Best examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers

Strong examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers

Performance reviews land better when they sound like they were written about a real person, not a template. Below are examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers who consistently perform at a high level. These can be used in annual reviews, promotion cases, or 360 feedback.

High-performing manager examples include:

• “Consistently prioritizes high-impact work and aligns the team’s weekly plans with quarterly goals. Uses planning tools and shared roadmaps so the team rarely scrambles at the end of a sprint or quarter.”
• “Builds realistic project timelines, factoring in dependencies, vacations, and cross-team bottlenecks. In the last 12 months, delivered 95% of projects on or ahead of schedule without last-minute overtime.”
• “Protects focus time for themselves and their team. Schedules blocks for deep work, limits unnecessary meetings, and responds to non-urgent messages during designated windows, which has improved team throughput.”
• “Delegates operational tasks effectively so they can focus on strategy and coaching. Regularly reviews workload distribution to prevent bottlenecks and burnout.”

These are the kinds of examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers that show observable behavior: calendars, schedules, deadlines, and how the team experiences the manager’s choices.

Balanced example of time management skills assessment examples for managers (meets expectations)

Most managers sit in the middle: not heroic productivity machines, not chaos agents. They get the job done, but there’s room to sharpen how they manage time. Here are examples that reflect a solid performer while still pointing to growth areas.

Sample phrasing for “meets expectations” managers:

• “Generally plans projects with reasonable timelines and keeps stakeholders informed of progress. Occasionally underestimates time needed for cross-team approvals, leading to minor schedule slips.”
• “Manages competing priorities adequately, though sometimes tackles urgent items at the expense of important but less visible work (for example, long-term process improvements).”
• “Keeps most meetings on track and within time, but could improve by circulating agendas in advance and ending with clear action items to reduce follow-up work.”
• “Responds to emails and chats promptly during business hours, though frequent context switching sometimes slows completion of deep-focus tasks.”

These balanced examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers work well when you want to be honest without overstating either strengths or gaps.

Developmental examples of time management skills assessment for struggling managers

Sometimes the time management story is less flattering. The goal is not to shame, but to give specific feedback that can actually be acted on. Here’s how to write a developmental example of time management skills assessment that is clear, direct, and fair.

Developmental feedback examples include:

• “Frequently commits to aggressive timelines without consulting the team’s actual capacity, resulting in repeated deadline extensions and weekend work.”
• “Struggles to prioritize; often spends significant time on low-impact tasks (for example, reworking slide formats) while high-priority deliverables slip.”
• “Allows meetings to run long and off-topic. Rarely uses agendas or timeboxing, which leads to follow-up meetings and duplicated discussions.”
• “Regularly responds to messages instantly, even during one-on-ones and planning sessions, which disrupts focus for both the manager and the team.”

Pair these with specific expectations and support: training, mentoring, or tools. The best examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers don’t just describe the problem; they hint at the path forward.

Real examples of time management skills assessment across core behaviors

To make feedback more actionable, break time management into observable behaviors. Below are real examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers across planning, prioritization, delegation, meeting management, and focus.

Planning and prioritization

Hybrid work and constant digital notifications have made planning harder. Research from Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index showed that employees spend a large portion of their week in meetings and emails, leaving less time for deep work. In that environment, managers who plan well stand out.

Positive example of planning and prioritization:
“Starts each quarter with a clear roadmap and translates it into weekly team plans. Uses a simple ‘must-do / should-do / nice-to-have’ framework to prioritize tasks, which keeps the team focused when new requests arrive mid-sprint.”

Mixed example:
“Creates project plans and communicates deadlines, but does not always re-prioritize when new, high-impact work appears. As a result, the team sometimes works on outdated priorities for several days before plans are adjusted.”

Developmental example:
“Often operates reactively rather than from a plan. Rarely documents priorities, which makes it difficult for the team to understand what should come first when workloads spike.”

These real examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers help you pinpoint whether the issue is planning, communication, or adaptability.

Delegation and workload management

The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization have linked long working hours to increased health risks, especially when overwork becomes chronic. Managers can materially reduce that risk by delegating thoughtfully and managing workloads.

Strong delegation example:
“Regularly reviews the team’s workload board and reassigns tasks when bottlenecks appear. Delegates decision-making authority where appropriate, which shortens cycle times and reduces the number of ‘approval’ meetings.”

Needs-improvement example:
“Tends to keep critical tasks instead of delegating, which creates single points of failure and delays when their schedule fills up. Team members report waiting multiple days for the manager to complete items only they can do.”

Again, these examples of time management skills assessment for managers are grounded in specific behaviors that can be measured and improved.

Meeting management and calendar discipline

According to a 2022 Harvard Business School working paper, many organizations could cut meetings by as much as 20–30% without harming performance. Managers who treat the calendar as a strategic tool are easier to work with and lead more productive teams.

Effective meeting management example:
“Runs meetings with clear agendas, timeboxed topics, and explicit outcomes. Regularly cancels or shortens meetings when there is no new information to share, which returns several hours per week to the team.”

Ineffective meeting management example:
“Schedules recurring meetings without defined objectives. Often starts late, runs over time, and schedules follow-up meetings because decisions were not reached in the original session.”

These are some of the best examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers because they connect behavior (how meetings run) to impact (time returned or wasted).

Focus, boundaries, and digital distraction

With tools like Slack, Teams, and email constantly pinging, the ability to create boundaries is now a core time management skill. The American Psychological Association has highlighted how constant interruptions and multitasking can reduce productivity and increase stress.

Positive focus example:
“Models healthy boundaries by blocking two hours of focus time most days and encouraging the team to do the same. Uses status indicators and shared norms (for example, ‘no-meeting Wednesdays’) to reduce unnecessary interruptions.”

Developmental focus example:
“Frequently multitasks during one-on-ones and team meetings, checking messages and responding in real time. This behavior signals that interruptions are acceptable and contributes to a distracted team culture.”

These real examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers help you evaluate whether the manager is contributing to or reducing digital overload.

Self-assessment examples of time management skills for managers

Managers often struggle to write honest but professional self-reviews. Here are self-reflective examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers that strike the right tone.

Self-assessment for a strong performer:
“Over the past year, I improved my planning by moving from weekly to bi-weekly sprint planning and by publishing a shared roadmap. This reduced last-minute work and helped us deliver 93% of sprint commitments on time. My next step is to build more buffer into cross-team projects where I don’t control all dependencies.”

Self-assessment for a manager still developing:
“I’ve struggled at times to balance urgent stakeholder requests with long-term initiatives. I tend to say yes too quickly, which leads to context switching and missed internal deadlines. In the next cycle, I plan to use a more structured prioritization framework and to negotiate timelines more proactively.”

These self-assessment examples include data, reflection, and a clear next step, which is exactly what senior leaders look for.

360 feedback examples of time management skills assessment for managers

Peer and direct-report feedback often surfaces time management issues that don’t show up in top-down reviews. Here are 360-style examples of time management skills assessment for managers from different perspectives.

From a direct report (positive):
“My manager is intentional about protecting our time. They consolidate updates into one weekly meeting, share agendas in advance, and cancel when there’s nothing new. This gives me more uninterrupted time to focus on project work.”

From a direct report (developmental):
“Our team often receives urgent requests late in the day with same-day expectations. This creates stress and overtime. I’d appreciate more advance notice and clearer prioritization when multiple urgent items arrive at once.”

From a peer (cross-functional partner):
“When we co-lead projects, they are transparent about timelines and risks, which helps us plan. However, they sometimes schedule cross-team meetings with short notice, making it hard for my team to attend without rearranging our own deadlines.”

Using these kinds of real examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers in 360 processes makes the feedback more credible and easier to act on.

How to write the best examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers

If you’re drafting a review, here’s a simple mental checklist to improve the quality of your time management comments:

• Anchor your feedback in specific behaviors: calendars, deadlines, meetings, delegation choices, response patterns.
• Tie behaviors to outcomes: missed or met deadlines, overtime, team stress, throughput, quality.
• Use neutral, descriptive language rather than labels like “bad with time.”
• Offer a forward-looking suggestion: a tool, habit, or boundary that could help.

For example, instead of writing, “Needs better time management,” you might write:

“Often accepts additional work without adjusting existing timelines, which leads to missed internal deadlines and rushed deliverables. Recommending that they use a visible priority list and negotiate timelines with stakeholders when new work is added.”

That one sentence is a much stronger example of time management skills assessment than a vague label.

FAQ: Time management assessment for managers

Q1. What are good examples of time management skills assessment examples for managers in performance reviews?
Good examples reference planning, meeting management, delegation, and focus with observable evidence. For instance: “Consistently ends meetings on time with clear decisions and next steps, which has reduced follow-up meetings by about 30% this year.” Another strong example is: “Reprioritizes team workload within 24 hours when major requests come in, preventing last-minute crunch.”

Q2. Can you share an example of time management feedback for a new manager?
Yes. For a new manager, you might write: “In their first year, they implemented a weekly planning ritual with the team and created a shared Kanban board. This has improved visibility into workload, though they are still learning to negotiate timelines with senior stakeholders instead of absorbing all urgent work.”

Q3. How do I avoid sounding harsh when giving developmental time management feedback?
Stick to facts and impact. For example: “Frequently reschedules one-on-ones at the last minute, which makes it hard for team members to plan their day. Encouraging them to protect these meetings or reschedule earlier when conflicts arise.” This focuses on behavior and consequences, not character.

Q4. Are there real examples of tools or practices that help managers improve time management?
Yes. Many managers use shared digital calendars, sprint boards, and explicit “no-meeting” blocks. Timeboxing, batching email responses, and using written agendas are all practices supported by productivity research from universities such as Harvard and Stanford. These practices make it easier to create the kind of positive time management behaviors described in the examples above.

Q5. How often should time management be assessed for managers?
At least annually in formal reviews, but the most effective organizations treat it as an ongoing conversation. Quarterly check-ins on workload, meeting load, and deadlines provide fresh data and help managers adjust before problems become patterns.