Time Management Skills for Finance Professionals

Effective Planning

• Plan the day well in advance
• Prepare a To-Do List or a “TASK PLAN”
• Jot down the important time management activities that need to be done
• Ensure High Priority work is top of your list
• Complete pending tasks one by one
• Do not begin fresh work unless previous tasks are completed
• Finish the tasks within the stipulated time frame

Highly Interactive Case Study/Exercise

Setting Goals and Objectives

• The importance of targeting
• Set realistic goals & targets
• Prioritise time management
• Decide who to disappoint
• Who can you afford to upset the least
• Set realistic targets
• Ensure you achieve them
• Review missed objectives

Highly Interactive Case Study/Exercise

Delegation of Responsibilities

• Learn to say “NO” nicely at the workplace as a first step in time management
• Don’t do everything on your own.
• Don’t accept a difficult task without resources
• Seek assistance/support from colleagues
• Evaluate the options

Highly Interactive Case Study/Exercise

Prioritising Tasks

• Define importance and urgency
• Frantic, desperate or just plain urgent
• Distinguish the genuinely important and the genuinely urgent
• What can be done in your day/week/time
• Set deadlines for urgent and important tasks
• Manage expectations
• Make proposals
• Give & Receive concessions

Highly Interactive Case Study/Exercise

Right Time on Right Activity

• Develop the habit of doing the right thing at the right time
• Work done at the wrong time is not of much use
• Don’t waste a complete day on something which can be done in an hour
• Allocate “you” space
• Beware playpen projects
• Don’t butterfly

Highly Interactive Case Study/Exercise

Putting it All Together

• Always be Organized – No untidy desk, file documents away
• Don’t misuse time – too much
• Be Focused as often as possible
• Develop the habit of using planners, organizers, table top calendars
• Set reminders on phones or personal computers
• Manage yourself, your work, and your in-tray
• Manage all expectations, including your own

A highly successful, long and varied “fast track” career in Lloyds Bank led him to very senior management at an early age. He was then “head hunted” to join a merchant bank at the main board director level. He now has over 40 years of experience in the UK banking and financial services sector.

Our time management skills course trainer has been a freelance soft skills training consultant since retiring and is currently an external Master Trainer at both HSBC and the Bank of China, where he has delivered soft skills training on a wide range of topics. At HSBC he helped screen and assess both prospective and existing trainers for soft skills capabilities and has delivered train-the-trainer programmes. At the Bank of China, he has designed and successfully delivered comprehensive presentation skills as well as a negotiation skills programme.

Mark has created and delivered soft skills training to a vast range of clients, from global giants to small firms and partnerships. He is an accomplished global trainer and has delivered extensive programmes in the UK, USA, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

He is a highly adaptive, hands-on and highly sought-after facilitator who always receives excellent feedback from delegates. He is comfortable training at any level of seniority and experience, from “black belts” to novices. In addition to his soft skills specialism, his expertise includes but is not limited to Risk Management, Trade Finance, Regulatory Compliance, FCC & AML and all aspects of Corporate, Private & Retail Banking.

After attending our time management skills training course, delegates will be able to:

• Understand how to manage time in a business/corporate environment more effectively.
• Ensure that in the future and as far as possible; the right amount of time is allocated to the right activity.
• Create prioritised simple “to-do” lists in order to assign specific time slots to activities as per their importance.
• Be able to make the best use of the time available without working unreasonably long hours.
• Avoid the temptation to “butterfly” or get involved too much in personal projects.
• Appreciate that effective time management in a business or corporate enclave must include breaks in the form of “you time” and “downtime”.
• Realise that for optimum results the help and assistance of colleagues and an element of delegation are essential.

• We have been delivering first-class and very high-quality training for more than 20 years and our excellent reputation hopefully speaks for itself.
• We do not use academics for soft skills training. The real world often acts in strange and mysterious ways not according to a textbook.
• Our time management skills course director has over 40 years in the financial services industry, most of the time in managerial roles culminating in main board director status.
• Please note that this time management skills training course is highly interactive and will include very enjoyable exercises to enhance your learning experience.

Time management skills are vital in business life as there are always more issues to deal with than time available. How many people allow their in-trays to manage them? Do they also fail to prioritise? What does effective “Time Management” for professionals look like?

This one-day highly interactive time management skills training course will help delegates to become masters in the art of time management. After the time management skills course, delegates will know how to ensure that scarce resources are always allocated to where they will generate the best dividend; this includes the allocation of time.