Poor time management skills can affect the productivity of an individual team member within a company. It also often leads to missed deadlines and poorly-completed work, according to Walden University. However, poor time management can affect an entire company, not just individual workers. Walden University notes that in a 2010 survey by Ranstad, lack of time management skills ranked as the top pet peeve among employees. The poor time management skills of one team member can cause conflict throughout the entire company.
Stress
Poor time management can lead to stress management problems in the workplace, notes the Management Help website. Stress management issues extend from the person who has poor time management skills to the entire team. When one team member is unable to organize his time effectively to keep projects moving forward, the other team members feel the stressful effects of being behind schedule.
As a result, the other team members' performances suffer from the added stress, which builds as the project falls farther behind schedule. This stress can cause team members to engage in conflict characterized by blame and refusal to take on additional responsibilities.
Excessive Meeting Time
Because poor time management causes projects to fall behind schedule, additional meetings are typically required to plan and reallocate resources to bring the project back up to speed. Excessive meeting time is another top complaint among employees, notes the Walden University website. Although these meetings may be necessary, they take time away from the fulfillment of each employee's core tasks.
Each hour spent in a meeting is an hour taken away from completing a project. Employees who recognize that an individual team member is responsible for the problem may cast blame on him for the additional meeting time, which can result in interpersonal conflict.
Absenteeism
Absenteeism and excessive break time is another symptom of poor time management, according to the Walden University website. People with poor time management skills often call in sick or take longer breaks, largely because of the stress they experience because of their work performance. Other team members may create conflict in response to absenteeism, either by complaining about the absent employee or by engaging in excessive absenteeism themselves. This creates additional stress among the team members by putting projects further behind schedule, setting the stage for heightened conflict.
