mr time management

8/13/2019 MR Time Management

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Time Management Tips for Market Researchers Real-world Lessons for Market Research Success

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ontents

Welcome ............................................................................................................................... 2

How most researchers spend their time ................................................................................. 3

How they wish they could spend their time ........................................................................... 4

1. Use To-do Lists................................................................................................................... 5

2. Set Realistic Goals Each Day ............................................................................................... 6

Prioritization Questions ............................................................................................................................ 6

3. Try a New Tool ................................................................................................................... 7

4. Know Your Daily Rhythm ................................................................................................... 8

5. Keep a When Time Permits Folder.................................................................................. 9

6. Deal with Email................................................................................................................ 10

7. Work Backwards .............................................................................................................. 11

8. Plan Ahead to Mitigate Risk Factors ................................................................................. 12

9. Embrace Dictation ........................................................................................................... 13

10. Set Reminders ............................................................................................................... 14

11. Set Deadlines ................................................................................................................. 14

12. Avoid Insanity ................................................................................................................ 15

Job Priorities Exercise: Replace Yourself ............................................................................... 16

13. Ask for Help ................................................................................................................... 17

14. Set Important Meetings Early in the Day ........................................................................ 18

15. Avoid Analysis Paralysis ................................................................................................. 18

16. Have a Theme of the Day ............................................................................................... 19

17. Hire an Intern ................................................................................................................ 20

Thanks for reading! ............................................................................................................. 22


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Welcome

A recurring challenge I hear from Research Rockstar students is that of time

management. Too often, deadlines converge, fires erupt, or clients need it

yesterday. So based on my 25 years of market research reality, I have put together

17 time management tips. I hope you find them useful!

Kathryn

Kathryn Korostoff

President & Lead Instructor

Research Rockstar LLC


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How most researchers spend their time

Documenting

10%

Data entry

10%

Troubleshooting

20%

Explaining

schedule slips

20%

Managing

client

expectations

15%

Boring

meetings

25%


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How they wish they could spend their time

Helping

clients apply

research

15%

Crafting

powerful key

findings

30%

Designing

cool projects

20%

Testing newtools &

methods

20%

Attending

training &

conferences

15%

Okay, maybe that was a little facetious. But

you get the point.


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1. Use To-do Lists

A written task list has 4 benefits:

1. Minimizes the risk of forgetting something important2. Provides a senses of accomplishment when items are checked off3. Reduces stress since you now have one place to look4. Eases the task of prioritizing

I use a special notebook that has numberedrows. I update the list every 3 or 4 days. I also

have a code to indicate when I have started

an item, when it is half done, and when it is

completed.

On especially busy days, I will color

highlight tasks that must be done that day.

I prefer a physical notebook versus online,

but thats just me!


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2. Set Realistic Goals Each Day

Save an hour a day for ad hoc, time-sensitive tasks Make careful, conscious prioritization decisions at the beginning of each

day

Is that hard? See prioritization questions

Prioritization Questions As you look at your overall to-do list, ask yourself the following questions.The answers will help you to logically prioritize items.

What items need to be done so that others can do their work? (Doingthese items prevents you from being a bottleneck)

What items are risky? (Doing these items sooner will give youbreathing room for troubleshooting if there are problems)

What items require collaborating or communicating with others to bedone properly? (Doing these items earlier in the day is usually a goodchoice, so that you have time to coordinate with other peoples

schedules)


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3. Try a New Tool

If you havent looked at new project, task or time management tools in afew years, its time to look again

Lots of new tools are available, many with free starter plans Asana Do.com RescueTime Smartsheet Trello + Many more!

Using a new tool doesn't mean marrying it for

life. I have sometimes used a tool

temporarilyto get through a particularly

overbooked month, to help transition team

members, or to manage other workload

fluctuations


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4.Know Your Daily Rhythm

When do you do your best thinking? Best detail work? Make an appointment in your calendar to block off those times

Some people do their best analysis in the morning. Tasks like writing aManagement Summary, an article, or something else that requires deep

reflection

When it comes to doing cognitive work, for example, most adultsperform best in the late morning, according to research by University

of Southern California asquoted in the WSJ

Personally, I prefer meetings before 2 PM

whenever possible. I am susceptible to the 2

PM slump, which makes afternoon

meetings less effective for me.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444180004578018294057070544


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5. Keep a When Time Permits Folder

A catch all folder ensures that you capture the less urgent items that canstill be important

The folder becomes a simple, handy tool during commutes or while waitingfor meetings

Contents for a WTP folder: Articles to read Products to check out Blogs and podcasts to catch up on

My WTP folder is filled with sticky notes and

scraps of paper where I have quickly jotted

down products, people or book titles I want to

look-up when I have more time


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6. Deal with Email

If you can set specific blocks of time each day for email, great!

For many market researchers, especially those managing projects, this isunrealistic. We need to receive and send time-sensitive information. BUT

we can still prioritize. Heres one method:

Step 1: Quickly scan new incoming messages Step 2: Respond quickly to those that NEED responding to right away. Step 3: Any that can wait, color code or toggle a flag. That way you

can sort your inbox at the end of the day by flag status, and catch

up.

Step 4: Any that were never coded can be scanned and deleted atanother time, or can be moved in bulk to a folder titled TPO email

TPO = Time Permitting Only

Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is

important.

Stephen R. Covey
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1538.Stephen_R_Coveyhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1538.Stephen_R_Covey


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7. Work Backwards

In a time crunch to get that next report done? Try working backwards

Planning project subtasks and interim milestone datesbackwardscan oftenforce us to be more efficient

Start with an end date, and work backwards to fill out your projectschedule

Tip: Know your end deliverable (be specific about success criteria),and create a series of steps working backwards to the start


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8. Plan Ahead to Mitigate Risk Factors

All market research projects have them. No exceptions. And most areknown.

At the start of every project, document your risk factors What are the top 3 risk factors for this project? How can we mitigate them?

Risk factor example: unknown quality of list to be used for recruiting In-depth Interview (IDI) participants

Possible mitigation steps: Build in time for a soft launch, identify afallback list, document risk factors for client (advising of specific

benchmarks that need to be met)

I can avoid schedule slips by mitigating risk

factors. And clients appreciate the proactive

approach.


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9. Embrace Dictation

Voice memos, voice recorders, or dictation apps make it easy to dictatenotes and ideas

When working on longer written pieces (management summaries,articles), add on transcription and you get a first draft

Dictation allows you to use your time efficiently, and also helps pass thetime when doing boring tasks (like sitting in traffic!)

I use SpeakWrite. I dictate in the car, when

walking the dog, even on the treadmill.

Sometimes just the process of talking out loud

helps me to clarify my thinking about complex

topics.


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10. Set Reminders

Set up meetings with yourself for important tasks. That way you can haveboth a visual and an alarm reminder.

Use recurring meetings for those tasks that need to be done regularly.

11. Set Deadlines

Parkinson's lawobserves that, "work expands so as to fill the time availablefor its completion.

As Market Researchers, we often manage our time better if we haveseveral interim deadlines leading to a project deliverable date.

Without deadlines, many market research tasks can expand needlessly Another famous adage related to this, attributed to Daniel Kahneman,

is the planning fallacy; a tendency to underestimate how long we

need to complete a task, even when we have experience with the type

of task in question.
http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/the-planning-fallacy-and-the-i/http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/the-planning-fallacy-and-the-i/


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12. Avoid Insanity

Recall the tragically over-used, but decidedly applicable, quote: Thedefinition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting

different results.

When pinched for time, our tendency is to do things the way we always dothem, because its seems less risky. But sometimes, change is good.

Do you always proofread your own reports? Have someone else doit. You may get better results and you can use the time to QA your data

or do another task.

Do you always recycle the same question formats and scales? Maybeits time to refresh on scale options. You may find yourself reenergized

to the point where your analysis actually goes faster because your data

is more interesting!

Need help thinking about how to change

your work habits? Try the following exercise.


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Job Priorities Exercise: Replace Yourself

Step 1: Imagine you have just been promoted! But first, you have to hiresomeone to replace yourself. Your task is to write a job posting. How would

you define your job? Your key responsibilities? Write down this job

description

Specify the top 5 responsibilities Note: Step 1 should take you at least 15 minutes. Be sure to think

carefully and precisely about your top 5!

Step 2: Now look back at your last week: how much of your time was spenton those five items? What percent was spent on otheritems?

What are you spending time on that really is not a good use of yourtime and brain power? Do you really have to do those things?

Many people realize that they are spending as much as 50% of theirtime on things they wouldn't want their replacement wasting time

on!


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13. Ask for Help

There is no shame in asking for help

Possible sources of help: Colleagues: having colleagues do a mock pre-test of a survey design,

or having them sanity check a report, can be a quick task for them that

will give you some relief

Outsourcing: Low-cost sites like Fiverr can be a great way to get helpwith simple tasks

Professional Association members: Member of CASRO, ESOMAR, theMRA, or QRCA? Associations like these all have online forums (some

on LinkedIn) where you can ask qualified peers for advice

I have found low-cost proofreaders and

graphic designers on Fiverr and Guru.com


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14. Set Important Meetings Early in the Day

A morning meeting FORCES you to be ready the day before Reducing the temptation to complete preparation the same day

which is a recipe for disaster

15. Avoid Analysis Paralysis

Market researchers often have piles of data to work with, and it can be hardto judge when the analysis is done


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Analysis can be a never-ending activity. How do you know if you aredone?

Focus on the projects documented objectives. If you are spending more thanX hours (your call as to what X is for you) on analysis that is notdirectly

related to your primary objectives, stop

You can always do more later when the client isn't waiting impatientlyfor your report

16. Have a Theme of the Day

The theme is a recurring focus that may take as little as 5 minutes or asmuch as an hour per event, but is something you need to do consistently.

Here are my themes: Salesforce Monday (review and catch up on CRM reports) Twitter Tuesday (write tweets for the week, schedule for time

release)

Class Prep Wednesday (prep materials for upcoming classes, refreshcontent as needed)

Social Media Thursday (write posts or comment on articles, LinkedIndiscussions, etc.)

Favor Friday (send thank-you notes/gifts, make calls to new clients,send discount or free sample codes to new contacts)

By having recurring tasks scheduled, I don't

stress about if and when I will do them.


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17. Hire an Intern

A sharp, motivated intern can easily be trained to help with many marketresearch tasks:

Coding of open-ended survey responses Selection of verbatim quotes from focus group and IDI transcripts Data checking Incentive management Basic charts & graphs Writing articles and memos based on your transcribed dictation (see

#9!)

I have found many excellent interns at local

colleges and via Internships.com


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In the world of market research,

time management = stress management

Knowing all about methodologies and tools is great; but add in solid time

management skills, and the market researchers success potential soars.


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Thanks for reading!

Please send any comments or questions [email protected]

Find out why over 1,000 busy professionals have taken Research

Rockstar classes. VisitTraining.ResearchRockstar.com today!
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.training.researchrockstar.com/http://www.training.researchrockstar.com/mailto:[email protected]

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