Description:
This event has been designed for councillors who have identified the need to review the way that they manage their time.
It is an intensive programme that has been specifically developed to provide participants with a set of strategies to assist in making the most of limited time resources, and includes a significant number of tips and techniques that will place delegates more in control.
The focus of the course is on taking responsibility for managing our own time using specific approaches, particularly around personal organisation and managing a large and varied caseload.
Programme objectives:
By the end of this programme delegates will be able to:
- Identify how personal working styles influence our approach to time
- Manage paper flow and desk mess
- Manage a diary system
- Implement a series of established personal organisation systems
- Manage interruptions and control telephone calls
- Control 1:1 and group meetings
- Manage personal stress, and learn to relax.
Programme
09:45 Registration and refreshments
10:15 Welcome and introductions: Programme and personal aims for the session
10:30 What issues do we face in managing our time?
- The time management issues that we face in our Councillor role
- Group exercise and feedback
10:45 Working styles
- Understanding how our personality influences the way that we manage time
11:20 First steps: Organising ourselves
- Desk mess and dealing with paper flow
- Filing and organisational systems
- Prioritising, planning and diary management
12:05 Lunch Break
12:35 Planning processes:
- Warm up and close down routines
- Planning lists and “to do” routines
- Prioritising and Task Zoning
13:15 Taking control
- Managing appointments
- Controlling telephone calls
- Managing the ‘in-box’
- How to say “no” – or “not yet”!
- Educating people and setting “rules”
13:45 Coping strategies
- Understanding pressure and stress
- Early warning signs
- The biology of stress and what it means to us
- Relaxation and coping techniques
14:45 Review of programme
- Key learning points
- Evaluation
15:00 Close
