[gap height=”15″]Most business owners and managers struggle with time management – it doesn’t matter how many hours there are in a day, we somehow never seem to have enough. Although your business card may say “Owner” or “Manager,” it’s most likely because there is not enough space to also list “shift-filler,” “accountant,” “in-house therapist,” “customer complaint department” and “employee conflict mediator.” In fact, with so many things pulling you in 50 different directions, you probably end up cramming a full day’s work into half a day’s time because you’re dealing with so many other things that just “pop up.”
[gap height=”15″]The main difference between being an effective manager and a frantic one is simple: time management. “The problem is that managers are frequently subject to the whims of forces outside their control,” says the author of You Can Compete: Double Sales Without Discounting (an awesome read!) “So you’re either passive and a victim of all these demands on you, or you are proactive and the master of your day, and there’s a huge difference in the way you feel stress between those two. If you come into the store and all you can say is how harried you are and there’s no time, well, guess what? You will be harried and have no time. But if you can come in and say, ‘I’ve got a handle on it – I know what’s most important to accomplish today,’ that’s going to make a huge difference.”
[gap height=”15″]Make a list and check it twice: begin every day with a list of personal and professional tasks you need to complete. If you build your day around those, you won’t be as likely to get sidetracked by outside forces.[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]Set Goals:
[gap height=”15″]Setting your sales goal is a hugely important task. Check your salon’s schedule, and give everyone you’re working Set with their sales goals, as well. In the face of all the distractions that will inevitably pop up throughout the day, this simple step will help keep you focused on your primary job: Hitting your sales goal.[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]Prioritize training:
[gap height=”15″]As managers, one of the biggest time-wasters is answering mundane questions from staff, such as, “how do I ring this up?” or “where can I find ____?” If you find yourself answering a lot of simple, routine procedural questions, it’s because your team is not adequately trained. If this is the case, add “teach your staff something new” when making your daily to-do list.[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]Give praise:
[gap height=”15″]Team members who feel appreciated will always go above and beyond what is expected of them. Make sure you set time aside every week or every month to do something to make your staff feel good. Even if it’s as simple as picking them up a coffee on the way to the salon just to say, “you’re doing a great job” – little gestures go a long way.
[gap height=”15″]Effective time management is a difficult thing to master. But, I believe that if you take some of the ideas in this article and incorporate them into your everyday life, you’ll free up more time for yourself to focus on what needs to be done, rather than just what pops up.
[gap height=”15″]Remember: either you run the day, or the day runs YOU.
[gap height=”15″]The main difference between being an effective manager and a frantic one is simple: time management.
