Time Management Strategies for Projects

"I'll delegate when I find good people." Translation: "I'll trust them after they prove themselves." Plot twist: They can't prove themselves until you trust them. Break the loop. Delegate to develop. Here's how: 1️⃣ What should you delegate? Everything. Not a joke. You need to design yourself completely out of your old job. Set your sights lower and you'll delegate WAY less than you should. But don't freak out: Responsibly delegating this way will take months. 2️⃣ Set Expectations w/ Your Boss The biggest wild card when delegating: Your boss.  Perfection isn't the target. Command is.  - Must-dos: handled  - Who you're stretching   - Mistakes you anticipate   - How you'll address Remember: You're actually managing your boss. 3️⃣ Set Expectations w/ Yourself  Your team will not do it your way.  So you have a choice: - Waste a ton of time trying to make them you?   - Empower them to creatively do it better?  Remember: 5 people at 80% = 400%. 4️⃣ Triage Your Reality - If you have to hang onto something -> do it.  - If you feel guilty delegating a miserable task -> delete it.  - If you can't delegate them anything -> you have a bigger problem. 5️⃣ Delegate for Your Development  You must create space to grow. Start here:   1) Anything partially delegated -> Completion achieves clarity.  2) Where you add the least value -> Your grind is their growth.  3) The routine -> Ripe for a runbook or automation. 6️⃣ Delegate for Their Development Start with the stretch each employee needs to excel. Easiest place to start: ask them how they want to grow. People usually know. And they'll feel agency over their own mastery. Bonus: Challenge them to find & take that work. Virtuous cycle. 7️⃣ Set Expectations w/ Your Team  Good delegation is more than assigning tasks:  - It's goal-oriented  - It's written down  - It's intentional When you assign "Whys" instead of "Whats", You get Results instead of "Buts". 8️⃣ Climb The Ladder Aim for the step that makes you uncomfortable:     - Steps over Tasks  - Processes over Steps  - Responsibilities over Processes  - Goals over Responsibilities   - Jobs over Goals  Each rung is higher leverage. 9️⃣ Don't Undo Good Work Delegating & walking away - You need to trust. But you also need to verify. - Metrics & surveys are a good starting point. Micromanaging - That's your insecurity, not their effort. - Your new job is to enable, motivate & assess, not step in. ✅ Remember: You're not just delegating tasks. - You're delegating goals. - You're delegating growth. - You're delegating greatness. The best time to start was months ago.  The next best time is today. 🔔 Follow Dave Kline for more posts like this. ♻️ And repost to help those leaders who need to delegate more.

Land the plane. If you’re in it right now, dealing with a missed goal, a major bug, a failed launch, or an angry keystone customer, this is for you. In a crisis, panic and confusion spread fast. Everyone wants answers. The team needs clarity and direction. Without it, morale drops and execution stalls. This is when great operators step up. They cut through noise, anchor to facts, find leverage, and get to work. Your job is to reduce ambiguity, direct energy, and focus the team. Create tangible progress while others spin. Goal #1: Bring the plane down safely. Here’s how to lead through it. Right now: 1. Identify the root cause. Fast. Don’t start without knowing what broke. Fixing symptoms won’t fix the problem. You don’t have time to be wrong twice. 2. Define success. Then get clear on what’s sufficient. What gets us out of the crisis? What’s the minimum viable outcome that counts as a win? This isn’t the time for nice-to-haves. Don’t confuse triage with polish. 3. Align the team. Confusion kills speed. Be explicit about how we’ll operate: Who decides what. What pace we’ll move at. How we’ll know when we’re done Set the system to direct energy. 4. Get moving. Pull the people closest to the problem. Clarify the root cause. Identify priority one. Then go. Get a quick win on the board. Build momentum. Goal one is to complete priority one. That’s it. 5. Communicate like a quarterback Lead the offense. Make the calls. Own the outcome. Give the team confidence to execute without hesitation. Reduce latency. Get everyone in one thread or room. Set fast check-ins. Cover off-hours. Keep signal ahead of chaos. 6. Shrink the loop. Move to 1-day execution cycles. What did we try? What happened? What’s next? Short loops create momentum. Fast learning is fast winning. 7. Unblock the team (and prep the company to help). You are not a status collector. You are a momentum engine. Clear paths. Push decisions. Put partner teams on alert for support. Crises expose systems. And leaders. Your job is to land the plane. Once it’s down, figure out what failed, what needs to change, and how we move forward. Land the plane. Learn fast. Move forward. That’s how successful operators lead through it.

Meetings are killing your productivity. Here's how to fix that. We spend countless hours each week in meetings, yet most of them are unnecessary time-wasters that should have been emails. Most meetings happen because someone wants to save themselves the effort of solving a problem alone. They'd rather talk it out with colleagues than do the hard work of thinking. Those meetings are pointless. But not all meetings are.  By establishing clear rules for when meetings should (and shouldn't) happen, you can reclaim hours of productive time each week. These seven meeting commandments will transform your workplace culture and eliminate useless meetings forever: 1. Thou Shalt Only Meet for Consensus Meetings are for making decisions, not information sharing. If you're not seeking alignment or agreement, don't schedule a meeting. 2. Thou Shalt Require a Clear Agenda No agenda, no meeting. Period. Every meeting must have a structured plan outlining what problem needs solving. 3. Thou Shalt Prepare a Briefing Document Before calling a meeting, write a 1-2 page digest outlining the problem, your reasoning, and your recommendation. Do the thinking work first. 4. Thou Shalt Communicate Asynchronously First Share information and gather feedback through email, Slack, or collaborative documents before considering a synchronous meeting. 5. Thou Shalt Not Hold Status Update Meetings Routine updates can be handled through asynchronous communication. Save meetings for discussions that actually require real-time interaction. 6. Thou Shalt Keep Meetings Brief Shorter is better. Stand-up meetings can effectively keep discussions focused and prevent rambling. 7. Thou Shalt Ban Devices Require all attendees to leave their devices at the door. If a meeting is worth having, it deserves everyone's full attention. For more workplace productivity tips like these, subscribe to my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e3xrWpEj

It’s not my usual article day, but I couldn’t wait to share this one. Why? Because I know so many of you are feeling the same: overwhelmed by endless tasks, struggling to keep up with everything that demands your attention. So let’s talk TIME. Master Time, Master Success: Proven Strategies for Leaders Here’s the deal: Time is the ultimate equalizer. We all get 24 hours. That’s it. But what separates the truly successful from the overwhelmed? How you manage those hours... 👇 Here’s a sneak peek at the top strategies from this week’s article: 1️⃣ Ruthlessly Prioritize Ask yourself: What are the top 5 things that will move the needle this year? Then, focus 95% of your time on those 5. If it’s not one of those five? Delegate or cut it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Focus is a force multiplier. The tighter your focus, the bigger your results. 2️⃣ Stop Death by Meeting Before you schedule or attend another meeting, ask: Does this meeting have a clear purpose tied to a critical decision? If not, cancel it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Meetings without purpose are really distractions in disguise. 3️⃣ Master Calendar Clarity Start with a clean slate. Rebuild your calendar with INTENTION—deep work, high-priority meetings, and most importantly, time to think. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: A cluttered calendar = a cluttered mind. 4️⃣ Time Block for Deep Work You’re a leader, not a micromanager. Block off 1-2 hours a day for undistracted work on the big challenges. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Deep work isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. 5️⃣ Make Well-Being Non-Negotiable High-performing leaders aren’t just good at their jobs—they’re good at life. Schedule time to recharge...skip the slow burn. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Peak productivity comes from balance. 6️⃣ Audit Your Collaboration Time Be ruthless with your time—collaboration should be about solving problems or making decisions. Everything else? Skip it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Collaboration is only productive when it drives results. 7️⃣ Delegate Like a Pro Let it go. If its not vision, strategy, or leadership? It belongs on someone else’s plate. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Your job is to empower, not control. 8️⃣ Track Your Time, Own Your Day For one week, track every minute. Where’s your time going, really? Once you know, you can fix it. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Time is your most valuable asset. Own it, don’t let it own you. 9️⃣ Batch Similar Tasks Together Stop multitasking—it’s a myth. Group similar tasks and handle them in focused blocks to boost efficiency. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Switching between tasks kills productivity. Batching is the answer. 1️⃣0️⃣ Reflect & Adjust Each week, take a few minutes to reflect: What worked? What didn’t? Then tweak your approach for the next week. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Time management isn’t static. It’s a process that needs refining. 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁.

When I was first starting out, I tried to do everything myself. I'm talking cleaning toilets and sweeping the floors, in addition to all the writing, filming, editing, production work, etc. I definitely learned the hard lesson that it's crucial to delegate. Here are my tips. ⬇️ 👉Clearly define the tasks or projects you're delegating, including expected outcomes and deadlines. 👉Match tasks to the strengths and skills of your team members. 👉Equip your team with the necessary resources, tools, and information they'll need. 👉Schedule regular check-ins to monitor progress, offer guidance, and address any concerns. 👉Create an environment where everyone feels comfortable asking questions or asking for help. 👉Offer constructive feedback. 👉Encourage skill development by assigning tasks that challenge and stretch their capabilities. 👉Allow for flexibility and be open to suggestions from others. The main thing to remember is that you're a TEAM. You need everyone's skills, expertise, and insights for a positive, collaborative, creative work environment.

The 4 most important #questions to ask yourself if you are to master #DelegatingWELL 1. Why must I delegate! The simple response is, how #far do you think you can walk carrying a load of 100ks on your head? Not far, right? In the same way, if you want to lead for long and not suffer #burnout, you are going to learn to delegate! 2. What should i delegate? This depends but my usual take is; A) #breaking down the task in order of important duties and this then helps me what I should do as a leader, and what I should delegate to others. Sometimes it’s the most important or #delicate part of the assignment. B) Other times I consider what part of the assignment I know #someone else on the team can do a much better job at. Being a leader means getting the best people to do the best job. Not trying to do everything yourself. C) Sometimes I will consider which part of the assignment aligns with #where I am going in life. I have learnt to concentrate my energy on that which is connected with my destiny. This means there are moments I delegate things that fall outside that path but are in line with another’s destiny. D) Things that will take a lot of my time but bring #less results. Sometimes being busy does not mean being productive. Pick your battles well and let others also put in their weight in certain parts of the assignment. E) There are times I will delegate a task to another team #member because I know it will help them grow. Even though I know it’s something I can do, if I realize it will help someone on the team grow, I will sometimes delegate that task. 3. When should I delegate? I am one for delegating #early! And this is for two reasons: A) it brings others in early enough so you can get the task done #faster and B) it helps spread the effort needed to fulfil the task so you do not# burn out. Do not wait to be overwhelmed before you can think of delegating! As soon as you have a clear picture of the assignment and what has to be done, start thinking who should do what! 4. Who do I make sure delegation brings results Keep a #Bird’sEye on everything. This does not mean uncomfortably peeping over people’s shoulders. Set times to #report back on progress from the person/people you have delegated to. That helps to ensure things do not slip through the cracks and that you keep on track in terms of time. Are these things you usually consider? Which of them stands out for you? Cheers 🥂 to building teams that last and win Jose

Do you close every meeting with actions and deadlines? Does every deadline have accountability? How you close your meetings and conversations can make or break your project and the team's productivity and momentum. If you are closing with actions, great! If those actions are not assigned a deadline and accountability, well...that's not great. And, it happens more often than not, especially when a meeting goes really well. Nobody likes to break the momentum of the meeting's success by assigning deadlines and let alone, talk about accountability. But when we fail to assign actions with deadlines and accountability, we are leaving our success to chance and making it much more difficult to hold ourselves to account. As a general practice save the last 10 minutes of every meeting to assign actions, deadlines and accountability. Here are 3 questions you can begin to use consistently if you aren't already: 🎯 What actions do we need take on and by when? (action + deadline) 🎯 Who will take that action on and by when? 🎯 To the owner of the action...How do you want to be held accountable for that action? When you get in the pactice of closing every meeting with actions, owners, deadlines and accountability, you are setting you and your team up for success. Try this #Tuesdaystip and let me know how it goes! ** For more tips and tools to communication effectively on your team, join over 87,000 Learners in my Linkedin Learning course, "Communication Skills for Modern Management". Link in comments. #Tuesdaystip #accountability #actionitems #meetingmanagement #emotionalintelligence

A PM at Google asked me how I managed 30+ stakeholders. 'More meetings?' Wrong. Here's the RACI framework that cut my meeting load by 60% while increasing influence. 1/ 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙫𝙨 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 Most PMs drown because they invite everyone who's "interested." Instead, split your stakeholders into: - R: People doing the work - A: People accountable for success 2/ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙥 Stop asking for approval from everyone. Create two clear buckets: - C: Must consult before decisions - I: Just keep informed of progress 3/ 𝘿𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 > 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 For "Informed" stakeholders, switch to documented updates. They'll actually retain more than in another recurring meeting. 4/ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙝𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙚 "𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲." Use this in every email. Watch the right people emerge. 5/ 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 Build your approval flows around your R&A stakeholders only. Everyone else gets strategic updates. --- This isn't about excluding people. It's about respecting everyone's time while maintaining momentum. If you found this framework helpful for managing stakeholders: 1. Follow Alex Rechevskiy for more actionable frameworks on product leadership and time management 2. Bookmark and retweet to save these tactics and help other PMs streamline their stakeholder management

How I Track 10+ Projects at Once as a Program Manager at Amazon It’s a question I get a lot: How do you stay on top of everything without letting something slip? Different teams. Different timelines. Different deliverables. And a lot of noise. Here’s how I keep it all moving…and still make it home for dinner: 1/ I use one central tracking system for everything ↳ One doc, one view. ↳ If it’s not in the tracker, it doesn’t exist. ↳ I update it daily and keep it brutally simple. 2/ I start every week with a 15-minute self check-in ↳ What’s behind? What’s on track? What’s at risk? ↳ If I don’t do this Monday morning, the week runs me instead of the other way around. 3/ I color-code by priority and risk ↳ Green means I don’t need to touch it. ↳ Yellow means it needs a check-in. ↳ Red means I need to escalate or unblock. 4/ I follow up with context, not just reminders ↳ “Just checking in” turns into “We need this by Friday to keep X on track.” ↳ People respond to clarity, not pressure. 5/ I keep a running weekly update for leadership ↳ 3 bullets: what moved, what’s stuck, and what I need help with. ↳ It keeps everyone informed without another meeting. Managing 10+ projects isn’t about multitasking. It’s about systems, focus, and momentum. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to know where to look…and what to move next. How do you track your priorities without getting overwhelmed?

Most PMs burn out chasing perfection while elite PMs use the 80/20 rule. I admit it. I used to be a perfectionist. But I don't strive for perfect projects anymore. Why? Because I've discovered something that transformed my approach to project management. The difference? It's not about working harder or longer hours. It's about working smarter. I've spent years watching myself and others push past breaking points, and here's what I've learned: → Average PMs exhaust themselves trying to perfect everything. → Elite PMs identify what truly matters and focus their energy there. Let me show you what I mean. The typical PM approaches a project by: 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆. - They burn the midnight oil. - They stress over every detail. - They collapse at the finish line. But the elite PM asks: 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 20% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 80% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲? See the difference? The first PM drains their team's energy on low-impact tasks. The second PM conserves resources for what actually moves the needle. This 80/20 principle appears everywhere in project management: 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. 80% of your problems come from 20% of your risks. 80% of your objectives are met by 20% of your requirements. And often, it's even more dramatic: 90% of your budget is consumed by only 10% of your purchase orders. 95% of your time is spent troubleshooting 5% of your issues. 99% of your stress comes from only 1% of your stakeholders. (You know exactly which one I'm talking about.) Each statistic points to the same truth: not everything deserves equal attention. Why do so many PMs still chase perfection across the board? Three reasons: 1. They fear being judged for "missing something" 2. They've been rewarded for perfectionism in the past 3. They haven't learned to distinguish between critical and merely important But here's the truth: There will always be more you could do on any project. Always another improvement. Always another feature. By focusing on the vital few instead of the trivial many, you're not cutting corners—you're being strategic. That's the real secret of exceptional project management. Not perfect execution of everything, but perfect prioritization of what matters most. So next time you're feeling overwhelmed by a project, stop and ask yourself: "What 20% of this work will deliver 80% of the results?" The way you answer this question will determine whether you burn out or break through. ~~~ PS - Are you still trying to perfect everything? Or have you identified the 20% that truly matters for your current project? Drop a comment below. ⬇️