I wish I had a dollar for everyone I’ve talked to about implementing a CMMS program who said they didn’t have time to implement it.  I’ve heard it so often, in fact, I sometimes wonder if I should be in the “Round Tuit” business instead.

If you’re too busy to make critical improvements to your maintenance operations, you will pay the price. There’s no escaping it. Every once in a while, you have to take stock, invest time and money in improvements, and move forward. Invest a little time today to consider whether your maintenance tools and processes are ready for an upgrade. It matters how you manage a maintenance team by utilizing your time.

Struggling as a maintenance manager to get a handle on everything you have to get done lately? Consider these 7 Time Management Maxims from the Maintenance Maven.

7 Time Management Maxims for Maintenance Managers

1. We all have the same amount of time to work with each week. Ever wonder how that guy always seems to find the opportunity to hit the golf course or go fishing with his kids? He doesn’t have more time than you, he’s just using it differently.
2. If you don’t have the time for important tasks, it’s probably your own fault. Guard your 24 hours like the crown jewels.  Don’t let anyone else have control of your calendar.  Lend it or spend it with your boss and family of course, but don’t give up control. Your time is one of your most important assets.  Plan it out, allocate it, measure it, and, above all else, protect it. Time maintenance skills are vital in managing your maintenance staff.
3. Money won’t buy you time. I’ve seen countless people buy a CMMS software in the vague hope that it will magically buy them more time—then fail to implement it and blame the system. The money you spend on time-saving technologies will be completely wasted if you don’t make the necessary up-front time investment to implement them.
4. You can’t borrow time from the future. Procrastination is the surest path to work overload. It’s like borrowing money to get out of debt. It just doesn’t work. Learn the basic time-management maintenance skills.
5. You CAN recoup time from the past. Have you ever told yourself after finishing a job, “I could do that in half the time next time”?  Those bygone hours are lost, forever. The good news, though, is you can get them back by passing what you’ve learned forward. Take the extra few minutes necessary to clearly document your “lessons learned” in your CMMS. The next time you or someone else repeats the job, they’ll do it more quickly and efficiently.
6. Time makes a great “yardstick.” Because units of time are understood and valued (with some variance) across cultures and up and down the organizational ladder they generally help build consensus around the value of activities and projects. Time forecasts and expenditures are key inputs to measures of productivity, quality, dependability, and efficiency.
7. Beware the subjective nature of time.  Never rely on your “gut” to measure time when it comes to maintenance operations. “It feels like it’s been a while since we lubed those bearings,” is a sure road to equipment failure.