Sometimes a return to work coordinator has to be all things to all people. As well as being a star, you have to find the time to deal with people, make calls, organise and conduct meetings, develop plans and follow them up, and involve and influence your co-workers.

Efficient time planning is one of the most challenging tasks for a return to work coordinator. Not only do you need to use your own time judiciously, but you need the immediate supervisor and other stakeholders involved in the process to find the time to get their part done well.

How do you plan your own time efficiently?

As a return to work coordinator, facilitating the process of getting a worker back to work is not your only consideration. Your own wellbeing is important. Leaving work tired and frazzled is counterproductive for you and for those you assist.

If you have domestic responsibilities, planning your time becomes even more important because you are managing two jobs at the same time.

Here is what you can do to manage your time efficiently:

• Break your day up into short half-hour periods and analyse how you are using your time;
• Compare the time you are spending to your personal and professional objectives; and

Think about what is important in your role and what you are actually spending your time on.

If you decide that what you are doing does not match your objectives, reconsider your priorities. Analyse the mismatch and work out how to change things.

How to plan your time efficiently during the return to work process:

Excellent time planning at the workplace is essential for the return to work coordinator.

• Make sure you give large blocks of time to tasks such as building your team, building relationships with those you wish to influence and establishing strong systems;
• Keep in mind that purposeless and unquestioning activity leads to wasted time; and
• Ask yourself how much time is needed to perform a particular task and plan accordingly.

Project management is an approach that includes categorising tasks, creating timelines and assigning tasks to team members. It is often tracked using project management software.

Getting clear on the tasks involved in the project and then working out what you and others are responsible for can make a major difference in what you achieve.

• Are you taking on the tasks of others?
• Have you created practical and sensible time frames?
• Are you effective in assigning tasks to other team members?
• Do you have a strong system of tracking activities and actions i.e. project management software?

If you need some assistance coming up with strategies and approaches to streamline your work, Return to Work Matters can help. We recognise that many of our members balance return to work coordination with other duties and roles. Take a look at our topic 'RTW Coordinator' for a sample of our practical articles with tips and tactics.

By far and away the biggest time saver for our members is the tools section.  Here you’ll find presentations, letter templates, handouts and toolkits to help you streamline your work.  Our tools are mostly generic and editable so that you can add your organisation’s logo or change the content to suit your needs.