Let's spend a few minutes with John Cooke, General Manager at CMT.

John, internal meetings can really chew up a professional’s time.  Any tips on minimising time spent in staff meetings?

Only invite the people who really need to be there.  You can always distribute the documented outcomes to other interested parties.  Always start on time.  Have a clear agenda that is distributed beforehand.  Make it a stand-up meeting if the agenda is short.  Finish on time and don’t be constrained by thinking your meeting has to run for 30 minutes or 60 minutes; schedule ten minutes if that will be sufficient.

Continuing with the topic of other people taking up time, what are good ideas you have seen for better delegating tasks to staff and/or clients?

Be clear with your people about boundaries of responsibility.  Mechanisms such as Goal Sheets help make it clear who is responsible for which goals and any related tasks.  Delegate tasks as they arise rather than leaving it till later.  Keep a record of the tasks that you have delegated using an electronic or diarised “Waiting” list.  Set aside time to follow up on delegated tasks.

Let’s wrap up this theme of managing other people with email.  How do you get the most out of email without it taking over your day?

Only check your email 2-3 times per day.  If something is really important people will come and see you or call you.  Only check your CC: emails once a day.  Let your staff and clients know how you are managing your emails and why you are managing your emails this way.  There is no point having this rigour if people expect you to read their non-critical emails immediately.

What’s the best piece of “time management” IT you have seen or use?

The Close button on the MS-Outlook application!  Seriously it is not as much about an IT solution as such, it is more about how you choose to use it.  I think good time management is technology-agnostic – it is more about a way of thinking and a culture.

How about Calendars vs To-Do lists?  Which is the most important for you – what really helps you get a handle on time?

Although I use both, the To-Do lists provide me with the most focus.  It is critical to categorise tasks in your To-Do lists correctly so that all outstanding tasks don’t fall into the one unprioritised bucket.  It takes a while to really come up with the right categories to make it work.  Like any good process it is important that you review and update the process to make it work for you.  I often move tasks from my To-Do lists to my calendar when they absolutely must be done that day.

Can you share your #1 time management tip with us?

The greatest single tip is to close your email client when you are working on other tasks.  If you cannot do that at least turn any automatic notifications off.

OK, finally, educate us about CMT.  How do you help other businesses and who should we be referring to you?

CMT is one of the leading providers of licensing and compliance solutions and services to regulatory agencies across Australia and New Zealand.  For the uninitiated licensing processes cover everything from dog registrations, through security guard licences and gaming licences to building approvals development assessment.

We help our clients improve their efficiency, save money and prioritise their limited resources through best practice licensing and compliance processes.

Businesses and interested in CMT’s services include regulatory agencies but also any business with a need for an integrated case management / compliance solution, including the health and mining sectors.

Thanks John!  Learn more about CMT and their suite of regulatory and compliance management solutions and services at www.custman.com.au.