Quit Teaching People to “Prioritize” When Your Company Has Absolutely No Understanding What Really Matters: How Time Planning Training Fails in Poorly-Run Organizations
I’m going to dismantle one of the biggest widespread myths in organizational training: the assumption that training workers more effective “time organization” skills will resolve productivity challenges in organizations that have no coherent direction themselves.
After seventeen years of working with businesses on efficiency problems, I can tell you that time organization training in a chaotic company is like showing someone to arrange their possessions while their house is currently burning down around them.
Let me share the core issue: most companies dealing with from time management problems cannot have efficiency challenges – they have management problems.
Conventional task management training believes that workplaces have clear, stable objectives that staff can learn to recognize and work with. Such assumption is totally divorced from actual workplace conditions in nearly all modern organizations.
We consulted with a significant advertising company where employees were continuously reporting problems about being “unable to manage their tasks successfully.” Management had poured hundreds of thousands on time organization training for every workers.
The training featured all the usual techniques: priority grids, ABC ranking methods, calendar organization techniques, and detailed project tracking software.
Yet productivity remained to drop, employee frustration rates rose, and work completion results turned worse, not better.
When I examined what was actually occurring, I learned the underlying issue: the agency at the leadership level had zero clear direction.
Here’s what the daily reality looked like for staff:
Each week: Executive management would announce that Client A was the “most critical priority” and all staff should to work on it right away
The next day: A another executive manager would send an “urgent” communication stating that Client B was now the “most critical” focus
48 hours later: Yet another division manager would schedule an “immediate” conference to announce that Client C was a “must-have” requirement that needed to be completed by Friday
Thursday: The original executive leader would express frustration that Client A was not advanced as expected and demand to know why employees weren’t “prioritizing” it properly
End of week: Each three initiatives would be delayed, various commitments would be missed, and staff would be blamed for “inadequate task management skills”
Such scenario was happening week after week, systematically after month. Absolutely no degree of “task management” training was able to help employees manage this management insanity.
This fundamental issue wasn’t that employees couldn’t learn how to manage tasks – it was that the organization itself was entirely unable of establishing clear strategic focus for more than 72 hours at a time.
The team helped leadership to eliminate their concentration on “individual task management” training and alternatively implement what I call “Leadership Direction Clarity.”
Instead of working to show staff to prioritize within a constantly changing organization, we concentrated on establishing actual organizational priorities:
Implemented a central senior management committee with clear responsibility for determining and enforcing company priorities
Established a structured project evaluation procedure that happened on schedule rather than daily
Created written standards for when initiatives could be adjusted and what level of sign-off was needed for such modifications
Created required notification systems to guarantee that all project changes were shared clearly and to everyone across every levels
Implemented buffer periods where absolutely no focus modifications were allowed without exceptional circumstances
The change was remarkable and substantial:
Employee frustration levels fell significantly as people at last were clear about what they were required to be concentrating on
Efficiency improved by over half within a month and a half as staff could genuinely focus on finishing tasks rather than repeatedly changing between competing priorities
Work delivery results decreased considerably as departments could organize and complete tasks without constant disruptions and re-prioritization
Customer relationships got better dramatically as projects were actually completed as promised and to standards
This lesson: before you train employees to manage tasks, ensure your company actually has clear strategic focus that are deserving of working toward.
Here’s a different way that task organization training fails in chaotic workplaces: by presupposing that staff have genuine control over their work and priorities.
The team worked with a public sector organization where workers were repeatedly receiving reprimanded for “poor priority organization” and mandated to “productivity” training workshops.
This actual situation was that these workers had essentially zero influence over their job schedules. This is what their average day looked like:
Approximately three-fifths of their workday was consumed by compulsory meetings that they couldn’t skip, regardless of whether these meetings were useful to their real job
An additional 20% of their workday was assigned to filling out mandatory documentation and paperwork obligations that added zero value to their actual work or to the people they were meant to serve
Their final small portion of their time was expected to be used for their real work – the work they were employed to do and that really mattered to the public
Additionally even this small fraction of availability was continuously disrupted by “urgent” requests, unexpected conferences, and management obligations that were not allowed to be postponed
Under these conditions, zero amount of “priority management” training was able to enable these employees become more effective. Their problem wasn’t their employee time planning abilities – it was an institutional system that ensured meaningful work virtually unachievable.
We worked with them implement structural improvements to fix the underlying obstacles to efficiency:
Got rid of unnecessary conferences and implemented specific criteria for when conferences were genuinely required
Reduced administrative tasks and got rid of duplicate form-filling procedures
Created reserved time for real job activities that would not be disrupted by administrative tasks
Established clear protocols for deciding what represented a legitimate “urgent situation” versus normal requests that could be scheduled for appropriate times
Created delegation systems to ensure that work was shared fairly and that no single person was overwhelmed with impossible demands
Staff effectiveness increased dramatically, professional satisfaction got better considerably, and their agency actually began providing better services to the public they were meant to support.
The important lesson: companies cannot fix time management problems by showing people to work more successfully within dysfunctional systems. Organizations have to improve the structures before anything else.
At this point let’s discuss possibly the biggest absurd aspect of task planning training in chaotic organizations: the belief that staff can mysteriously organize work when the organization as a whole modifies its focus several times per day.
I worked with a software business where the CEO was notorious for going through “game-changing” ideas several times per period and expecting the whole organization to immediately shift to implement each new priority.
Workers would arrive at their jobs on Monday with a defined knowledge of their tasks for the week, only to find that the CEO had determined over the weekend that all work they had been focusing on was no longer a priority and that they should to right away begin working on a project completely new.
That pattern would happen multiple times per period. Projects that had been declared as “critical” would be abandoned mid-stream, groups would be continuously redirected to alternative work, and significant quantities of time and energy would be wasted on work that were ultimately not completed.
Their startup had poured significantly in “flexible task management” training and complex project management systems to assist staff “adapt rapidly” to shifting directions.
However zero degree of training or software could overcome the basic challenge: people can’t successfully manage perpetually changing priorities. Perpetual modification is the enemy of successful organization.
I worked with them create what I call “Focused Objective Consistency”:
Implemented regular planning assessment cycles where major direction adjustments could be evaluated and approved
Established strict standards for what represented a legitimate justification for modifying established priorities beyond the regular assessment cycles
Established a “priority protection” time where zero modifications to established objectives were acceptable without extraordinary justification
Created specific coordination procedures for when priority adjustments were genuinely essential, including full cost evaluations of what work would be abandoned
Established formal approval from multiple stakeholders before all major direction modifications could be approved
This transformation was outstanding. After three months, measurable project delivery statistics improved by over 300%. Staff frustration rates fell substantially as people could at last focus on finishing work rather than continuously initiating new ones.
Innovation remarkably got better because teams had adequate resources to fully explore and refine their ideas rather than continuously changing to new projects before anything could be fully developed.
This point: good prioritization needs objectives that stay consistent long enough for teams to actually work on them and accomplish significant outcomes.
This is what I’ve learned after decades in this field: time management training is exclusively effective in organizations that already have their leadership systems working properly.
If your company has stable business objectives, realistic workloads, functional leadership, and systems that enable rather than obstruct productive performance, then task management training can be beneficial.
But if your company is defined by constant dysfunction, competing priorities, incompetent planning, unrealistic expectations, and emergency decision-making styles, then task organization training is more harmful than useless – it’s actively damaging because it blames personal performance for organizational dysfunction.
Stop squandering time on time management training until you’ve fixed your systemic priorities first.
Begin creating companies with clear strategic priorities, effective management, and structures that really facilitate efficient activity.
The workers can organize just fine once you offer them something worth working toward and an environment that really supports them in doing their jobs. overburdened with impossible responsibilities
Employee efficiency increased significantly, work happiness improved substantially, and their department finally started offering better services to the citizens they were supposed to support.
This crucial point: companies cannot address productivity issues by teaching people to operate more productively within chaotic organizations. Companies need to repair the organizations initially.
At this point let’s examine possibly the greatest laughable element of priority management training in poorly-run organizations: the idea that staff can mysteriously organize tasks when the company as a whole shifts its focus multiple times per day.
We worked with a IT startup where the executive leadership was famous for having “brilliant” revelations numerous times per week and demanding the complete team to instantly shift to accommodate each new direction.
Employees would come at the office on any given day with a specific understanding of their objectives for the day, only to find that the management had concluded suddenly that all work they had been concentrating on was no longer a priority and that they needed to immediately commence concentrating on something totally different.
That behavior would happen numerous times per period. Initiatives that had been declared as “essential” would be abandoned halfway through, departments would be continuously moved to different projects, and enormous quantities of effort and work would be squandered on projects that were never delivered.
Their startup had invested heavily in “flexible work organization” training and complex project tracking systems to help workers “adjust rapidly” to shifting requirements.
Yet no amount of training or software could overcome the fundamental challenge: organizations can’t successfully prioritize perpetually evolving priorities. Continuous modification is the enemy of effective organization.
The team worked with them establish what I call “Focused Priority Stability”:
Implemented quarterly planning planning periods where significant priority adjustments could be considered and approved
Established firm standards for what represented a legitimate justification for modifying established priorities beyond the regular review periods
Implemented a “objective protection” period where zero changes to current objectives were permitted without extraordinary justification
Implemented specific communication systems for when direction adjustments were absolutely required, with full cost analyses of what projects would be interrupted
Required formal sign-off from multiple stakeholders before each significant strategy changes could be enacted
The change was outstanding. In a quarter, actual initiative delivery percentages rose by more than three times. Staff burnout rates dropped considerably as employees could finally focus on finishing projects rather than repeatedly initiating new ones.
Product development actually got better because teams had sufficient opportunity to completely implement and refine their solutions rather than continuously switching to new directions before anything could be fully finished.
The point: successful prioritization requires objectives that keep stable long enough for people to really work on them and complete significant outcomes.
This is what I’ve learned after decades in this industry: task organization training is merely effective in companies that already have their strategic systems together.
Once your company has consistent business direction, achievable expectations, competent decision-making, and structures that facilitate rather than obstruct productive work, then time planning training can be beneficial.
Yet if your workplace is marked by continuous crisis management, conflicting messages, incompetent planning, excessive expectations, and reactive management approaches, then time planning training is more counterproductive than useless – it’s systematically damaging because it blames employee choices for systemic failures.
Stop throwing away resources on priority planning training until you’ve resolved your systemic priorities initially.
Start creating organizations with stable organizational focus, competent decision-making, and structures that really facilitate meaningful accomplishment.
The employees would manage tasks just effectively once you give them direction worth working toward and an environment that really supports them in accomplishing their jobs.
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