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If you work with a large team, it can be overwhelming trying to manage the team’s time in the most efficient way.

Maybe members of the team are in different time zones, or maybe there are so many personality types that you have no idea how to start bringing people together. In The Future of Teamwork Podcast, I got to chat with HUDDL3 Group CEO Dane Groeneveld about holistic strategies for time management for different personalities, ways to guard against the distractions of modern life, and how to apply these strategies at work. Listen to the full episode here. 

Monitoring Progress with Myers-Briggs

When it comes to monitoring progress on time management with clients, I’ve found that technology tools can either cause a distraction or become cumbersome and overwhelming – which distracts from the progress itself. 

So the most important thing to tracking progress is finding what you (or the people you work with) prefer. For instance, if you’re a digital person, use a Google Doc to track your habits. If they’re a pen-to-paper person, use a notebook.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a GREAT tool for choosing a progress monitoring system that will work for you (it’s also great for building a team at work!). Myers-Briggs uses 4 pairs of preferences to explain how people orient themselves to the world. Knowing your type will help you understand how you make decisions.

For example, one Myers-Briggs category describes how you prefer to take in information (Sensing vs. Intuition). Someone with a sensing preference prefers facts only – things they can see, touch, smell, taste, and hear. Someone who prefers intuition, on the other hand, likes to think through possibilities, abstracts, and ideas. They can quickly jump to conclusions and connect the dots. 

Through experience working with different preferences, I’ve found that clients with a Sensing preference will find checklists to be a good match for them as they create routines and workflows. But on the other hand, someone with an Intuitive preference might need to start with a brainstorm session to accomplish the same tasks. 

When you know your preferences (or the preferences of those you work with), you’ll find the work will get completed much faster!

Digital Detox

Another time management strategy I like to employ is the digital detox, AKA an information diet. 

We have an amazing opportunity in our pockets in the form of our phones. At our fingertips is anything we could ever want to learn and see.

But on the flip side, there’s also Instagram, Facebook, and other sites that are built in a way that gives us hits of dopamine every time we see something novel and exciting on them. 

So, if you’ve ever spent tons of time on social media or news sites and wondered, “Where did the time go?” then you’re not alone!

Comparing yourself to others on social media and engaging with negative news can distract us and cause us to go in different directions that don’t align with our vision and values. 

Rotate Meeting Times

The HEART Method stands for Habits, Energy, Attention, Recharge, and Time. Energy means we understand your unique and natural energy pattern, and using that energy flow to map out how you spend your time. 

A great way to apply this to the workplace is to understand that working on a large team means you will be working with many different energy chronotypes. This will include:

• Morning Lark – early morning energy, afternoon slump, evening rebound
• Night Owl – early morning rebound, afternoon slump, evening energy
• Third Bird – mid-morning energy, afternoon slump, evening rebound

If you manage a large team, consider rotating meeting times throughout the week so all members of your team have at least one day where their peak energy time coincides with the meeting. That way, you allow each member to bring their best energy to the meetings at least once or twice a month. 

Want more? Listen to the full episode here.