Work Smarter, Lead Better: Time Management Strategies for Inclusive Teams

Time is one of the most valuable — and limited — resources in the workplace today. While every leader seeks to be more efficient, time management is more than just a personal productivity tool. It is a critical leadership skill that shapes organizational culture, enhances team performance and drives business success. Leaders who effectively manage not only their own time but also their team’s create an environment where innovation, collaboration and well-being thrive.

Efficient time management means you set clear priorities, align expectations and ensure accurate timelines. A strategic approach to time allows teams to focus on high-impact work, fosters creativity and reduces unnecessary stress. Inclusive leaders recognize that optimizing time is about more than checking off tasks — it’s about creating space for people to do their best work while maintaining a healthy workplace culture.

Achieve High Expectations With a Practical Approach

Soon after we launched The Diversity Movement, CEO Donald Thompson set an ambitious goal: create 1,000 micro-learning videos in six months. The directive was clear, but the scale of the project was unprecedented. As a manager, I had to assess every step required to make this goal a reality. We had to identify topics, draft and edit scripts, schedule videographers, record voiceovers and produce the final videos — while leaving enough time for revisions, missteps and unforeseen challenges. At the same time, I had to be realistic about the time and resources available.

Instead of agreeing to an aggressive deadline, I worked with Don to set a more reasonable timeline that allowed for both productivity and flexibility. The result? My team delivered more than 600 high-quality micro-videos to help organizations and individuals learn about diversity, equity and inclusion. The learning platform we created was named one of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas.

CEOs are visionaries. It’s their job to push the envelope, take risks and set high expectations. But it’s the manager’s job to ground those expectations in process and existing resources.  

Understand What Matters Most and Set Priorities Accordingly

Understand how every new initiative aligns with organizational priorities. Capable leaders must distinguish between high-impact work and tasks that may feel urgent but ultimately don’t contribute to business imperatives. Without this clarity, it’s easy to get lost in low-value work that drains time and energy. 

In high-stakes professional environments, there can be enormous pressure to say “yes.” Yet, overcommitting doesn’t ingratiate you to your leader or your team, and it doesn’t lead to higher performance. It leads to lack of trust, inefficiency, frustration and burnout. According to research from Zippia, 39% of employees report anxiety about their workload, making it the top cause of workplace stress. 

Open communication about priorities — with senior leadership as well as direct reports — allows inclusive leaders to drive high-value initiatives while ensuring their team has a reasonable workload. Regular meetings with the executive team enable managers to understand organizational priorities and quickly adapt to evolving business needs. Similarly, weekly check-ins with direct reports help ensure that everyone stays focused on meaningful work. 

Practical Strategies to Maximize Efficiency

Focusing on priorities that drive drives business is crucial to efficient time management, but so are the daily practices that determine how work gets done. The following strategies help inclusive leaders make the most of their time while helping their teams to do the same:

1. Clarify expectations before starting any task. One of the biggest time-wasters in business is redoing work that didn’t meet expectations. Before starting any task, ask: What does success look like? When expectations are clear from the beginning, you avoid wasted effort and frustration.
2. Regularly reassess priorities. As business needs evolve, priorities can shift rapidly. Every month, review your top three or four departmental goals. Are they still relevant? What’s changed? What new opportunities or challenges have emerged? Keeping priorities top of mind ensures that your time is always focused on what matters most.
3. Eliminate distractions by only focusing on projects that matter; be ruthless. Before dedicating time to an assignment, clarify the business impact. Remember, new priorities can shift the value of a task. Ask yourself: Does this activity align with our key goals? If a task doesn’t add value, it’s worth reconsidering.
4. Advocate for your team and be realistic about their capacity. Inclusive leaders create an environment where their teams can work efficiently, while leaving space for the flexibility that every employee needs from time to time. Someone might call in sick, or a project takes longer than expected.  If the team is overcommitted and always a step behind, it is less resilient when something unplanned upends the delicate timetable.  
5. Use strategic scheduling. Understanding when you work best can dramatically improve efficiency. For example, I schedule deep creative work in the morning when I’m fresh and alert. By contrast, afternoons — when my energy naturally dips — are better for emails or routine meetings. Silencing email, texts and other notifications when I've scheduled time for focused work prevents constant interruptions and maximizes productivity.
6. Push back on low-value meetings. Fewer unnecessary meetings free up time for more meaningful work. I encourage my team to ask questions before accepting a meeting. What are the goals? Do I need to be here? Am I the right person for this discussion? Can the goal be accomplished by watching the recording? True value is not in attending a meeting but in accomplishing critical tasks and projects for the organization. 

Inclusive Leadership and Time Management

The ability to manage your time well is a powerful leadership skill, especially when you can also efficiently advocate for your team’s time. These foundational time management strategies — establishing priorities, aligning expectations and setting reasonable timelines — also ensure you and your team can deliver consistent, high-quality results. It’s no wonder that reliability is a core capability of inclusive leaders, as it fosters trust in the workplace. The leadership team trusts your ability to perform, and your team trusts you to protect their time and workload. 

Reliable leaders depend on well-honed time management skills to stay consistently productive, deliver innovative solutions and foster psychologically safe workplaces. If you want to be a more effective, inclusive leader, start by asking yourself: Am I using my time in a way that empowers my team? The answer may be the key to achieving both productivity and workplace well-being.

Read more about how to make the best use of your — and your team's — time:

• Courage Coach: How to Motivate an Exhausted Team — Courage Coach Karin Hurt delivers advice for human-centered leaders. Today: How to help an exhausted team reclaim their energy.
• Cure Micro-Managing With Schedule-Syncing — For managers and employees who want to get on the same page, there is a far superior alternative to micromanaging. It’s called schedule-syncing.
• Multi-Tasking Is a Myth: How to Reclaim Focus and Productivity — If you’re moving between budget reviews, time-off approvals and confirming the correct images in a PR all at once, you are likely to make a mistake.

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