When it comes to learning time management techniques, busy finance professionals may feel there aren’t enough hours

in the workweek. As soon as one task is finished, another is ready to take its place.

The truth is that while time management techniques are easy to understand, mastering time management is difficult. This is especially true

this year, particularly amid a global pandemic and a highly dispersed workforce. Teams must therefore figure out

how to navigate uncharted waters and maintain high efficiency.

Fortunately, there are a few simple steps and concepts your team can start implementing now to get more done each day. They

can be summed up in the following four tips from Joan Burge, business leader, consultant, and corporate trainer.

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1. Identify Working Styles

It’s important for every team member to take a step back and really think about what time of day they’re most productive. Once each

team member has identified their ideal working hours, encourage them to save their most important strategic tasks for that time.

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2. Gather Information Before Diving In

How often has someone asked the finance team to take part in a project or task with vague or very few details? Perhaps they promised to

“provide you with more information later.”

As CFO, you can step in and help gather more information for your team in advance—before they get started—so they can

eliminate back-and-forth later or avoid misunderstandings.

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3. Improve prioritization skills

Because many finance tasks are highly time-sensitive and critical, it can sometimes be difficult for the finance department to

set priorities. To help your team manage competing priorities, “Berg” recommends the following:

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• Ask about specific deadlines.

• Collaborate with others; what seems important in the morning may change by the afternoon.

• When all else fails and a team member can’t choose between two tasks, encourage them to ask:

“What’s the impact of not doing this today?”

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4. Focus on results

One final key point to keep in mind is that lots of activity, hard work, and hours spent don’t necessarily mean

results.

Your finance team may be running around, but not achieving the desired results. So ask department leaders to monitor whether

your team is working too hard.