To be effective time administrators, concentration must be focused on what is important rather than what is urgent.
Learning to concentrate on the important reduces crises mode and urgency addictions. The important eventually becomes urgent, so the strategy is to act on the important before it becomes urgent.
Important things fall under seven key activities:
- Improving communications with people
- Better preparation
- Better planning and organization
- Taking better care of oneself
- Seizing new opportunities
- Personal development
- Empowerment
When faced with deciding what is urgent and what is important, use the following diagram* to help prioritize and take action.
| Urgent | Non-Urgent | |
| Important | Important tasks. You have to do them now.
1. DO Urgent customer requests
|
Tasks you have to plan or they will become urgent
2. PLAN Relationship building
|
| Not Important | Tasks to delegate. Not value added tasks.
3. DELEGATE Some phone calls |
Tasks to eliminate or they will become (3).
4. ELIMINATE Trivia |
*© 2011-2017 by EISENHOWER, a registered trademark by FTL3. All rights reserved.
The Importance of Delegation
Many office managers often want to control everything out of a misplaced sense of responsibility. Delegation is the most effective time management tool. Do not be afraid to delegate responsibilities to others out of fear that it threatens your job. If the employees you manage perform well, it reflects well on you. The true responsibility of a leader is to teach others and allow them to learn new skills.
The rules of successful delegation are simple:
- Give specific instructions for the job to be done, preferably in writing.
- Monitor progress without “checking up” on them.
- Set definite timelines for accomplishments and completion of tasks.
- Give encouragement consistently.
Get More Time Management Tips
Download the recent ebook The Medical Office Manager's Guide to Time Management and get best practices to manage your, your staff’s, and your provider's time better. Start streamlining your office’s processes with a few changes and deliver best-in-class service to your patients.
