one member of the team can pause the progress of the other members, delaying the delivery of outputs or expected results within a set deadline.

Provide A Better Quality Of Work

We all know that quality is better than quantity at work, but this comes with having proper time management skills. Managing your time properly and prioritising activities allows you to provide a better quality of work.

It helps you focus on important tasks in a logical order and allocate time accordingly, assuring accuracy and the highest quality possible with the output. It also allows you to know which tasks deserve more attention or help and thereby plan your work schedule accordingly.

A company's human resource management initiatives can support time management for employees by providing appropriate HR systems that help them better track their work, deadlines, priority order, etc.

Less Stress And Anxiety

One of the core reasons why time management is important at work is the effect it has on lowering stress and anxiety. Piling up workloads not only adds work stress but also causes employees to miss deadlines, result in inaccuracies, and deliver poor-quality work that requires back-and-forth revisions.

Too much stress and anxiety can also become the leading cause of employee disengagement and unhappiness, creating work-life imbalance.

In worse cases, this can also cause high levels of absenteeism and employee turnover, which again puts pressure on the human resource management team to vet a suitable candidate to fill vacant positions. This whole process can cause many inefficiencies within teams and the organisation overall.

As an employer, the organisation also has the responsibility to ensure the mental health of employees and create smart goals that are achievable within the scope of a job role.

Manages Procrastination

Let's face it, I will do it later is an excuse that we all make at some point in life. The real reason why time management is important at work goes beyond just doing more in less time. It is about reducing the urge to delay things or procrastinate over important tasks.

Having proper time management skills allows you, as a founder, leader, employee, and human resource management professional, to work smarter rather than harder. It instantly eliminates procrastination by ensuring that you're familiar with the tasks added to your to-do list and when they need to be finished.

This gives enough time for employees to recheck their work, correct any mistakes, and review the overall output before submitting it for the next stage of the teamwork. It also relieves pressure, stress, and last-minute panics, which can result in mistakes, errors, inefficiencies, and other forms of drawbacks that can impact productivity and team progress.

Provide Opportunities And Career Growth

Another key reason why time management is important at work is its impact on performance evaluations. Being punctual and timely with your work not only increases effectiveness but also makes you a reliable person with a good reputation at work.

This naturally creates room for promotions and new opportunities at work. So, if you are looking for the best skills that can promise you job security at your workplace, time management skills are a must-have.

It is also important to emphasise that the human resource management department should properly evaluate the performance of employees at work and give them their due recognition or rewards without overlooking them. Doing this is crucial to maintain their time management and other productive skills that contribute to organisational success.

Boosts Confidence

When employees work timely, or stay ahead of their deadlines, it gives them a boost in confidence and allows them to trust their own abilities. It makes them believe they can handle and lead their life in a more disciplined way. It makes them accountable for their actions, progress, and results, keeping them in charge of their schedules, whether it is for personal or work life.

On the other hand, having increased confidence at the workplace reduces stress and anxiety and improves socialisation skills. It allows them to have open communications, give ideas and opinions, and express themself to their fullest.

Improve Time Management At Work

While there are no standard ways to improve time management skills, there are a few best practices that can help you achieve them in a more progressive way. Some of them include,

  • Plan your tasks

  • Minimise distractions

  • Prioritise ruthlessly

  • Accept your limitations

  • Avoid multitasking

  • Discover your peak hours

  • Use time management software

  • Schedule breaks

As much as understanding why time management is important at work is crucial, it is also equally necessary to put in the right efforts and commitment to attaining this valuable skill. Not to mention, no skill is a result of overnight practice; it is a mere result of consistency.

Written By

Ketan Trehan - Associate Director UAE & KSA
Ketan Trehan - Associate Director UAE & KSA

Ketan Trehan

Associate Director UAE & KSA