Quit Teaching People to “Manage Tasks” When Your Business Has Absolutely No Clue What Really Should Be Priority: How Priority Organization Training Is Useless in Dysfunctional Organizations

I’ll ready to destroy one of the biggest widespread false beliefs in corporate training: the idea that showing employees better “task management” methods will solve time management challenges in companies that have zero clear priorities themselves.

After seventeen years of consulting with organizations on time management issues, I can tell you that priority organization training in a poorly-run company is like instructing someone to arrange their possessions while their home is currently collapsing around them.

Let me share the core issue: most companies dealing with from efficiency problems don’t have time management problems – they have organizational failures.

Standard task management training presupposes that companies have consistent, reliable priorities that employees can be taught to identify and focus with. Such belief is entirely divorced from actual workplace conditions in nearly all current companies.

We consulted with a major communications firm where employees were repeatedly complaining about being “unable to manage their responsibilities properly.” Management had spent enormous amounts on task organization training for all workers.

The training featured all the standard approaches: priority systems, ABC ranking methods, schedule organization strategies, and sophisticated work organization software.

But productivity continued to decline, worker frustration instances got higher, and project quality schedules became more unreliable, not more efficient.

When I examined what was genuinely happening, I found the real problem: the company at the leadership level had zero stable strategic focus.

Here’s what the typical experience looked like for staff:

Regularly: Top executives would communicate that Initiative A was the “top priority” and everyone must to concentrate on it immediately

Tuesday: A different top executive would distribute an “critical” email insisting that Initiative B was actually the “highest important” objective

Day three: Another different division manager would organize an “immediate” session to communicate that Initiative C was a “must-have” deadline that had to be delivered by Friday

Thursday: The original senior manager would express disappointment that Client A had not progressed as expected and require to know why staff had not been “prioritizing” it correctly

End of week: All three clients would be behind, several deadlines would be failed, and staff would be held responsible for “ineffective task management abilities”

This cycle was repeated continuously after week, regularly after month. No level of “time management” training was able to assist workers handle this organizational insanity.

Their fundamental challenge wasn’t that staff did not understand how to prioritize – it was that the agency itself was completely incapable of maintaining clear direction for more than 24 hours at a time.

I convinced leadership to scrap their focus on “individual time planning” training and rather create what I call “Leadership Priority Management.”

In place of working to show employees to manage within a constantly changing system, we concentrated on creating real organizational clarity:

Implemented a single senior management team with specific power for establishing and maintaining strategic priorities

Implemented a systematic initiative assessment procedure that occurred monthly rather than daily

Established clear standards for when projects could be modified and what degree of sign-off was required for such adjustments

Established enforced coordination procedures to guarantee that each focus modifications were communicated clearly and uniformly across each teams

Created protection periods where absolutely no focus changes were permitted without exceptional circumstances

Their change was immediate and dramatic:

Worker stress rates decreased dramatically as staff at last understood what they were supposed to be working on

Efficiency rose by more than 50% within 45 days as employees could genuinely work on finishing tasks rather than repeatedly switching between multiple demands

Work completion results decreased considerably as departments could coordinate and execute work without continuous changes and redirection

Customer satisfaction got better dramatically as projects were genuinely delivered on time and to standards

The reality: instead of you train people to prioritize, ensure your leadership really possesses stable direction that are suitable for prioritizing.

Here’s a different approach that time organization training doesn’t work in poorly-run workplaces: by assuming that employees have real power over their time and responsibilities.

I consulted with a government organization where employees were continuously receiving reprimanded for “ineffective time management” and mandated to “efficiency” training sessions.

Their truth was that these employees had essentially zero control over their job activities. Let me describe what their typical workday seemed like:

Roughly the majority of their time was occupied by required sessions that they were not allowed to skip, regardless of whether these meetings were necessary to their real job

Another one-fifth of their schedule was allocated to processing bureaucratic documentation and bureaucratic requirements that provided no benefit to their primary work or to the clients they were supposed to serve

The remaining small portion of their workday was supposed to be dedicated for their core responsibilities – the tasks they were employed to do and that actually mattered to the organization

However even this small amount of schedule was regularly interrupted by “immediate” requests, last-minute calls, and administrative requirements that couldn’t be delayed

With these conditions, no amount of “task organization” training was able to help these staff become more effective. This issue wasn’t their personal time organization techniques – it was an institutional framework that made productive work virtually unattainable.

I assisted them create organizational changes to address the underlying barriers to efficiency:

Removed redundant conferences and created strict criteria for when gatherings were genuinely justified

Simplified bureaucratic tasks and eliminated unnecessary reporting processes

Implemented dedicated blocks for real job activities that couldn’t be disrupted by administrative tasks

Developed clear procedures for deciding what constituted a legitimate “urgent situation” versus routine demands that could wait for scheduled slots

Established delegation approaches to guarantee that responsibilities was allocated fairly and that zero employee was overwhelmed with unsustainable responsibilities

Employee efficiency rose substantially, professional satisfaction got better considerably, and the agency actually started delivering improved results to the citizens they were intended to help.

The key lesson: organizations can’t address efficiency issues by training individuals to operate more successfully within dysfunctional organizations. Organizations have to repair the structures before anything else.

Currently let’s examine probably the biggest ridiculous aspect of task management training in poorly-run workplaces: the idea that workers can magically manage work when the management itself shifts its focus numerous times per day.

We worked with a IT business where the executive leadership was well-known for having “brilliant” revelations several times per week and expecting the whole company to instantly shift to accommodate each new idea.

Staff would show up at the office on Monday with a specific awareness of their tasks for the day, only to find that the leadership had determined overnight that all priorities they had been working on was suddenly not important and that they must to immediately begin working on an initiative totally different.

That cycle would happen several times per period. Initiatives that had been announced as “critical” would be dropped halfway through, teams would be constantly re-assigned to new initiatives, and significant amounts of resources and work would be squandered on work that were not delivered.

This company had spent heavily in “agile task organization” training and advanced priority organization tools to enable workers “respond quickly” to shifting directions.

Yet absolutely no amount of education or systems could overcome the basic problem: you won’t be able to successfully organize perpetually evolving priorities. Constant shifting is the opposite of good prioritization.

The team assisted them implement what I call “Focused Objective Management”:

Created scheduled strategic review periods where important direction adjustments could be considered and adopted

Established firm standards for what constituted a valid basis for changing agreed-upon objectives apart from the regular planning cycles

Implemented a “objective consistency” phase where no changes to current priorities were permitted without extraordinary circumstances

Established defined notification procedures for when direction modifications were really essential, with full cost assessments of what work would be interrupted

Mandated formal sign-off from senior stakeholders before each major direction changes could be implemented

This transformation was outstanding. Within a quarter, real initiative delivery rates improved by nearly three times. Staff burnout instances fell substantially as employees could finally work on delivering work rather than repeatedly beginning new ones.

Product development surprisingly got better because teams had enough opportunity to completely implement and test their solutions rather than continuously switching to new directions before any work could be adequately completed.

The point: successful prioritization demands priorities that remain unchanged long enough for employees to actually concentrate on them and complete significant progress.

This is what I’ve learned after years in this business: task organization training is only useful in organizations that already have their organizational act working properly.

If your organization has stable strategic objectives, reasonable demands, effective decision-making, and systems that facilitate rather than hinder efficient performance, then time planning training can be useful.

However if your workplace is marked by perpetual crisis management, competing messages, poor planning, unrealistic workloads, and reactive leadership cultures, then task planning training is worse than useless – it’s systematically damaging because it blames individual behavior for organizational dysfunction.

Quit squandering money on task management training until you’ve resolved your leadership priorities initially.

Start building companies with clear organizational focus, effective management, and processes that really enable meaningful accomplishment.

The staff will manage tasks perfectly fine once you offer them priorities suitable for prioritizing and an organization that genuinely facilitates them in doing their work. carrying excessive load with impossible workloads

Staff productivity rose dramatically, job satisfaction increased considerably, and this agency genuinely commenced delivering higher quality results to the citizens they were meant to serve.

That crucial insight: companies won’t be able to solve time management challenges by teaching employees to operate more productively within broken structures. You must fix the organizations before anything else.

At this point let’s discuss perhaps the greatest laughable aspect of priority organization training in dysfunctional organizations: the belief that workers can somehow prioritize tasks when the management as a whole modifies its direction multiple times per week.

The team consulted with a IT company where the CEO was well-known for experiencing “brilliant” insights several times per period and demanding the whole organization to right away shift to implement each new idea.

Employees would arrive at the office on regularly with a defined knowledge of their priorities for the day, only to find that the CEO had concluded suddenly that all priorities they had been focusing on was suddenly not relevant and that they should to immediately commence concentrating on a project entirely unrelated.

That cycle would occur numerous times per week. Projects that had been declared as “critical” would be forgotten before completion, groups would be constantly redirected to different projects, and massive portions of time and work would be squandered on work that were ultimately not finished.

The organization had spent heavily in “flexible project organization” training and advanced project tracking tools to assist workers “respond efficiently” to changing priorities.

However absolutely no degree of skill development or tools could solve the fundamental challenge: organizations won’t be able to efficiently organize constantly changing objectives. Continuous shifting is the opposite of effective prioritization.

We helped them implement what I call “Strategic Priority Management”:

Created quarterly planning assessment cycles where important strategy adjustments could be considered and adopted

Developed strict requirements for what represented a genuine justification for modifying established directions beyond the regular planning periods

Implemented a “direction consistency” time where no modifications to current directions were permitted without emergency justification

Created defined coordination procedures for when direction adjustments were genuinely necessary, including thorough impact analyses of what initiatives would be interrupted

Established formal sign-off from senior decision-makers before each major direction changes could be approved

Their transformation was remarkable. After 90 days, measurable initiative success percentages increased by more than dramatically. Worker burnout levels fell substantially as staff could at last concentrate on delivering work rather than repeatedly beginning new ones.

Creativity remarkably improved because departments had enough time to thoroughly develop and test their solutions rather than continuously changing to new projects before anything could be fully completed.

The lesson: effective organization needs directions that stay unchanged long enough for teams to genuinely focus on them and accomplish significant outcomes.

Here’s what I’ve learned after decades in this business: task organization training is merely useful in workplaces that currently have their strategic systems working properly.

Once your company has consistent strategic direction, achievable workloads, competent management, and systems that support rather than prevent productive work, then priority planning training can be useful.

However if your workplace is marked by continuous chaos, competing messages, incompetent organization, excessive expectations, and crisis-driven decision-making styles, then time management training is more harmful than useless – it’s actively harmful because it holds responsible individual behavior for organizational dysfunction.

End throwing away time on task planning training until you’ve addressed your systemic direction initially.

Focus on creating organizations with consistent strategic priorities, competent management, and systems that genuinely support meaningful work.

Your employees would manage tasks perfectly fine once you provide them priorities deserving of focusing on and an organization that really facilitates them in doing their jobs.

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