Stop Teaching People to “Prioritize” When Your Business Has No Understanding What Genuinely Should Be Priority: How Time Management Training Fails in Dysfunctional Companies
I’ll going to demolish one of the biggest common misconceptions in organizational training: the belief that teaching employees improved “time organization” techniques will fix productivity problems in workplaces that have absolutely no coherent direction themselves.
With nearly two decades of consulting with businesses on productivity problems, I can tell you that task management training in a chaotic workplace is like teaching someone to sort their possessions while their building is currently on fire around them.
This is the core issue: most organizations suffering from productivity issues cannot have productivity challenges – they have organizational problems.
Standard time planning training presupposes that organizations have clear, stable goals that workers can be trained to recognize and focus with. That assumption is totally divorced from reality in the majority of contemporary organizations.
The team worked with a significant marketing company where workers were continuously expressing frustration about being “failing to manage their work effectively.” Management had poured hundreds of thousands on task organization training for each staff.
This training included all the typical methods: priority matrices, task classification systems, time blocking techniques, and sophisticated task organization applications.
However productivity remained to get worse, staff overwhelm rates rose, and project quality times got more unreliable, not more efficient.
After I investigated what was actually going on, I discovered the real problem: the company at the leadership level had zero clear strategic focus.
Here’s what the daily experience looked like for employees:
Each week: Top management would announce that Client A was the “most critical focus” and each employee should to concentrate on it immediately
24 hours later: A different executive leader would send an “critical” email declaring that Client B was really the “most essential” focus
48 hours later: Yet another team leader would organize an “emergency” conference to announce that Client C was a “essential” deadline that had to be completed by Friday
Day four: The initial top executive would show disappointment that Initiative A hadn’t progressed sufficiently and insist to know why staff weren’t “working on” it properly
By week’s end: Each three initiatives would be behind, various deliverables would be missed, and employees would be criticized for “poor time organization skills”
That pattern was happening continuously after week, systematically after month. No amount of “task organization” training was able to enable employees navigate this systemic insanity.
This basic challenge wasn’t that employees couldn’t understand how to manage tasks – it was that the organization itself was totally incapable of creating stable direction for more than 24 hours at a time.
The team helped management to abandon their focus on “individual time planning” training and alternatively implement what I call “Organizational Priority Clarity.”
In place of working to train employees to prioritize within a dysfunctional organization, we worked on building genuine strategic clarity:
Created a unified executive management team with clear responsibility for determining and maintaining strategic direction
Implemented a systematic initiative assessment system that took place on schedule rather than daily
Developed specific criteria for when priorities could be changed and what level of authorization was required for such changes
Created enforced communication procedures to make certain that all focus modifications were announced explicitly and consistently across all levels
Created buffer times where no priority disruptions were allowed without emergency approval
This change was immediate and dramatic:
Staff stress instances dropped dramatically as staff for the first time understood what they were supposed to be concentrating on
Productivity increased by more than 50% within 45 days as staff could actually focus on delivering projects rather than continuously changing between competing requests
Work quality results improved considerably as departments could coordinate and execute work without constant interruptions and modifications
Client satisfaction increased significantly as work were genuinely completed on time and to standards
The point: prior to you train people to organize, ensure your company really has stable direction that are deserving of focusing on.
This is one more approach that priority planning training doesn’t work in dysfunctional organizations: by presupposing that employees have actual power over their work and responsibilities.
We consulted with a government department where workers were constantly getting blamed for “poor priority organization” and mandated to “productivity” training workshops.
This reality was that these workers had virtually no authority over their job time. This is what their average workday seemed like:
About the majority of their workday was consumed by mandatory sessions that they couldn’t decline, irrespective of whether these conferences were useful to their actual job
A further one-fifth of their workday was assigned to filling out mandatory reports and bureaucratic tasks that added absolutely no value to their real work or to the clients they were intended to assist
This leftover one-fifth of their schedule was supposed to be dedicated for their real job – the tasks they were hired to do and that actually mattered to the agency
However even this tiny fraction of schedule was regularly interrupted by “emergency” requests, unexpected calls, and administrative requirements that were not allowed to be delayed
Under these conditions, no amount of “priority management” training was going to assist these workers get more efficient. The issue wasn’t their personal task organization abilities – it was an institutional framework that ensured efficient activity almost unattainable.
The team assisted them establish systematic reforms to address the underlying impediments to productivity:
Eliminated pointless conferences and implemented strict criteria for when gatherings were really necessary
Simplified paperwork obligations and eliminated duplicate form-filling procedures
Implemented reserved periods for real professional activities that couldn’t be invaded by non-essential demands
Created specific procedures for deciding what constituted a legitimate “urgent situation” versus standard demands that could wait for scheduled times
Established delegation approaches to guarantee that work was distributed appropriately and that no individual was overwhelmed with impossible responsibilities
Staff efficiency increased significantly, work fulfillment increased considerably, and their department finally commenced delivering higher quality services to the citizens they were meant to support.
That key insight: you can’t address productivity issues by teaching individuals to function more effectively efficiently within broken structures. Companies have to improve the structures first.
At this point let’s address possibly the most ridiculous element of time management training in dysfunctional companies: the idea that staff can mysteriously organize work when the company at leadership level shifts its focus numerous times per month.
I worked with a IT startup where the executive leadership was famous for experiencing “brilliant” insights several times per period and requiring the complete organization to immediately pivot to implement each new priority.
Staff would come at work on regularly with a specific knowledge of their priorities for the day, only to learn that the management had decided suddenly that all work they had been concentrating on was suddenly not a priority and that they should to instantly commence focusing on a project completely new.
Such behavior would occur several times per week. Work that had been declared as “essential” would be forgotten mid-stream, departments would be continuously re-assigned to new work, and significant quantities of time and investment would be squandered on projects that were not completed.
This company had spent significantly in “agile task management” training and advanced project organization tools to help employees “respond quickly” to changing requirements.
But no amount of education or tools could address the core issue: people can’t efficiently organize constantly shifting objectives. Continuous change is the enemy of successful prioritization.
We assisted them create what I call “Disciplined Priority Consistency”:
Created scheduled strategic review cycles where important priority changes could be evaluated and implemented
Developed clear requirements for what qualified as a genuine justification for modifying set priorities apart from the regular review sessions
Established a “objective protection” period where no adjustments to established directions were acceptable without emergency approval
Established specific communication systems for when direction changes were genuinely required, with complete impact evaluations of what projects would be interrupted
Mandated written approval from senior leaders before all substantial strategy changes could be enacted
The transformation was dramatic. In 90 days, actual initiative completion percentages rose by nearly dramatically. Employee stress rates dropped substantially as people could at last work on completing tasks rather than continuously beginning new ones.
Innovation surprisingly improved because teams had sufficient opportunity to completely explore and refine their concepts rather than repeatedly switching to new directions before anything could be fully developed.
The reality: effective organization demands objectives that keep stable long enough for teams to really focus on them and complete meaningful results.
Here’s what I’ve learned after extensive time in this business: priority planning training is merely useful in organizations that genuinely have their organizational act working properly.
If your workplace has consistent business priorities, realistic demands, effective leadership, and processes that enable rather than obstruct productive activity, then priority organization training can be useful.
But if your company is defined by perpetual dysfunction, conflicting directions, poor coordination, excessive expectations, and emergency decision-making styles, then time organization training is more harmful than useless – it’s actively harmful because it holds responsible personal performance for organizational incompetence.
Stop throwing away resources on task management training until you’ve addressed your systemic dysfunction before anything else.
Begin creating organizations with consistent organizational priorities, competent management, and structures that really support productive work.
The staff would organize perfectly effectively once you give them something deserving of focusing on and an environment that really facilitates them in completing their responsibilities. overburdened with impossible workloads
Staff efficiency rose significantly, professional satisfaction increased considerably, and their agency genuinely began delivering better services to the public they were meant to help.
This crucial point: organizations cannot address productivity problems by teaching individuals to work more productively within broken systems. You need to fix the systems initially.
At this point let’s examine perhaps the most absurd aspect of task planning training in dysfunctional organizations: the belief that staff can somehow manage responsibilities when the management at leadership level changes its priorities numerous times per month.
I consulted with a IT business where the founder was well-known for having “game-changing” insights numerous times per period and requiring the complete company to immediately redirect to pursue each new direction.
Staff would show up at work on Monday with a clear knowledge of their priorities for the period, only to learn that the leadership had decided suddenly that all work they had been concentrating on was suddenly not relevant and that they needed to instantly commence concentrating on something completely different.
That behavior would repeat multiple times per month. Initiatives that had been announced as “essential” would be abandoned mid-stream, teams would be constantly redirected to new work, and massive portions of effort and investment would be lost on work that were not finished.
The startup had spent heavily in “adaptive task management” training and advanced task organization tools to enable staff “respond quickly” to changing directions.
Yet no level of skill development or systems could address the core challenge: people won’t be able to efficiently manage constantly shifting objectives. Perpetual change is the opposite of good planning.
We assisted them establish what I call “Focused Direction Management”:
Implemented scheduled planning planning periods where major direction modifications could be discussed and adopted
Created firm criteria for what qualified as a valid reason for modifying established priorities beyond the planned review sessions
Implemented a “objective stability” phase where absolutely no changes to established objectives were permitted without exceptional justification
Implemented specific communication systems for when direction modifications were genuinely required, including thorough cost assessments of what initiatives would be delayed
Established documented authorization from multiple decision-makers before all major direction modifications could be enacted
This improvement was remarkable. After 90 days, measurable work completion rates rose by more than three times. Staff frustration rates dropped significantly as people could actually work on completing projects rather than continuously starting new ones.
Creativity surprisingly improved because groups had sufficient resources to thoroughly implement and refine their ideas rather than continuously switching to new directions before any project could be fully finished.
The reality: effective planning demands objectives that remain consistent long enough for people to genuinely concentrate on them and achieve substantial progress.
This is what I’ve learned after decades in this industry: time management training is only valuable in companies that genuinely have their strategic priorities functioning.
If your organization has clear organizational objectives, achievable expectations, effective leadership, and processes that facilitate rather than obstruct effective activity, then task planning training can be helpful.
However if your workplace is characterized by perpetual chaos, competing directions, incompetent coordination, impossible expectations, and reactive decision-making cultures, then priority planning training is more harmful than ineffective – it’s directly harmful because it holds responsible individual choices for leadership incompetence.
End throwing away resources on task management training until you’ve addressed your organizational priorities first.
Focus on creating companies with consistent strategic priorities, competent management, and structures that genuinely facilitate efficient activity.
Your staff would manage tasks extremely effectively once you provide them priorities deserving of prioritizing and an organization that actually facilitates them in accomplishing their work.
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