Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity

1. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity Howard Schultz, MSW Executive Director Jewish Family Service Have you prepared yourself for this presentation?

2. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity I have higher expectations than this!

3. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 1) Time Management is Stress Management Worry only about what you can actually affect. Don’t waste energy (angst) on things you can do nothing about Anxiety feeds on itself—stop worrying about how much you are worrying about things. Separate anxiety about the project as a whole (the guts of what it is you are trying to accomplish) from worrying about how it is getting it done. For you social workers… separate content from process

4. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity • Don’t assume the worst or allege intent— • CHECK THINGS OUT We’ve never done it that way We can’t do that! My plan is going to be shot down anyway We can’t spend any money What I do doesn’t really matter because someone else will just change it anyway No one wants my input anyway

5. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity Share the news—good and bad Establish a trustful relationship with your supervisor and be transparent • Follow instructions and seek priority decision making help and guidance • Don’t own problems or good news all by yourself • Schedule decision making and planning time • Schedule and take your vacation. If necessary engage your supervisor to help you prioritize or delegate your work so you can take your time off • Have faith in an open decision making process. IOAJ---It’s Only A Job. Don’t take your baggage home. (and don’t bring problems from home in)

6. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 2) Understand the Project Completely What’s the goal of the project? Understand the big picture and little picture • The 5 W’s + H • Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How? Recognize potential conflicts, obstacles, or competing priorities Apply a What If… philosophy

7. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity Applying What If scenarios… • What resources would be necessary to succeed, if they could be made available? • Alternatives to the initial plan • “Buying Time” • Delegating to others • Hiring more staff • Re-prioritizing other projects • Engaging new partners or co-sponsors • Changing venues • Changing goals • Changing projects

8. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 3. Working Out a Game Plan Avoid the trap: “I don’t have time to plan anything, I will just squeeze it in somehow” You will make up planning time in efficiency, more help, better results, and less stress • Saves time overall • Reduces anxiety • Allows opportunity to involve others and get help • Shares the “pain” when necessary • Avoids overflow and overload • Provides steps to check the plan as you proceed

9. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 4) Time is Relative Not Linear Time can be managed. Think about money… Think of time like cash flow. You don’t need to have all the money in hand to buy a house or lease a car, just the ability to manage your debt through cash flow for the period of time you own it. Time is similar. Learn to handle the time you need for the projects you are managing. Think of the components of a project as a series of events that can be orchestrated around both flexible and fixed situations to create a Project Flow Break down the project into identifiable components—layer each into the Flow to make the picture work out.

10. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity Speaking of Time…

11. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 5. Methods of Project Time Management A) Straight Line: Easy to see the path, no conflicting issues Beginning End B) Managing Obstacles: Knowing where the end is but needing to avoid obstacles to progress Beginning x xxxx End   xxx xx

12. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity C) Component Management with resultant end: if you complete all the components, the end will result—order doesn’t really matter Beginning End D) Leapfrog: With a deadline established, implementing plans based upon the facts you know at the time, even if you don’t have everything lined up Beginning 1) 2) 4) 5) 3) End Match the method to the project and the other competing priorities and available resources

13. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 6. Balancing Conflicting Projects • Resolve the conflict using agency priority as a guidepost • Don’t own the angst of choice by yourself • Request guidance from supervisor or administration on what should be done first, and what can be delayed or put off if necessary • Be realistic about the time needed to complete a project • When asking for guidance, communicate fully about ALL the responsibilities you have that are affecting your time. Give your supervisor a clear picture so she/he can give you the best guidance. • Don’t arbitrarily drop “stuff”. Consider what or who will be affectedby a decision to change priorities or working order

14. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity Think about who else may be affected by your actions or lack of action, i.e. • Because of a time crunch… • calls don’t get made that others were counting on • thank you letters don’t go out when necessary • money isn’t processed immediately and deposited • Call backs don’t happen quickly enough • Surprises happen….

15. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 7. Tools (physical) • AOAO (Assets, Obstacles, Allies, Opportunities) similar to SWOT analysis • Schedule your time to include planning time, budget time, paperwork, etc., and stick to it • Tickler File • Palm Pilot/synch to calendar, Franklin Planner, etc. • Red Flag/Good News Form • Secretarial help • Simple Lists which you continually re-prioritize • Bedside lists

16. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity Mental Tools • Adopting a “What If” philosophy • Developing good “peripheral vision”—an ability to see other factors, opportunities, or challenges that may develop with each particular action you take • The James Lang Theory • Recognize your “tells” of anxiety and do something about it.

17. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 8) Top Ten Traps to Avoid Talking Yourself Into… I don’t have time We can’t spend any money on this I can’t handle another thing It’s not my job That Never works It’s faster for me to just do it myself We’ve always (or never) done it that way I can’t spend the time to train or look for volunteers, they will only get in the way. Out of sight out of mind (or maybe they forgot) Howard wouldn’t like it!

18. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity Having help isn’t always this bad…

19. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 9. Prioritizing a Busy List • Understand the relative value/hassle of each item on your list • Respond quickly to “low hanging fruit” • Seemingly unimportant items to you may be burning issues for someone else. If you can do them quickly you create a much bigger level of success—bonus points • Be aware of pre-requisites or “building blocks”—items that cannot be accomplished without other things happening as well • ASK FOR HELP!

20. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity 10. Crisis Management Keep cool and level headed • Make the best of a bad situation • Turn adversity into opportunity • Be “agile”

21. Managing Multiple Projects & Time While Maintaining Your Sanity The End. Thank You For Your Attention Change would do you good