In this third and final installment of this series of articles (article 1 and article 2 are available on our website), we will dig into one final tip for teaching people time management, as explained in Brian Tracy's bestselling book Eat That Frog. This one is a little unusual – it takes an approach to management that not all managers would approve of. But once you put it into action in your own business, you will see just how powerful it can be.

Reward time-wasting with interesting new challenges.

You caught your receptionist playing games on her phone again. Your assistant manager just waltzed in after another three-hour lunch break. How did your people get so lazy? How can they think it's acceptable to waste your time like this, right in front of your eyes?

The natural instinct in cases like these is to march right over and give the offender a good talking-to. But that approach is a lot more counterproductive than you might think. The person you have scolded will feel stressed out, and their productivity will drop for the rest of the day. Then they will find other ways to waste time, and get better at keeping it a secret. Unless you're ready to fire that person, you need a better time management solution.

Here's a novel idea: Instead of punishing that kind of time-wasting, why not reward the employee for their efficiency? If someone has time to play games or take three-hour lunch breaks, they must already be pretty good at managing their time. They must have eliminated unnecessary tasks, consolidated others into simpler chunks, and delegated the rest to other people. Those are all skills you look for in a manager! Why not reward the person with new challenges?

Start the conversation by telling the person you see they have been playing games or taking long lunches. When they start to get nervous, tell them you admire their efficiency, and drop some new responsibilities on them. Make sure you give them something a little above their pay grade; a task with some responsibility, that will use some real brainpower. The person just might rise to the challenge, and become one of your hardest workers. For more great ideas like this, talk to your business coach.

With the help of these tips - and many others you will find in Brian Tracy's book Eat That Frog – you can pass on your motivation and dedication to people throughout your organization. Lead by example and pass the energy on, and soon your people will be managing their own time just as effectively as you manage yours.

This wraps up our series on teaching your people time management, as explained in Brian Tracy's book Eat That Frog. But this is just the beginning of what that book has to teach. It's packed with detailed explanations of how to keep yourself motivated, how to find and destroy your choke points, and how to build a culture of hard work and dedication to excellence throughout your business. You will see a lot more tips from the book in our first and second article that broke down the insights into handy blog posts like this one.

A FocalPoint Business Coach can provide you with tips like these, along with others which you will find throughout the FocalPoint Business Coaching and Training website. Our professional global Business Coaches will assist with making your customers and employees into passionate supporters of your business. All it takes is a little kindness, and a lot of attention to detail. Contact a FocalPoint Business Coach today.