The Impact of Effective Time Management on Productivity in an Organization: A Case of Professional Office Assistant

This article is published by the Zamfara International Journal of Humanities.

By

Bulus Daniel Maiyaki, (PhD)
National Rural Electrification Agency
Abuja - Nigeria.
bulsyaki@gmail.com (+2348033117757) 

Abstract: 

Organization is an association of persons aimed at achieving certain set of objectives. It is a rational coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievement of some common well defined goals, through division of labour and function and through a hierarchy of authority and responsibility. Effective time management could also be seen as the art and science of rational use of time which is the science of effective time investment, a process of planning, organizing, coordinating, monitoring, directing, motivating and communicating. It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to educate every employee of an organization on the effective management of time to achieve the set organizational goals, though with a special emphasis on a Professional Office Assistant. The paper explains the concepts of time management, productivity, Professional Office Assistant all geared towards administrative effectiveness in an organization with interest on the effective time management.  Primary and secondary data were used to gather data for this work. Linkert scale format was used to design the questionnaire. On the whole, the paper concludes among other things that there is a relationship between time management and administrative effectiveness. Thus, all the activities being performed by administrators are done within the time hence time management cannot be separated from administrators’ efficiency.

Key Words: Organization, Time Management, Professional Office Assistant

 

 

 

Introduction

Organization can be defined as a process that defines the resources as well as allocate them, coordinate human efforts and integrate both in order to achieve the

 

defined goals. It is not enough to put resources together without integrating them towards a set goal. In other words, it assigns works in a systematic manner to several workers/ employees within the organization. It is part of the duty of organization to ensure that suitable work is handed out repetitively to an employee who is a good performer in his specific area of specialization. Thus, an employee working regularly in a specific area gains invaluable experience in the long run. This is the main reason for people been assigned to handle a particular job he acquired more experience as he continuous doing the same job over a period of time.

Time is unique and it is one of the scarcest resources in the universe. It can neither be replaced like man, nor accumulated like money. Time cannot be turn on and off like a machine or stock plied like raw materials. Therefore, due to the unique nature of time, it is important we manage our time effectively to maximize production. Time management is basically the art of arranging business and personal affairs in such a way that a person together with his things show up when, where, and how he has intended them to as effortlessly and ubiquitously, as practicable; and to facilitate getting things done as promptly as practicable with the less amount of resources (money, time, energy and people) necessary.

This idea brings us to the concept of time management in an organization. Time is key to effectively manage an organization to minimalize output. Time management is the process of planning and managing your time to work smarter rather than harder. You can plan your time between your most critical tasks with the help of good time management. Thus, Effective time management is the process of utilizing your time to plan your days so that you can do your work with less effort and make the most out of your available time. Indeed, by controlling your time, you can achieve greater outcomes in less time with no stress.

Now, the crux of this paper is to educate every employee of an organization on the effective management of time to achieve the set organizational goals, though with a special emphasis on a Professional Office Assistant. A Professional Office Assistant is not just an employee, but a person who needs to manage his/her time effectively to the benefit of the organization. He/she is a professional who oversees clerical tasks, such as sorting and sending mails. They keep an inventory of office, supplies and order new materials as needed to ensure that the work place is neat and clean for visitors or clients.  Thus, the aim of this presentation is to among other things analyze the impact of effective time management on organization effectiveness; and to also examine the relationship between time management and organization effectiveness. 

Statement of the Problem

In every organization, effective time management is crucial to productivity. Time is necessary for every organization to strive and aimed at achieving its set goals and objectives. Therefore, the importance of time in an organization cannot be over emphasized.  A Professional Office Assistant is not just an employee, but a person who needs to manage his/her time effectively to the benefit of the organization. We shall be looking at the utilization of available time as an important resource in productivity.

Objectives of the Study

1.        Determine the role of time management in productivity of an organization within a specific time frame.

2.        Determine the duties of professional office assistant in a work place.

Research Questions

1. What is the role of time management in productivity of an organization within a specific time frame?

2. What are the  responsibilities of professional office assistant in a work place?

 

Literature Review and Conceptual Clarifications

Production and Productivity in a Work Place

 Productivity is commonly defined as a ratio between the outputs volume and the value of inputs. It measures how efficiently production inputs such as labour and capital are being used in an economy to produce a given level of output. It also refers to the physical relationship between the quantity produced (output) and the quantity of resources used in the course of production (input). It is the ratio between the output of goods and services and the input of resources consumed in the process of production. In other words, output means the quantity of products provided and the inputs are the various resources used in the production. The resources used may be land, building, equipment, machinery, materials, labour, etc. Some scholars would tell you that productivity is an economic measure of output per unit of input. Output refers to the total production in terms of units or in terms of revenues while input refers to all other factors of production used like capital, labour, equipment etc. productivity is a good indicator of the efficiency with which a factory is operating. If a firm has higher productivity (i.e.) it produces more with a given amount of inputs, it means it is utilizing the resources properly. Therefore, a high level productivity means that the resources are utilized to the optimum, while minimizing wastage. This leads to reduction in cost of production and subsequently availability of quality products to customers or clients (as the case may be) at lower price. Profitability of the firms is also related to its productivity; which translated to mean, more profit means that more retained earning which would definitely increase stakeholders’ wealth.

Productivity differs from production in the sense that production means the process of converting raw materials into finished product. It determines the volumes of output produced, which is an absolute concept. However, productivity indicates surplus generation. That is, it is all about higher output over the given input. It is a relative concept. In other words, production is addition of value to the raw material, while productivity is the efficiency in production.

At this juncture, it is pertinent we talk about time as a useful resource in the actualization of production.

 Concept of Time Management

In order for us to have a clear comprehension of the concept of time management, it is important to know the meaning of the two main words of ‘time’ and ‘management’. Time is one of the valuable resources of everyone. It must be effectively utilized to achieve the target goals of an organization. To me, time is like a river. One cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Time is one of those resources available to anyone without exception and equally supposed to be utilized effectively through using all potentials, talents, personal ability, and defined process because time is important. Therefore, it is the management of time that is important to make the best use of it. It is not renewable resources and cannot be replaced or controlled.

Effective time management could also be seen as the art and science of rational use of time which is the science of effective time investment, a process of planning, organizing, coordinating, monitoring, directing, motivating and communicating. (Ali,2010). It is also defined as a strategy or tool which helps a person to manage his time in a much productive manner that it results in getting more done in less time. It is known as the method of organizing and taking control over the activities that one performs throughout their days in a given amount of time. It is used to control the time which helps you to be more effective, efficient and productive  (Khaled and Almaz, 2015)

Indeed, time is one of the most important standards for measuring individual or organizations performance; since time improved performance in general, and increased income and return from work, whether at individual or organizational level. In the words of (Cordier, 1990), time is an asset that all competitors shares in common. The fact that management of time could be one of the decision element in attaining organizational objectives especially, that time boarders in productivity, it follows that time can be wasted or conserved. This tendency is the reason responsible or the emphasis on the need for effective management of time on employees productivity in an organization. In this case, there are some essential tools used for the management of time for optimum productivity in an organization. These include:

  The use of productivity calendar: the use of productivity calendar is a schedule of time (period and date) and the special activities to be accomplished by a person. The following are the requirements you need to take when preparing a productive calendar:

i.                    Make specific plan-some activities must be planned for specific time committed time might be activities or appointment over which you have no control. This might include department or sectional meeting, appraisal meeting, visiting of client, project site attending to customers’ special request or conducting market survey.

ii.                  Any of the above listed commitments must be blocked in the productivity calendar which can be planned on hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis. Plan ahead what you would need from other and give reasonable deadline to other people for information of materials you will need from them.

a.       Arrange what you have to do in order of priority

i.        Indicating your needs /goals is the basis for setting priorities.

ii.      Make the priorities simple enough to be adopted to your various activities and circumstances.

b.       Understand your body and mind so as to know when best to do what and select activities that minimize interpersonal stress. This involves the use of a clock to guide your means of carrying out the daily activities.

Principles of Time Management

According to European Journal of Scientific Research (2008) indicated the following as principles of effective time management.

1.      Planning: planning involves setting goals and identifying practical steps to be followed to achieve such goals. There are three types of plans ,namely: strategic plan, intermediate plan, and short plan

2.      Organization: organization refers to integrate all resources you have within the plan for the purposes of achieving personal goals.

3.      Responsibility: the modern management basis is focusing on responsibility and accountability. The following steps are used for responsibility are:

l To be responsible for whom you are

l To be responsible for what you can do

l To be responsible for what you have received.

l To be responsible for those who are leading you.

4.      Accountability: it is important for any responsible individual to bear the responsibility for actual results of his/her actions and compare such results with places plans.

 

 

Professional Office Assistant and Effective Time Management

As earlier stated, Time management is about making an active effort to create efficiency and effectiveness in a way that makes someone achieve his/her targeted result more likely. Time management as a resource under your control should be sufficient to accomplish a given activity. It is a period during which action or process take place.

Now, who is an Office Assistant? An office Assistant is a professional who is charge with the responsibility of oversees clerical tasks, such as sorting and sending mails. They keep an inventory of office, supplies and order new materials as needed to ensure that the work place is neat and clean for visitors or clients. A good Office Assistant needs to have excellent organizational skills and a good eye to detail responsibilities so as to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. A good Office Assistant must be able to work well with others workers in a manner that coordination is achieved for the benefit and growth of the work place (organization). He or she must be someone who often uses critical thinking when making decision independently which is helpful during busy time.

Office Assistant is a vital part of any office. Though, this may go by other related names such as Administrative Assistant, Secretary, but they all have one thing in common, their roles are to support the staff members at hand and make sure everything runs smoothly behind the scene. Thus, we want our audience to know that the term office assistant could also be called Administrative Assistant, Secretary or Office Assistant, depending on the structure of such organization.

According to (Adekoya 2009), who indicated that there are relationship between time management and administrative effectiveness. It gives the impression that administrative needs the proper use of time before they can be effective in their various assignments.  All the activities being performed by administrators are done within the time hence time management cannot be separated from administrators’ efficiency. Therefore, time management is very crucial to an Office Assistant in order to achieve his enormous duties and responsibilities in an organization. Effective time management is key to the importance of quality of life. Indeed, neither time, nor lost opportunity can be regained. But we can make a good use of presence and future time. Thus, time management is not the question of choice. All of us manage it, but only sensible people wish to master this skill and use it effectively. Therefore, effective time management depends on two factors: planning work and focusing on details. If we look closely into what we spend our time on, then decide on our priorities and plan the work to do step by step, we are bound to increase our efficiency. Good work organization is of utmost important as it creates conditions conducive to effectively and more creatively. It is necessary to gradually change our habit and set priorities on our activities.

Procedure

Primary and secondary data were used for this research article. It covers selected organizations within the federal capital territory, Abuja-Nigeria, notably, the Rural Electrification Agency, Abuja. The secondary data were also obtained from books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and the internet. Empirical works of some scholars were also consulted in this work. Sample of some randomly selected subjects who were mostly Professional Office Assistants were engaged to fill in questionnaire regarding the research questions of this work. Although, the questionnaire was designed in Likert scale format which makes it very easy for the input of items as well as the analysis of findings, but it has also helped the researcher to be explicit with his discovery.  

Findings and Discussions

On what should be the role of time management in productivity of an organization within a specific time frame? It was discovered that, time is central to productivity in every organization. Time management is the strategy of planning out your available time and controlling the amount of time you spend on specific tasks in order to work more efficiently. Effective time management comes easier to some people than to others, but everyone can develop habits to improve their time management skills. Without strong time management, your work and well-being can suffer, and it can lead to: producing poor quality work, missing deadlines, increasing your stress levels, ruining your work-life balance, harming your professional reputation, etc. therefore, every individual employee, irrespective of cadre must work according with time.

On what is the importance of effective time management to a professional office assistant in a work place?

On what are the duties of professional office assistant in a work place? It was discovered from the analysis of our data that, every professional office assistant should be very smart and active with all sense of responsibility. The idea person for an Office Assistant or Administrative Secretary must be a very hard working professional who is able to undertake a variety of office support tasks and work diligently under pressure. This person will be comfortable working with a high degree of attention to detail and discretion as well as incorporating new and effective ways to achieve better result. He must be humble, modest and honest.  An  office assistant’s responsibility include taking calls from customers or clients and delivery messages while also using basic office equipment like faxes, or scanners for efficient productivity. He/she helps to maintain files to keep track of important document/records organize travel arrangement, manage supply and perform data entry as required. Other functions of an Office Assistant are:

5.      Sort and distribute communication in a timely manner.

6.      Create an update records ensuring accuracy and validity of information.

7.      Schedule and plan meetings and appointment

8.      Monitor level of supplies and handle shortages.

9.      Resolve office related malfunctions and respond to request or issues.

10.  Maintain trusting relationship with suppliers, customers and colleagues.

11.  Perform receptionist duties when needed.

12.  Coordinate with others departments to ensure compliance with established policies.

Conclusion

Organization induces accountability by defining relationship among the employees within an enterprise. This is done by defining whom an employee is accountable to. In effect, it provides an ordered flow of information and instruction. It also helps in classification of the extent of authority, responsibility and provides for a hierarchy. All these are to enhance productivity in an organization. Therefore, the role of a professional Office Assistant cannot be over emphasized in an organization, being it private or public setting. Thus, time being an invaluable resource needs to be applied judiciously to maximize productivity. Therefore, effective time management is crucial in attaining target goals of an organization. On this premise, paper concludes that, there is a relationship between time management and administrative effectiveness. Thus, all the activities being performed by administrators are done within the time hence time management cannot be separated from administrators’ efficiency. So, every Professional Office Assistant should value his/her time in the course of performing his/her duty. Therefore, to manage our time means to effectively manage our activities in line with our action plans which is schedule within a defined time frame and purpose geared towards achieving the organizational goals.

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