CADDManager on December 28th, 2007

CAD Managers are pressed for time from every direction. Supporting the tools and talents of the user community in your office takes a considerable amount of time. While you may be the bottom line related to support issues, there is also the need for your firm to have someone focused on the technology future and leading them there.Here are seven ideas related to freeing up time that work for me.

1. SPEND TIME PLANNING AND ORGANIZING

If you are like me, you have your agenda all laid out and think it through on the freeway as you head to work. As soon as you arrive – It goes out the window. The latest server crash or system failure greets you as you open the office door. Don’t chuck your agenda totally. Keep one handy in case you get some free time. Keep it in Outlook or any other tech tool you may have.

2. SET GOALS

Make sure that you have goals for each area of your oversight. Goals allow us to focus on the short and long term. Keep long term goals within reason. Set short term goals based on your long term goals. Keep a list and update it every three months.

3. PRIORITIZE

Now that you have an agenda and a list of goals, prioritize them. Be brutal in your efforts to keep the greatest impact items at the top of the list. The old 80-20 rule applies to your time. Eighty percent of your time will result in only twenty percent returns. Manufactures studies have determined that initial focus and designs are insufficient 88% of the time. So once you have prioritized, do it again the next day. I like to review my list after any major submittal, milestone, purchase, deployment or hardware failure.

4. MAKE A “TO DO” LIST

Now that your prioritized your goals and agenda, make a daily “to do” list. This could be on a slip of paper, or in your head (not good for busy times), or in Outlook. Whatever you do keep it simple and easy to create. Check off items as you complete them or at the end of the day. Left over items goes on tomorrow’s list. If you don’t complete something in a few days, then analyze why it is on the list in the first place. I like to keep my task list in Outlook as appointments. That way I get reminders throughout the day of what need to be done.

5. USE YOUR BEST TIME FOR THE PIVOTAL TASKS

This is the time of day when you are at your natural best. Are you a early go getter? Get in early and start the toughest or best projects before others arrive. Are you a night owl? Stay late and clear your desk. Pivotal tasks are those that will influence the greatest number of users, projects, dollars or deadlines. These are critical.

6. BE FLEXIBLE

If you plan out all of your time, you will obviously be frustrated by interruptions. Your job is to provide customer (user) service at all times. This means that you want to be interrupted, so that you can provide the needed services. Try to not schedule more than 60% of your time. That way you can deal with interruptions, unplanned activities, meetings without notice, and other unpredictable events.

7. DIVIDE BIG TASKS INTO SMALLER SUB-TASKS

Often the tasks you have require extended periods of time to complete. A big task may seem daunting and lead to procrastination. Slice and dice the job. This involves cutting the big task into small “slices” and then doing each of the smaller tasks in short manageable time slots. Often it works to divide a task in eight time slots of 15 minutes, rather than in one two-hour block. By doing a little at a time you will eventually get it done.

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