Time Management at the Office

Every business is looking for a way to become more efficient while using less manpower. Each CEO wants to spend less money on manpower while increasing productivity. If you are in one of these situations, where the boss is making you take on more work in less time then you may want to continue reading.

Here are 9 tips on how you can increase your time management at work:

1.     Finding out which system works best. You should start out your week by writing down everything you should do that week followed by a daily calendar.

2.     Take back your calendar and what’s left of your life. Make sure you live with a purpose and ensure that technology is your slave, not letting technology enslave you. Be sure to remember that “neat” is not the same thing as “organized”.

3.     Project planning. Having the right software for planning projects is ideal. Microsoft Outlook is perfect for planning. You should also learn how to micromanage.

4.     Learn how to manage interruptions. This step will save you plenty of time. You will be interrupted every single day but how you react to it will define you as a time-saver.

5.     Get your calendar back. Taming a calendar is hard work, but it can be done. The first step is keeping the most important objectives first.

6.     Delegate a “must do” list. Every person will have things that they must do so keep these things separate so you do not forget them. Sometimes you will not be able to get around to the task and therefore you must choose someone else to do the work.

7.     Perform productive meetings. Meetings are important parts to a business. It all starts with people getting to work on time. Ensure that your time clock is up-to-date.

8.     Manage your projects, not the time. Know what is due and what can be put off in favor of something that is more critical.

9.     Create meeting templates. That way you know what to say and in what order, reducing time spent in the meeting.

How to Communicate Effectively With Your Employees

Your position as an owner or a manager doesn’t mean that you have to be hard on your employees all the time. You can be a listener when you need to be and caring when you have to be. Improving your manner and method of communication can help your business culture improve as well as give your employees the motivation to show up in the morning.

Look at the tips to help you communicate better with your staff so that productivity and efficiency are maintained and/or improved.

1.     Take Your Time When Building Relationships. Besides looking at job obligations, giving staff feedback and speaking about attendance concerns, a significant component of your function is to find out things about your staff. Once you understand your current employees’ individual performance styles, tastes and desires, you will gain their trust.

2.     Be A Great Listener. Very good communication is something that both parties must learn. Once you initiate interactions with staff, greet these individuals personally and listen closely and sincerely. Know about the other person’s gestures and vocal tones.

3.     Give Effective Feedback. Make sure your employees know that they are invaluable assets.

4.     Diversity.  Your workplace comprises of folks from widely different backgrounds who add up to achieve a common goal. Understand that they are all there to get treated as individuals although they also want to be judged independently.

5.     Personal Issues Do Arise. Every employee is going to have problems at home or away from work. Punching a time clock on time will not be as easy as everyone believes issues bring an individual down. Make sure you cut your employees some slack from time to time.

Management Tips for Accurate, Efficient Payroll

Payroll management involves more than monitoring the time clock. Nowadays, the payroll function is as complicated as ever, especially with federal government oversight of corporate accounting practices, several different types of automatic deductions, and international staffing. In such an environment, payroll calculations are usually automated, though some smaller companies still use a manual system to compute paychecks and hours worked. However, even in the case of entities with fewer than 50 workers, automated time clock systems are very common.

The best way to make certain that there are no major errors in payroll checks is to use a reliable and consistent method of calculating all check amounts. Whether your company uses electronic time clock systems or online time loggers, be attentive to keeping accurate records of hours worked for each employee.

Some modern time clocks do a variety of calculations that were unheard of just two or three decades ago. And some old systems still work, despite their age. A punch card system works well for organizations that have fewer than 50 workers.

For large firms, time loggers work well. In these computer-based systems, workers check in via their computer terminals. In some cases, computer-timing programs use a magnetic terminal for swipe cards. Large companies are especially susceptible to time fraud due to the impersonal nature of the systems and vulnerability to hacking. Some of the higher-end programs contain subtle but effective safeguards against such activity.

Whether large or small, every business should keep a separate bank account for payroll funds. In fact, a patchwork of federal and state laws require certain types of entities to maintain separate accounts for payroll purposes. Aside from the purposes of the law, it is a wise practice to label a bank account specifically for payroll. When tax time comes, companies who have accurate records and segregated accounts will be in a better position to prepare accurate tax returns quickly and simply. When it comes down to it, a time clock is the basis for vital payroll calculations, pure and simple.