ILRME503: Managing Time and Priorities

Cornell University ILR School

Tool: Determining the Needed Frequency of Audits

In order to set priorities and manage your own and others’ time, you need to audit the
organization, team, and personal goals to align task and time priorities to those goals.
This chart will help you determine how often you need to conduct and run an audit to
realign the tasks and time to priorities.

As a manager, you will need to monitor cycle time. If you work with a project manager,
he or she could be helpful when trying to understand when to audit.

Project- and Team-Level Questions

What is the expected

turnaround time on your
projects?

How long do your projects

typically take?

How many projects do you

have going simultaneously?

How many teams or people

are involved in a project?

How frequently do you

check in with others (e.g.
your boss or co-workers)
about work you are doing?

At what moments would it

be helpful to get feedback?

Do you have to pass off the

project to another person or
team? If so, who, when, and
why?

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 ILRME503: Managing Time and Priorities
Cornell University ILR School

Do you or your team still

need to be involved in any
projects after they are
completed? If so, how
much, how often, and in
what ways?

Do you have downtime

between projects? If so,
how do you use it?

This next set of questions relates to your organization. These questions are optional, as
they might not apply to all students.

Organizational-Level Questions

What is the cycle of your

business?

How did your cycle time get

determined?

What kinds of regular

evaluations or reviews (e.g.
annual reports, performance
reviews, quarterly finance
statements, monthly budget
meetings) are conducted in
your organization?

Based on the information you have entered above about your company, determine how
often you will conduct an audit and commit to the next few times you will do this. (Note:
it may be helpful to block time in your calendar now to do each of these audits.)

Dates Determined for Audits

Proposed Why do you want to do the audit at this time?
Date of Audit

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