You may have heard the saying that time is money. Irrespective of your sector, time is money, and managing time helps increase your profits. That’s why your production schedule needs to be crew friendly. Crew-friendly schedules allow you to run an efficient ship and make it easier for team members to work together productively toward their shared goal of finishing a project on time. Here are five tips on how to create a crew-friendly schedule that’ll help you maximize productivity on set:
Block off Time for the Unexpected
A crew member’s schedule can be affected by unexpected things, such as a sudden storm that requires immediate attention. If you block off time for the unexpected, you’ll know when and how to deal with these situations.
In addition to spending time on activities that are critical for your business but might not be urgent, take time to plan for any unexpected issues that may arise soon. This should include meetings with customers or clients with last-minute requests or questions about a scheduled appointment or event.
Communicate Time Constraints to Your Team
When scheduling tasks, you must communicate time constraints to your team members. When this is done effectively, your team can focus on the most important aspects of the task at hand and complete it promptly. This will also help you avoid feeling frustrated or overwhelmed by an unrealistic workload when there are unforeseen circumstances that cause delays in completing a particular task.
Here are some ways to communicate time constraints:
- Use a calendar app or spreadsheet template designed specifically for scheduling—these tools allow you to easily see how long each step takes and how much time is left over for other tasks after completing each one.
- Create a To-Do list using different methods (such as writing out tasks on paper). You can use this list as an easy reference point when reviewing upcoming deadlines with crew members.
Batch Tasks of Like Value and Complexity
You can optimize your schedule by batching tasks of value and complexity. For example, if you have several emails to send, it’s best to group them into one task and tackle them all at once.
This is because the brain works faster when fewer decisions are made; a series of similar choices will require less attention than an individual decision each time. This means that your body has fewer actions to execute, so less energy is expended on thinking about what to do next—you can focus more on executing those actions.
A Little Time Management Can Take you a Long Way
Time management is key to having a productive and successful project. All it takes is one moment of inattention, and your team can fall behind schedule, quickly snowballing into major problems.
It’s important to remember that managing time does not only apply to you; it also applies to your workers. You cannot expect them to be at the top of their game if they don’t have enough time to finish their tasks or care for themselves. But, on the other hand, giving them adequate breaks between shifts will help keep morale high, which will boost productivity on the whole instead of just yourself alone!
It’s also important for you as a leader—or anyone else involved in planning out schedules—to give ample preparation time for unexpected events such as equipment malfunctioning or an accident during work hours (rare but still possible!). Having this buffer allows everyone involved in operation access without fear of being penalized for missing deadlines due to technical problems beyond their control.
Read More: The Best Ways to Promote Your Business To Compete In the Market
To Wrap It Up
A little time management can take you a long way. However, if you are aware of what your own goals are and how to get there, then you should be able to set yourself up for success. Knowing how long it will take to meet those goals is essential to that process. Then, once the work is done, review how well you met them to make improvements next time.
