There is a quote, attributed to numerous authors which says:
“If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority”
– Numerous
I could not agree more and would add the following quote:
“Deciding what not to do, is as important as deciding what to do”
– Steve Jobs
I am sure everyone reading this has been in a situation where you have been given two ‘high priority’ issues to deal with and told that they are both ‘the priority’
Sometimes this can be from one source, other times it can be from different sources who are unaware of each other. In both cases it identifies a lack of understanding, planning, communication or a combination of all three.
There are some key points here:
- I forgot – is not a high priority or a lever to be constantly pulled. Yes it is possible to forget a high priority item, but then I would also question its classification if it could be forgotten. A vicious circle too often seen!
- Logically, there cannot be two top priorities, if there are then you have incorrectly estimated at least one or do not have enough detail to separate them. More analysis required when you have put the fire out.
- Your priority should not be subjective. It is true that differing sources will have different priorities dependent on their business focus and needs. The key with this is that you as the actor must have an objective way to slot these into your workload.
- Think ahead – in order to have a solid (and quick to deploy!) approach to priority management it must be agreed with all parties with demands upon your time and, preferably, documented. You should not waste precious acting time with unnecessary arguments about which number one is number one.
- You must be robust – having taken the time to establish the regime you must enforce it. There is no sense in having a beautifully laid out approach if you cave into pressure every time it is applied. The flip side of this is that the rationale you developed in #3 above should be backed by sound, agreed, business logic.
There are many more subtleties I am sure but priority management is a dark, secretive art that is way more simple (at the logical level) than it seems. Yet for some reason, much like other ‘management’ activities it is often turned into a circus that creates more chaos than it resolves.
Make priority management a priority!