Time Management Plan

Laying the Foundation (Goals)

My major intent in the pursuance of the DBA program at Walden University is a blend of personal fulfillment and intellectual stimulation. The degree will play a critical role in gaining more knowledge, tools, competencies, and comprehension of the operational setting, corporate, and professionals (Laureate Education, 2016b). Taking advantage of the critical aspects of the BDA program, I aim at achieving success in becoming better in conflict management in organizational settings. On completing the program, I will achieve the objective of obtaining practitioner skills and competencies, which will be constructive in the currently held managerial and business positions (Burke, 2015). The DBA entails a great deal of autonomy, critical in the achievement of this objective. I have set, as one of my priorities, having a fulfilling family life. I am pursuing the program as part of my objective to have time with friends and members of my family. To achieve the objective, I will have to relinquish some of the responsibilities and roles currently bestowed on me (Burke, 2015). To balance the roles, professional and personal, I will have to develop more leadership qualities and skills (Laureate Education, 2016b). This way, I will provide the crucial support for the members of my family and fulfill the expectations at work.

Self-Analysis

Personal SWOT Analysis Results

From the personal SWOT analysis, there is evidence of a great deal of professional expertise, academic competence, and a self-drive for greater personal and professional development. These are the drivers for achievement in the DBA course. At the same time, there are areas which are not exactly compatible with the professional leadership arena (Barker, 2014). The results are indicative of a competitive setting, which can cause challenges in the achievement of success in the business and organizational settings. In addition, the modern business environment is characteristic of major changes with considerable influence in the workplace.  Hence, having exceptional competencies such as the capacity to manage amid the changes will make a lot of difference (Anderson & Gold, 2015). Walden University is a conducive environment for the achievement of the knowledge and insight critical for one to operate in the ever-changing environment.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

I have a stable schedule made possible by the executive position that I hold in my organization, which will play a key role as I pursue the doctoral degree. As an extremely ambitious individual with strong management skills, I have always been instrumental in the positive results in the projects that I have engaged in the past (Anderson & Gold, 2015). The abilities have played a role in achieving improvement and the re-engineering of projects and related processes. Through my charisma, expedience, and skills, I can comfortably deliver presentations to large audiences. With additional training in the course of undertaking the program, I have gained more confidence in public speaking and understanding team dynamics. I have also improved my ability to manage through change. I have integrated into the current course knowledge obtained from two Masters Degrees and seven modules of a DBA at the University of Liverpool.

Weaknesses

I have challenges engraining in more than one business tasks or organizational demands at the same time. The demands can be too much that it becomes intricate for me to adapt stress management, especially when the demands are prolonged. My compassionate nature could be a good side, but it can be limiting to the capacity to deny requests and take immense time dealing with the needs of others (Burke, 2015). In the world of business, the trait can be highly limiting. I have the propensity to assume a lot of tasks at a time, hence, negatively depicting poor time management capability. Because they have limited understanding of my academic ambitions, my family is not highly supportive. I have been developing an understanding of concepts such as APA, but I am yet to gain the highest level of proficiency.

Opportunities

I have a great opportunity to learn and develop at Walden University. Hence, I have the chance to develop a lifelong academic dream in my academic and professional career. I am confident of gaining an education that will be instrumental in developing my capacity to be a great CEO and manager of a leading multinational organization (Burke, 2015). With the experience that I already have, together with training gained from the institution, I have the chance to develop leaders who will support the chance to shape the future world of business (Burke, 2015). I have become better in decision making and the use of critical skills in the professional realm. I am gaining the capability as an independent learner, thanks to the opportunity offered by this institution.

Threats

Even as I pursue my academic and professional objectives, there is a risk that it will jeopardize my personal relationships with friends and some family members. These relationships might suffer the burden of the increased demands and time constraints. New technologies are emerging, and together with certification or education requirements, the pace of my education can be affected (Burke, 2015). Companies are increasingly merging, and new and innovative ideas are causing a new challenge to the current business leaders.

Personal Style and Preferences Time Management System Design

I have realized that there are many things in my personal and professional life that are working well. Regardless of how busy I am, I will always have the time for sports. When it comes to business, my goals are clearly defined. I do not leave anything to chance in this area. I always have set deadlines in completing assignments, which I meet with precision. I take meetings seriously and never procrastinated in any. In this case, I always keep time whenever I have an appointment. Whenever I am not stressed, exercising comes easy for me. Whenever I am under pressure, I have no challenges completing challenging tasks. Between appointments, I always build in transition time. I am one person who finds it hard to turn any person down. Without stress, I am able to meet deadline easily. Tennis is what gives me the highest level of happiness. On the other hand, administrative roles are the ones I easily delegate.

However, there are things that I have to struggle with because they are not working. I have realized that I spend a lot of time on planning. When it comes to relaxation, I do not set clear goals. I wish I could get the chance to do sports on a daily basis. I have always underestimated the time it would take me to get to appointments. In making some decisions, especially the most challenging ones, I find myself procrastinating. I always try to get to appointed places on time. I find it hard to say no to anything, which has always caused me to have burdens of responsibilities. Indeed, I have challenges completing administrative roles.

From the personal analysis, I have realized some very interesting time management preferences. I have realized that I work better independently that collaboratively. The same applies to my exercising and relaxation preference, which I do better alone than in groups. I tend to focus better on one thing than multitasking. I prefer surprises and spontaneity rather than planning and predictability. I work better under pressure and on tight deadlines. Working in silence is better for me than working in a noisy environment. Working with my mind works better than working with my hands.

I have realized that I have a lot of energy in the morning, making it the best time to do everything and the worst to do nothing. The best times for me to relax are afternoons. It is also the worst time to overwork. Evenings are the best time to work and they are the worst to engage in exercise. I also work well late at nights, which are also the worst time to exercise. I have realized that it is possible to recharge my energy levels such as by taking a glass of water, exercising, stretching, taking a brief break, planning for something such as a game of tennis, and looking at a photo of a loved one.

Strategy and Design

Goal	Activities	Daily Tasks	Relationships
Becoming better in conflict management	Learning and development   Resolving conflicts	Learning and developing conflict management skills   Practicing resolving conflicts in my current organization	My current work entails conflicts between workers   There are also conflicts in my family
Becoming a better  manager and leader	Developing management and leadership skills practicing leadership roles	Reading and practicing on leadership roles   Developing skills and competence through day to day	I am a leader and would seek to develop better leadership skills to fulfill my obligations more effectively
Balance between work and family life	Resolving work-to-family conflict Delegating Proper time allocation	Always striking a balance between time allowed to work and the family. Delegating all duties that I can delegate to save more time for family.	My family is as important as work. Therefore, I should always find time for them.

 

Becoming Better in Conflict Management

Conflict in organizations arises from different areas. I have realized that some of the conflicts I have been involved in have been as a result of poor time management. As I study to become a good leader, I will also work on developing leaders in the team that I manage. Among the things I will do as part of resolving the conflicts are teaching them how to use diverse time management tools. With developments in technology, I have realized that various tools are available for the team to record important data such as data logs as part of effective time management (Jo, Kim & Yoon, 2015). As I learn time management, I seek to develop the same knowledge in the team that I am leading. I will spend the carefully allocated time in performing the roles that are geared towards conflict management such as communicating effectively with the workers (Stauffer & Brye, 2015). Following strictly on set routines will play an important role in reducing the conflicts that arise from poor time management. I will also work every day to ensure that the conflicts that arise are effectively managed to prevent time wastage that arise from the conflicting situations.

Becoming a Better Manager and Leader

Being an effective leader is critical in all aspects of the organization. It is about influencing the followers to work towards the goals and objectives of the organization. Therefore, as the leader I am developing, I seek to become better, not only in meeting the vision of my current organization, but ensuring that they are met in a timely manner. My focus is to become better at planning and completing projects on time. Planning well is the foundation for success in all projects. I will work on becoming a good planner by using project planning tools and time planners. These are aspects of the learning process that I will have to study and keep on practicing to achieve perfection. I have learned that good leaders are not just born, but they are developed to work amid the demands of the modern business environment. Change management is another aspect I will learn and keep practicing. This is in line with the realization that the modern business environment is characterized by major changes that a leader should understand and manage. By the end of the program I am confident that I will have become a better leader than today.

I have realized that there is always a conflict between work and family anytime I fail to strike the necessary balance. This is the reason I will work to resolve work-to-family conflict through proper time management. It is possible to achieve the balance by using the critical tools and resources available to a leader. With the capacity to allocate time well across activities, and sticking to the allocations, it is possible to ensure that the work and family duties are adequately performed without conflicts (Dahm, Glomb, Manchester, and Leroy, 2015). From the perspective of work-to-family conflict being as a result of self-discrepant time allocation, it is possible to address the conflict using proper time allocation and management. Time is an important tool that can be used towards this end to ensure that enough time is allocated to each realm and also to ensure that no item takes up the time for the other. I intend to have a time diary that will play the important role in enabling adequate time management (Hellgren, 2014). Another resource available for me is delegation. I have an able team of workers that I can delegate duties to. This will allow me to have time to spend with my family, hence, striking the necessary balance.

Making It Happen

I have various tools that I will use to ensure that I am working on all the identified areas and becoming better at managing time for success. With the project and time planner, I will be able to plan for my projects ahead of time and ensure that they are allocated adequate time to complete. The data logs and diaries will keep all my operations within the stipulated time (Jo, Kim & Yoon, 2015). This is critical to prevent all conflicts resulting from unfinished projects and those flowing beyond the stipulated time. With proper time management, I will improve in multitasking, especially when there are many projects competing for my time (Kayaalp, 2014). I will hold myself accountable by evaluating the ability to complete projects promptly. I will perform continued evaluation of progress throughout a project lifecycle and across a number of projects. I will use change management strategies to be able to mitigate the unexpected effects of risks and environmental factors. Stress management strategies will help in the management of psychological obstacles.