When it comes to time management, CIOs have a challenge because there are always more tasks to do than hours to do them in. Rather than prioritizing based on an endless list of subjects, prioritize based on key responsibilities, advises Bob Lewis, president of IT Catalysts. To save you time, Lewis presents a list of just five (rather than the usual top 10) such responsibilities.

The most important part of your job is "organizational listening," a.k.a. "finding out what's going on," Lewis writes in a post at CIO. It's the No. 1 priority because if you don't do it, your chances of good decision-making are low. You need to listen not only to those directly below you in the org chart, but also to end users, business unit managers, vendors, customers and anyone else affected by IT.

Next on the list, take time to build strong relationships with the other executives. If they don't trust you, Lewis writes, it's going to be pretty tough to convince them of "uncomfortable necessities."

"If they trust you, persuading them is at least possible," he writes. "Even better: If they like you and trust you, they'll make excuses for you when things don't go according to plan, which means you won't have to waste time and energy defending yourself."

The third priority is to figure out what kind of business culture you want and take actions to establish it. After that, be sure to take time to read, and then think. 

"Your job isn't to have all the great ideas yourself. You are supposed to be a broker of great ideas...to sift through them all and figure out which ones matter," Lewis writes. "That requires thinking. Thinking takes time, and not the kind that comes in two-minute gaps between meetings. If you don't reserve the time for thinking, you won't have the time to think. Then, no matter what the subject, you won't have thought it through."

For more:
- see Bob Lewis's post at CIO

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