Stop Teaching People to “Prioritize” When Your Organization Has Absolutely No Understanding What Really Is Important: Why Time Planning Training Is Useless in Dysfunctional Organizations
I’m going to demolish one of the most popular false beliefs in workplace training: the belief that showing staff improved “prioritization” skills will resolve efficiency challenges in workplaces that have absolutely no clear direction themselves.
After seventeen years of consulting with organizations on efficiency issues, I can tell you that time planning training in a poorly-run workplace is like teaching someone to sort their belongings while their home is literally collapsing around them.
This is the basic problem: most organizations dealing with from time management crises do not have productivity challenges – they have organizational dysfunction.
Traditional task planning training assumes that companies have well-defined, reliable objectives that staff can learn to identify and work with. Such belief is completely divorced from actual workplace conditions in the majority of contemporary workplaces.
I consulted with a major communications agency where staff were repeatedly expressing frustration about being “unable to organize their responsibilities properly.” Management had poured hundreds of thousands on priority management training for each staff.
This training included all the standard approaches: priority matrices, priority categorization systems, schedule blocking methods, and complex project tracking applications.
But productivity kept to drop, worker overwhelm instances increased, and client delivery schedules became longer, not better.
Once I investigated what was genuinely going on, I learned the underlying problem: the company as a whole had zero clear strategic focus.
This is what the daily situation looked like for employees:
Each week: Senior executives would declare that Project A was the “most critical objective” and all staff needed to focus on it immediately
Tuesday: A another senior leader would distribute an “urgent” communication insisting that Initiative B was actually the “top essential” focus
Day three: Another different department manager would call an “emergency” meeting to announce that Project C was a “must-have” deadline that had to be completed by end of week
The following day: The original top leader would voice anger that Client A had not been completed sufficiently and insist to know why employees had not been “working on” it correctly
Friday: Each three clients would be incomplete, multiple deadlines would be failed, and workers would be held responsible for “inadequate priority planning techniques”
That scenario was happening continuously after week, month after month. No amount of “priority organization” training was able to enable staff handle this management insanity.
Their basic problem wasn’t that workers couldn’t know how to organize – it was that the company itself was completely incapable of creating stable priorities for more than 72 hours at a time.
I persuaded management to eliminate their emphasis on “individual time organization” training and instead create what I call “Organizational Priority Management.”
Instead of trying to show workers to organize within a chaotic organization, we concentrated on building real strategic priorities:
Created a central senior decision-making committee with clear authority for setting and preserving strategic direction
Established a formal project evaluation system that took place monthly rather than constantly
Created clear criteria for when priorities could be adjusted and what level of authorization was needed for such changes
Created required communication protocols to make certain that each project modifications were announced systematically and to everyone across every departments
Established stability phases where zero project disruptions were allowed without emergency justification
Their improvement was remarkable and outstanding:
Employee stress instances decreased substantially as staff finally were clear about what they were required to be concentrating on
Productivity rose by nearly 50% within six weeks as workers could really concentrate on delivering work rather than constantly changing between competing requests
Client delivery times improved substantially as staff could plan and deliver work without continuous changes and modifications
Customer happiness increased substantially as work were consistently finished on time and to standards
The lesson: before you show people to organize, ensure your company actually has consistent strategic focus that are suitable for focusing on.
Here’s one more approach that task planning training proves useless in poorly-run organizations: by believing that workers have genuine power over their work and priorities.
I consulted with a public sector agency where staff were continuously getting reprimanded for “ineffective task organization” and mandated to “productivity” training courses.
The truth was that these employees had essentially no authority over their work time. Here’s what their average workday appeared like:
About three-fifths of their schedule was consumed by required conferences that they were not allowed to avoid, no matter of whether these conferences were useful to their actual work
Another significant portion of their time was dedicated to completing bureaucratic forms and administrative tasks that added zero benefit to their primary job or to the people they were meant to help
Their final one-fifth of their time was supposed to be allocated for their actual job – the work they were hired to do and that really was important to the public
Additionally even this limited portion of time was regularly invaded by “immediate” demands, unexpected conferences, and administrative requirements that were not allowed to be delayed
Given these conditions, zero amount of “priority organization” training was able to assist these staff turn more effective. This problem wasn’t their individual time management abilities – it was an institutional framework that made efficient accomplishment almost impossible.
We helped them create systematic improvements to resolve the real impediments to productivity:
Eliminated redundant conferences and created clear criteria for when gatherings were really required
Streamlined paperwork tasks and eliminated duplicate form-filling procedures
Implemented dedicated time for real work activities that would not be interrupted by meetings
Developed defined systems for determining what constituted a real “emergency” versus normal requests that could wait for scheduled slots
Established delegation approaches to guarantee that work was shared appropriately and that zero employee was overburdened with unrealistic demands
Worker effectiveness increased substantially, professional satisfaction improved considerably, and this agency finally started offering improved results to the community they were intended to serve.
That important insight: companies won’t be able to address efficiency challenges by showing individuals to function more successfully within broken systems. Organizations have to fix the organizations initially.
At this point let’s examine possibly the most absurd component of priority management training in chaotic organizations: the idea that workers can somehow prioritize work when the organization as a whole shifts its focus multiple times per day.
The team worked with a technology business where the executive leadership was famous for having “brilliant” revelations numerous times per week and demanding the complete team to immediately shift to pursue each new priority.
Staff would show up at work on Monday with a defined knowledge of their priorities for the day, only to find that the CEO had decided overnight that everything they had been concentrating on was not a priority and that they needed to right away start concentrating on an initiative totally new.
Such behavior would repeat multiple times per month. Projects that had been announced as “highest priority” would be dropped before completion, groups would be repeatedly re-assigned to new initiatives, and significant amounts of time and investment would be lost on initiatives that were not completed.
The company had poured significantly in “flexible task planning” training and complex priority tracking tools to assist staff “respond quickly” to evolving requirements.
However absolutely no level of education or software could address the fundamental problem: organizations cannot successfully prioritize constantly evolving directions. Perpetual shifting is the opposite of effective planning.
The team worked with them create what I call “Strategic Direction Management”:
Implemented regular strategic review periods where major direction changes could be considered and approved
Established clear requirements for what constituted a legitimate justification for adjusting established priorities apart from the scheduled planning sessions
Established a “objective stability” time where absolutely no adjustments to set priorities were allowed without extraordinary justification
Created defined coordination protocols for when direction adjustments were really essential, with complete cost analyses of what projects would be delayed
Established written authorization from senior decision-makers before each major priority modifications could be enacted
The change was dramatic. In 90 days, measurable initiative delivery statistics increased by over dramatically. Staff frustration instances fell substantially as people could finally work on completing work rather than continuously initiating new ones.
Creativity remarkably increased because teams had adequate time to completely develop and refine their ideas rather than constantly changing to new directions before anything could be fully completed.
This lesson: good prioritization requires objectives that remain unchanged long enough for employees to actually focus on them and complete significant outcomes.
This is what I’ve concluded after years in this industry: priority management training is merely useful in companies that genuinely have their organizational act functioning.
Once your workplace has clear strategic priorities, achievable expectations, effective decision-making, and processes that support rather than prevent efficient performance, then time planning training can be helpful.
However if your workplace is defined by perpetual dysfunction, unclear directions, inadequate planning, excessive workloads, and reactive leadership styles, then task planning training is more harmful than useless – it’s actively harmful because it faults employee performance for systemic incompetence.
Quit squandering time on task planning training until you’ve fixed your systemic priorities initially.
Start creating workplaces with clear organizational direction, competent leadership, and systems that genuinely enable efficient activity.
The employees will organize just fine once you give them direction worth prioritizing and an environment that really supports them in accomplishing their work. overburdened with impossible responsibilities
Employee effectiveness rose dramatically, professional happiness got better considerably, and the agency actually started offering better outcomes to the community they were supposed to serve.
That crucial point: organizations cannot fix efficiency problems by showing people to work more effectively productively within chaotic organizations. You need to fix the organizations first.
At this point let’s discuss probably the biggest absurd element of task planning training in poorly-run companies: the assumption that employees can magically prioritize tasks when the organization at leadership level changes its direction numerous times per week.
I consulted with a IT business where the executive leadership was well-known for experiencing “game-changing” revelations numerous times per week and expecting the whole organization to immediately redirect to accommodate each new direction.
Employees would show up at the office on any given day with a specific knowledge of their tasks for the day, only to learn that the CEO had determined overnight that all work they had been working on was no longer important and that they needed to instantly commence working on something totally different.
This cycle would happen multiple times per month. Initiatives that had been stated as “critical” would be dropped mid-stream, teams would be repeatedly re-assigned to alternative work, and massive amounts of time and work would be lost on projects that were ultimately not delivered.
The startup had poured extensively in “flexible project organization” training and advanced project tracking systems to assist staff “adjust rapidly” to shifting requirements.
Yet zero amount of education or systems could overcome the core issue: organizations can’t successfully prioritize continuously shifting directions. Constant change is the antithesis of successful planning.
The team helped them implement what I call “Strategic Priority Stability”:
Established quarterly strategic assessment periods where significant priority changes could be evaluated and adopted
Created strict criteria for what constituted a legitimate justification for adjusting established directions outside the scheduled review cycles
Implemented a “direction stability” phase where absolutely no modifications to current objectives were acceptable without emergency approval
Established defined notification procedures for when priority adjustments were really essential, featuring complete impact assessments of what initiatives would be interrupted
Mandated written sign-off from several leaders before all significant priority shifts could be enacted
This transformation was remarkable. Within 90 days, measurable project delivery rates improved by nearly dramatically. Staff stress rates dropped significantly as people could actually work on delivering tasks rather than continuously initiating new ones.
Innovation remarkably improved because groups had adequate resources to completely develop and test their solutions rather than constantly switching to new projects before any project could be adequately finished.
The reality: good planning requires priorities that remain stable long enough for teams to actually work on them and achieve meaningful results.
Here’s what I’ve learned after decades in this industry: task planning training is merely valuable in organizations that currently have their strategic systems functioning.
Once your workplace has consistent strategic priorities, realistic workloads, effective management, and structures that facilitate rather than prevent efficient activity, then task planning training can be useful.
But if your company is marked by constant chaos, unclear directions, poor organization, excessive expectations, and crisis-driven decision-making approaches, then time management training is worse than pointless – it’s directly harmful because it faults employee performance for systemic incompetence.
Stop throwing away time on task organization training until you’ve resolved your leadership priorities initially.
Focus on establishing companies with clear strategic direction, competent leadership, and processes that actually facilitate meaningful accomplishment.
Your employees will manage tasks extremely well once you provide them priorities deserving of working toward and an environment that actually supports them in doing their responsibilities.
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