Time-Management Skills Big Concern, Training Isn’t
<p><strong>St. Petersburg, Fla. — June 27</strong><br />In a corporate world where employees’ plates are so full they can’t find their forks, time management is an ongoing concern. </p><p>According to a just-released study conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), the majority of 332 polled companies have heartburn about not only time management but delegation skills, as well. </p><p>Training in those areas, though, isn’t as high a priority.<br /><br />The survey found 53 percent of companies have a “somewhat high” or “high” level of concern about the time-management skills of their employees, and 46 percent of companies feel the same way about workers’ delegation skills. </p><p>Those concerns don’t always result in training in these areas, however. Although 49 percent offer programs for time management, only 28 percent do so for delegation training.<br /><br />“When I’ve had casual conversations with executives over the last few years, it appears to this outsider that the amount of stress related to the work schedule is getting out of control,” said Jay Jamrog, i4cp senior vice president of research. “If their comments are accurate, they are heading for a collective nervous breakdown.”<br /><br />Of those companies that provide time-management training, 52 percent do so within the company (with 71 percent using a classroom setting), compared with 59 percent that offer delegation training in-house (with 65 percent opting for classroom work). </p><p>The most commonly used tools for time management are computer-based (Lotus Notes, Microsoft, etc.) and handhelds (PDAs, BlackBerries, etc.).<br /><br />Regarding schedule-creation skills, there’s also considerable concern, with 39 percent of responding companies somewhat or highly concerned about scheduling skills. </p><p>Only 23 percent say they have a low or somewhat low level of concern in this area. The most commonly used tool for schedule creation is Microsoft Excel.<br /><br />The Time Management Practitioner Consensus Survey was conducted by i4cp, in conjunction with HR.com, in June 2007.</p>
