Stop Teaching People to “Prioritize” When Your Company Has Zero Clue What Really Should Be Priority: Why Task Planning Training Fails in Chaotic Companies
I’ll about to demolish one of the greatest widespread false beliefs in workplace training: the assumption that training staff improved “time organization” methods will solve efficiency problems in companies that have zero consistent direction themselves.
With extensive experience of consulting with companies on efficiency problems, I can tell you that time management training in a poorly-run organization is like instructing someone to arrange their belongings while their building is actively collapsing around them.
Here’s the core problem: most businesses dealing with from efficiency crises don’t have time management problems – they have organizational failures.
Conventional priority management training believes that workplaces have well-defined, unchanging goals that staff can learn to understand and focus on. That idea is totally divorced from the real world in nearly all current organizations.
The team worked with a major communications company where workers were constantly complaining about being “failing to manage their responsibilities successfully.” Management had poured enormous amounts on task management training for all staff.
This training covered all the typical approaches: urgency-importance grids, priority classification systems, time organization techniques, and complex work management systems.
But productivity kept to drop, employee stress rates got higher, and project completion times turned worse, not improved.
After I analyzed what was genuinely occurring, I learned the actual cause: the company as a whole had zero stable strategic focus.
This is what the daily situation looked like for staff:
Monday: Top leadership would communicate that Client A was the “highest objective” and each employee needed to concentrate on it as soon as possible
Tuesday: A different top executive would announce an “urgent” message insisting that Project B was really the “highest important” focus
Wednesday: Yet another team manager would organize an “immediate” conference to announce that Client C was a “critical” deliverable that needed to be completed by end of week
Thursday: The first executive manager would voice anger that Initiative A hadn’t progressed sufficiently and demand to know why people were not “working on” it properly
By week’s end: All three initiatives would be behind, several deliverables would be not met, and workers would be held responsible for “ineffective time organization abilities”
Such pattern was repeated constantly after week, regularly after month. Zero level of “task organization” training was able to help workers navigate this organizational dysfunction.
This fundamental problem wasn’t that workers couldn’t learn how to prioritize – it was that the agency as a whole was totally incapable of establishing clear priorities for more than 72 hours at a time.
We persuaded executives to eliminate their concentration on “individual task organization” training and alternatively implement what I call “Leadership Priority Systems.”
In place of attempting to teach employees to prioritize within a chaotic system, we focused on building actual organizational direction:
Established a single senior management committee with defined authority for determining and maintaining strategic focus
Created a formal priority assessment procedure that took place monthly rather than constantly
Created specific standards for when priorities could be modified and what type of authorization was required for such adjustments
Implemented enforced communication protocols to ensure that any priority changes were shared systematically and consistently across each departments
Implemented stability phases where no priority disruptions were acceptable without exceptional approval
Their change was instant and outstanding:
Worker stress rates dropped significantly as staff at last were clear about what they were supposed to be concentrating on
Output rose by over significantly within six weeks as workers could really focus on completing projects rather than repeatedly changing between conflicting priorities
Work quality results got better significantly as staff could plan and deliver tasks without constant interruptions and redirection
Client relationships increased dramatically as projects were consistently completed on time and to requirements
That point: before you train people to organize, guarantee your organization genuinely has consistent strategic focus that are suitable for prioritizing.
This is another way that time planning training fails in dysfunctional companies: by presupposing that workers have actual power over their work and tasks.
I worked with a municipal organization where staff were continuously receiving criticized for “ineffective time management” and mandated to “efficiency” training sessions.
This actual situation was that these staff had almost absolutely no authority over their job schedules. Let me describe what their typical day looked like:
About three-fifths of their time was taken up by mandatory sessions that they had no option to skip, irrespective of whether these sessions were necessary to their real job
A further 20% of their schedule was allocated to completing mandatory forms and bureaucratic tasks that added no usefulness to their actual job or to the clients they were meant to serve
Their final 20% of their schedule was supposed to be dedicated for their core job – the tasks they were paid to do and that genuinely was important to the public
Additionally even this limited portion of schedule was regularly invaded by “immediate” requirements, unexpected meetings, and management obligations that couldn’t be postponed
Given these constraints, no level of “time management” training was able to help these employees become more productive. Their challenge wasn’t their individual time management abilities – it was an systemic system that made efficient work essentially unachievable.
The team assisted them implement organizational improvements to address the actual impediments to productivity:
Got rid of pointless sessions and implemented clear criteria for when gatherings were actually required
Streamlined paperwork obligations and got rid of duplicate documentation procedures
Implemented protected blocks for actual work tasks that were not allowed to be interrupted by non-essential demands
Established specific procedures for deciding what qualified as a legitimate “emergency” versus routine requests that could be scheduled for appropriate periods
Created delegation systems to make certain that tasks was shared appropriately and that zero individual was carrying excessive load with impossible demands
Employee efficiency increased dramatically, work fulfillment got better notably, and this agency genuinely began delivering higher quality results to the public they were meant to support.
That important point: companies cannot address productivity challenges by training individuals to function more productively within dysfunctional organizations. You must improve the structures before anything else.
Currently let’s address probably the most ridiculous aspect of priority management training in chaotic organizations: the belief that staff can magically organize work when the management as a whole modifies its focus several times per day.
We consulted with a technology startup where the CEO was well-known for having “innovative” ideas multiple times per period and demanding the whole organization to right away redirect to implement each new priority.
Employees would show up at work on any given day with a specific knowledge of their tasks for the week, only to learn that the CEO had decided suddenly that everything they had been working on was no longer a priority and that they needed to right away start concentrating on something entirely new.
This cycle would happen multiple times per period. Projects that had been stated as “essential” would be dropped mid-stream, teams would be repeatedly re-assigned to new initiatives, and significant quantities of effort and energy would be wasted on work that were not finished.
The company had invested extensively in “agile work management” training and complex project organization systems to help employees “adjust rapidly” to changing directions.
However no level of education or tools could solve the core problem: you can’t efficiently prioritize constantly evolving directions. Continuous change is the antithesis of effective organization.
The team helped them implement what I call “Disciplined Objective Consistency”:
Established quarterly strategic assessment cycles where major strategy adjustments could be discussed and approved
Developed firm standards for what qualified as a valid basis for adjusting agreed-upon objectives apart from the regular planning periods
Implemented a “direction protection” time where absolutely no changes to set priorities were allowed without emergency approval
Implemented defined notification procedures for when priority changes were absolutely necessary, including full consequence evaluations of what initiatives would be delayed
Mandated formal sign-off from several leaders before each substantial strategy shifts could be approved
The transformation was dramatic. After 90 days, actual work completion rates rose by nearly 300%. Employee stress rates dropped significantly as people could at last work on finishing projects rather than continuously initiating new ones.
Creativity remarkably improved because departments had enough time to fully explore and evaluate their solutions rather than continuously changing to new initiatives before anything could be properly completed.
That reality: effective prioritization demands objectives that keep consistent long enough for teams to really concentrate on them and accomplish meaningful outcomes.
Let me share what I’ve discovered after years in this business: time planning training is exclusively valuable in companies that genuinely have their strategic systems functioning.
If your workplace has consistent business direction, reasonable expectations, functional management, and systems that enable rather than obstruct productive work, then priority management training can be useful.
However if your organization is characterized by constant chaos, competing messages, inadequate coordination, excessive expectations, and emergency management styles, then task organization training is worse than useless – it’s directly destructive because it blames employee choices for systemic dysfunction.
End wasting resources on priority planning training until you’ve fixed your organizational direction before anything else.
Begin building workplaces with clear strategic priorities, competent decision-making, and structures that actually support productive activity.
Your workers would manage tasks just well once you provide them direction suitable for focusing on and an environment that genuinely enables them in completing their jobs. carrying excessive load with unsustainable demands
Staff productivity improved dramatically, job fulfillment increased substantially, and the department finally began offering improved results to the community they were meant to help.
That key insight: companies won’t be able to solve time management challenges by showing individuals to function better productively within chaotic systems. Organizations must improve the structures before anything else.
Currently let’s examine possibly the biggest ridiculous aspect of time management training in chaotic workplaces: the belief that employees can magically prioritize responsibilities when the company at leadership level changes its priorities numerous times per day.
We worked with a software startup where the founder was well-known for experiencing “innovative” ideas numerous times per week and demanding the entire organization to instantly pivot to implement each new priority.
Workers would come at the office on Monday with a clear understanding of their tasks for the day, only to learn that the CEO had concluded overnight that all work they had been concentrating on was suddenly not relevant and that they must to immediately commence focusing on an initiative entirely new.
Such behavior would repeat several times per month. Work that had been declared as “highest priority” would be abandoned halfway through, departments would be constantly re-assigned to alternative work, and significant portions of time and work would be wasted on initiatives that were never completed.
This organization had invested extensively in “adaptive work planning” training and advanced task organization software to help employees “adapt efficiently” to shifting requirements.
However no amount of education or systems could address the core challenge: organizations cannot successfully organize continuously shifting directions. Perpetual modification is the antithesis of effective prioritization.
The team worked with them implement what I call “Focused Direction Management”:
Created regular priority review sessions where important priority adjustments could be discussed and adopted
Established clear requirements for what constituted a legitimate reason for modifying established priorities outside the regular assessment cycles
Implemented a “priority consistency” time where no changes to set directions were permitted without emergency circumstances
Implemented clear notification protocols for when objective modifications were really necessary, including thorough consequence evaluations of what projects would be abandoned
Mandated written approval from multiple leaders before any major direction changes could be implemented
This transformation was outstanding. In three months, actual work success percentages improved by over 300%. Worker frustration levels dropped substantially as staff could at last work on delivering tasks rather than constantly starting new ones.
Innovation remarkably got better because departments had adequate time to thoroughly explore and test their ideas rather than repeatedly changing to new projects before anything could be properly developed.
That point: good prioritization needs objectives that keep unchanged long enough for people to really focus on them and accomplish significant progress.
Let me share what I’ve learned after years in this field: time organization training is merely useful in organizations that genuinely have their organizational systems working properly.
Once your company has clear business objectives, achievable workloads, effective management, and systems that enable rather than hinder efficient work, then priority management training can be useful.
But if your workplace is marked by constant chaos, unclear messages, incompetent planning, excessive demands, and reactive decision-making approaches, then task management training is more counterproductive than useless – it’s systematically destructive because it holds responsible personal choices for leadership dysfunction.
Stop wasting resources on task organization training until you’ve resolved your organizational direction first.
Start creating workplaces with consistent business priorities, competent leadership, and systems that actually enable efficient accomplishment.
Your staff would prioritize perfectly well once you provide them direction deserving of prioritizing and an workplace that really facilitates them in accomplishing their responsibilities.
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