If the role of the coach in the workplace had to be spelled out in several words, it might read: setting the right priorities. So much of business and business success is rooted in the prioritization of tasks and making certain that they get done in a reasonable period of time. The expression, “Time waits for no one,” assumes a higher meaning in the often pressure-filled environs of business, where every boss wants things done right and right away.

Today Is the Day

As a coach, you are charged with making every day the day. Essentially, your job is to motivate a team of people into believing that they are working on the most important tasks and in the most important roles today. Even though you operate with long-term plans and goals stretching into the future, you've got to remain grounded in the here and now. You've got to make certain that those working alongside you are likewise concentrating their efforts on today's priorities — not tomorrow's or next year's.

It all sounds so simple. But getting your employees to consider each working day as somehow vital to the big picture isn't always a stroll in the park, particularly when they are working on so many ongoing projects that stretch months and even years into the future. This acute slice of business reality is why you should begin each workday with a clear set of priorities for both yourself and for those whom you are responsible for managing. In fact, at the onset of each workday, among your own priorities should be a clear enunciation of each one of your employees' priorities. In business environments — just as in life in general — time flies. And you cannot afford to let it fly right by you, even for a single day.

A Veritable Who's Who

When prioritizing to best manage workplace time constraints, you would be wise to pull out your metaphorical coaching and mentoring “Who's Who?” book and leaf through its pages. When applying coaching and mentoring procedures in the workplace, you are called upon time and again to view your employees as individuals in very unique roles and responsible for very specific job duties. When you look upon those working for you in such a forward-thinking way, you instinctively get a sharper and more realistic feel for who's who under your big tent, and you know — precisely — what each individual in your employ is supposed to be doing and accomplishing every single hour of every single day.

To their ultimate chagrin (and sometimes loss of their jobs), there are managers who put the entire workday — and, in fact, the entire work scene — on automatic pilot. In the process, they neglect their all-important oversight duties. In stark contrast, coaches delegate real responsibilities and job tasks to each member of their staff, but they also regularly measure results. This crucial supervisory role is fundamental to good time management.