Collaborative. Technology-Driven. Efficient.

6 Productivity Tips for Claim Adjusters to Manage Time Effectively


jan13

 

Time, there never seems to be enough of it. Like many professionals, claim adjusters can fall victim to not using their time effectively.

Long hours, late nights, and a whole lot of stress can become a regular occurrence for claims adjusters and managers.

Claim adjusters learn a lot of things at various courses, events, and conferences, but time management is usually not one of them. That’s why we have created this list of practical, helpful tips that insurance and claim adjusters can use in their everyday work lives.

Here are five tips to enhance productivity through great time management.

1 - Assess how you use your time

The first thing you should do as adjusters to begin your journey to better time management is evaluating how you are currently using their time.

How are you spending your day at work? And which things are productive and which are straight-up time sucks? (more on this later)

A simple way to do this is to log every task you complete and how long it takes each day. This will help you see how you can be more efficient with your time. 

Another popular strategy to get things done efficiently is to “eat the frog” by doing the last or hardest thing you don’t want to do first. This helps you get the difficult tasks out of the way first and will allow you to enjoy the rest of your day working on tasks you enjoy.

2 - Be proactive, not reactive

If you plan out your day, you will see immediate results. By being proactive and planning which tasks are important and which are not you can avoid leaving tasks half-finished at the end of the day.

It’s important you don’t make any daily plan too long, just the key things that need to be completed on that day. There will always be jobs that pop up from time to time that will need immediate attention, but this should not be the norm.

A proactive claims adjuster is a time-efficient claims adjuster.

3-  One thing at a time

It sounds like an obvious and easy thing to do, but most professionals struggle to focus on one thing at a time.

Despite what some people may say, multitasking is not natural for humans. When people work on too many things simultaneously, it becomes difficult for them to give their best effort because they can’t focus on everything at once.

As the famous quote says - “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

By focusing on one thing at a time and completing it before moving on to the next task, claim adjusters will see a great improvement in their time management.

4 - Avoid time vampires

Every job has things that interfere with getting the job at hand done, and claim adjusters are no different.

It might be that chatty colleague, social media, mobile game, or an unnecessary daily meeting that takes up crucial time. These seemingly harmless activities can cost professionals at least an hour per day.

So it’s “time” to cut these time-sucking things out of the workday and to instead use these precious minutes to get important tasks completed.

5 - Create and follow a schedule

 A great technique for claim adjusters to keep on task is creating and following a schedule. It doesn’t need to be exact; estimating the time of a task is fine but it’s key that adjusters follow their set schedule.

Today’s technology makes creating a daily schedule very easy; it can be on a smartphone or laptop in mere minutes.  

This is also a good way to reinforce number three on the list of focusing on one thing at a time.

Hausch & Company

Hausch & Company has been involved in claims handling since 1948, so we know a thing or three about time management challenges. We have spent the past decades simplifying the claims process by providing professional, attentive, and prompt service that delivers accurate and comprehensive adjusted claims.

We use the latest technology and a collaborative approach to make the claims process easier and more efficient. We pride ourselves on making things simple for their customers, stakeholders, and staff.

Discover what we have to offer for insurance and claims professionals; learn more about Hausch & Company, visit their site HERE.