Lesson 7

Managing healthcare resources was the topic of discussion for class.  We discussed time management, procrastination, managment and symptoms of poor management, planning, budgeting etc.  What was interesting about this discussion is that all of these aspects for managing healthcare resources can be useful in an everyday persons life.  What stood out to me with todays discussion is time management.  I have such a huge problem with time management.  What we discussed was how there are 3 steps to time management: 1. allow time for planning to establish priorities, 2. complete the highest priortiy task first and finish one before starting another, 3. reprioritize based on the remaining tasks and on new information that may be received.  We also discussed traps for setting priorities. Listed were 5 traps.  I can see why these traps happen such as the path of the least resistance.  I always want to choose that path.  Also default.  It is always easier  just to do what falls into place instead of setting priorities.  Usually if you are doing the default task, other priorities are getting bypassed.  In class we discussed that priority setting is the most important skill in management. 
What are time wasters?  In regards to management time wasters could be telephone, socializing, email, texting, meetings, poor communication which I find to be a huge one with most managers, and lastly incompetent co-workers. A few other topics such as fiscal planning and budgeting were discussed.  We talked about what goes into a budget and the things that make up a budget. Delegation was a big topic of discussion.  Delegation to me is so important in the effective running of any business.  Delegation can be hard for reasons that staff may believe that you are not capable, or may feel a sense of laziness.  Not only this but sometimes it is hard to delegate when you may just want to do the whole project yourself.  At times over delegation can happen. Sometimes people may take advantage of the opportunity to delegate.  It may also be due to poor time management. Delegation is there for a good purpose, we just need to ensure that we are delagating appropriately and ensuring to follow up to ensure a good outcome.