Welcome to this unit on daily time management. Efficiently managing daily tasks is crucial for driving productivity and meeting deadlines effectively. Let's explore some key strategies to coach your team on daily time management, ensuring they allocate their time wisely.

The 1-3-5 rule is an intuitive method to streamline daily tasks. Each day, encourage your direct reports to complete one big task, three medium tasks, and five small tasks.

For instance, their day could include:

• Big Task:
  • Completing a performance review
• Medium Tasks:
  • Writing a project proposal
  • Reviewing code for the team
  • Attending a design meeting
• Small Tasks:
  • Replying to emails
  • Updating Jira tickets
  • Scheduling a team meeting
  • Checking project metrics
  • Posting status updates on Slack

This approach ensures that important tasks are prioritized while smaller responsibilities are also attended to.

Helping your direct reports identify the most critical task each day is essential. This task should align closely with team goals and have significant impact. Encourage them to ask themselves, “What is the one task that will make today a success if completed?” By focusing on this task first, they can ensure their day is productive. For example, completing the performance review for Q4 could be identified as a big task that needs immediate attention.

If your team is struggling to identify the big task, you can review each task to determine:

• How urgent is the task?
• How impactful is the task?

The task that is most urgent and most impactful should should be given the most attention and energy first that day.

To illustrate how to help a direct report identify their big task, here’s a sample dialogue between Jake and Nova.

• Jake: Nova, what do you think is the most important task you need to complete today?
• Nova: I've got several things on my list, but I'm not sure which one is the most critical.
• Jake: Let's look at your tasks. What would make today a success if you completed it?
• Nova: Probably finishing the performance review for Q4. It’s due soon, and it will have a big impact on our team’s planning.
• Jake: That sounds like a big task that should be prioritized first. The smaller tasks can follow once this is done.

In this dialogue, observe how Jake helps Nova identify the big task by asking a probing question and narrowing down the focus.

It's also important to help your team categorize their medium and small tasks.

Power through the mediums. Medium tasks require more attention but aren’t as pivotal as the big task. Coach employees to group these tasks together and complete them efficiently after the big task is done.

Finish with your small tasks. Small tasks are generally routine but still need to be addressed. Block time at the end of the day to quickly check these off of the list.

Mastering these time management strategies will significantly enhance your team's productivity and streamline their daily work. In the upcoming role-play sessions, you will practice coaching your direct reports on these techniques to solidify your understanding and application.