Quit Teaching People to “Manage Tasks” When Your Organization Has Absolutely No Idea What Genuinely Is Important: How Task Management Training Is Useless in Chaotic Organizations
Let me ready to demolish one of the biggest widespread false beliefs in workplace training: the assumption that teaching staff better “time organization” techniques will resolve time management issues in companies that have zero coherent direction themselves.
Following extensive experience of consulting with businesses on efficiency issues, I can tell you that time organization training in a chaotic company is like showing someone to sort their belongings while their building is actively on fire around them.
Here’s the fundamental reality: the majority of organizations dealing with from efficiency problems don’t have efficiency issues – they have management dysfunction.
Conventional priority management training presupposes that organizations have clear, stable priorities that employees can be taught to recognize and concentrate toward. This idea is completely separated from reality in most current organizations.
We worked with a major advertising company where employees were repeatedly reporting problems about being “unable to manage their responsibilities successfully.” Management had spent massive sums on time organization training for all employees.
The training featured all the typical methods: urgency-importance grids, task categorization methods, schedule organization methods, and sophisticated task organization systems.
However efficiency kept to drop, employee stress instances increased, and project quality times turned more unreliable, not improved.
Once I investigated what was really occurring, I found the underlying cause: the agency itself had no stable strategic focus.
Here’s what the normal experience looked like for workers:
Each week: Top executives would declare that Client A was the “highest priority” and each employee should to work on it right away
Tuesday: A separate top manager would distribute an “critical” communication stating that Initiative B was actually the “most critical” focus
Wednesday: A third division manager would organize an “emergency” session to communicate that Client C was a “essential” requirement that had to be delivered by Friday
The following day: The initial top leader would show anger that Project A was not advanced as expected and demand to know why people weren’t “working on” it as instructed
By week’s end: Each three initiatives would be behind, several deadlines would be missed, and workers would be held responsible for “poor task management abilities”
Such pattern was repeated continuously after week, regularly after month. Absolutely no degree of “task management” training was able to enable staff navigate this organizational dysfunction.
Their basic issue wasn’t that workers didn’t understand how to prioritize – it was that the agency at every level was completely unable of establishing stable priorities for more than 72 hours at a time.
I persuaded leadership to abandon their concentration on “employee task organization” training and instead create what I call “Organizational Priority Clarity.”
In place of working to show workers to manage within a dysfunctional environment, we worked on building real company priorities:
Implemented a unified leadership leadership group with specific authority for setting and enforcing company focus
Established a structured priority assessment process that happened on schedule rather than constantly
Established written guidelines for when initiatives could be modified and what degree of approval was needed for such modifications
Implemented enforced communication systems to make certain that any priority adjustments were communicated systematically and to everyone across every departments
Established protection phases where zero focus modifications were allowed without emergency approval
The improvement was instant and outstanding:
Employee overwhelm levels fell substantially as employees at last were clear about what they were expected to be working on
Output improved by over half within 45 days as staff could genuinely work on completing projects rather than repeatedly redirecting between competing priorities
Client quality results got better significantly as departments could plan and deliver projects without continuous changes and redirection
Client satisfaction got better substantially as deliverables were consistently delivered as promised and to requirements
This reality: prior to you train staff to manage tasks, ensure your organization genuinely maintains stable strategic focus that are worth focusing on.
Let me share a different way that time organization training doesn’t work in poorly-run organizations: by assuming that workers have genuine control over their work and responsibilities.
The team consulted with a municipal department where employees were constantly being blamed for “ineffective priority management” and sent to “productivity” training workshops.
Their actual situation was that these employees had virtually zero influence over their job activities. Here’s what their typical day seemed like:
Approximately the majority of their time was consumed by mandatory meetings that they were not allowed to avoid, regardless of whether these meetings were relevant to their core work
An additional significant portion of their schedule was assigned to processing required reports and bureaucratic obligations that added no benefit to their actual responsibilities or to the clients they were supposed to serve
The remaining one-fifth of their time was meant to be dedicated for their actual responsibilities – the work they were employed to do and that genuinely mattered to the agency
But even this small amount of schedule was continuously invaded by “emergency” requirements, last-minute calls, and management requirements that were not allowed to be postponed
Given these conditions, absolutely no degree of “priority management” training was able to assist these staff become more effective. This problem wasn’t their personal task management abilities – it was an institutional system that rendered efficient activity virtually unachievable.
The team helped them establish organizational reforms to address the underlying obstacles to productivity:
Got rid of redundant meetings and established strict criteria for when conferences were really required
Streamlined bureaucratic obligations and got rid of unnecessary documentation processes
Created dedicated periods for actual job tasks that couldn’t be interrupted by non-essential demands
Created specific systems for determining what qualified as a genuine “urgent situation” versus routine tasks that could wait for designated slots
Implemented delegation systems to ensure that work was allocated fairly and that zero employee was carrying excessive load with unsustainable demands
Employee productivity increased substantially, job happiness increased substantially, and their department genuinely started delivering improved results to the community they were intended to support.
This crucial insight: you cannot solve efficiency challenges by teaching employees to operate more productively within dysfunctional organizations. Organizations need to repair the systems before anything else.
At this point let’s discuss probably the biggest absurd element of task planning training in dysfunctional workplaces: the idea that staff can mysteriously manage responsibilities when the company itself modifies its focus several times per week.
I worked with a IT startup where the CEO was famous for having “innovative” insights multiple times per day and expecting the entire organization to immediately pivot to implement each new direction.
Staff would come at their jobs on any given day with a defined understanding of their objectives for the day, only to discover that the CEO had concluded suddenly that all work they had been focusing on was not relevant and that they should to instantly commence working on something entirely new.
That behavior would occur multiple times per period. Work that had been stated as “critical” would be dropped halfway through, departments would be repeatedly moved to different initiatives, and significant portions of time and work would be wasted on work that were not finished.
The company had invested extensively in “agile work management” training and complex priority organization software to enable employees “adapt rapidly” to shifting requirements.
However zero degree of education or systems could solve the fundamental challenge: you cannot successfully manage constantly changing objectives. Continuous shifting is the antithesis of good planning.
The team assisted them establish what I call “Focused Direction Stability”:
Created regular priority assessment sessions where significant direction changes could be evaluated and adopted
Created firm criteria for what qualified as a genuine reason for adjusting agreed-upon directions beyond the planned review cycles
Established a “priority consistency” period where no changes to established directions were allowed without extraordinary circumstances
Established specific notification systems for when objective changes were really essential, including complete consequence analyses of what projects would be interrupted
Established formal sign-off from several decision-makers before any substantial priority shifts could be implemented
This change was outstanding. In three months, real work success statistics increased by over three times. Staff burnout levels fell significantly as people could finally focus on delivering work rather than constantly initiating new ones.
Innovation remarkably got better because groups had enough opportunity to thoroughly develop and evaluate their ideas rather than continuously switching to new initiatives before anything could be properly developed.
The reality: good prioritization needs directions that keep stable long enough for people to genuinely concentrate on them and accomplish significant outcomes.
This is what I’ve discovered after decades in this industry: priority planning training is merely effective in organizations that genuinely have their leadership systems together.
Once your organization has consistent business objectives, reasonable expectations, functional decision-making, and systems that enable rather than hinder efficient performance, then time planning training can be helpful.
Yet if your workplace is marked by perpetual dysfunction, unclear directions, poor planning, unrealistic expectations, and crisis-driven decision-making styles, then task planning training is more counterproductive than pointless – it’s actively damaging because it faults employee choices for leadership dysfunction.
Quit squandering time on priority management training until you’ve resolved your systemic priorities before anything else.
Focus on building companies with consistent strategic focus, effective leadership, and processes that actually enable efficient activity.
Company workers would organize extremely effectively once you give them something suitable for focusing on and an environment that really facilitates them in doing their responsibilities. carrying excessive load with unrealistic demands
Employee efficiency increased significantly, work satisfaction got better considerably, and this department finally began delivering better results to the citizens they were supposed to help.
This important lesson: you won’t be able to fix efficiency issues by teaching employees to work more effectively efficiently within chaotic organizations. Companies must improve the organizations before anything else.
Currently let’s address perhaps the biggest laughable element of time organization training in dysfunctional workplaces: the assumption that staff can magically prioritize work when the company itself changes its priorities several times per week.
I worked with a software startup where the executive leadership was notorious for going through “brilliant” insights several times per week and demanding the complete organization to immediately redirect to pursue each new direction.
Staff would arrive at the office on Monday with a specific knowledge of their tasks for the day, only to find that the CEO had concluded overnight that all work they had been concentrating on was not relevant and that they needed to immediately commence concentrating on an initiative entirely unrelated.
That behavior would happen several times per month. Work that had been announced as “highest priority” would be abandoned before completion, departments would be continuously redirected to different work, and enormous portions of effort and work would be squandered on work that were never finished.
This company had invested extensively in “agile project planning” training and complex priority organization systems to assist employees “adapt efficiently” to changing priorities.
But zero degree of education or software could overcome the fundamental challenge: you cannot effectively manage constantly evolving directions. Perpetual shifting is the opposite of effective planning.
I worked with them implement what I call “Strategic Priority Consistency”:
Implemented scheduled planning assessment sessions where major direction modifications could be considered and implemented
Developed clear requirements for what qualified as a genuine basis for adjusting set directions beyond the planned planning sessions
Implemented a “objective stability” phase where no adjustments to established objectives were allowed without exceptional circumstances
Implemented specific coordination systems for when priority changes were really necessary, featuring full cost evaluations of what initiatives would be abandoned
Established documented authorization from multiple leaders before any significant strategy changes could be implemented
Their transformation was outstanding. Within a quarter, actual project delivery statistics improved by over 300%. Worker stress levels decreased considerably as people could finally work on finishing tasks rather than repeatedly initiating new ones.
Innovation remarkably increased because groups had enough resources to thoroughly implement and test their solutions rather than continuously switching to new projects before any work could be fully finished.
The reality: effective organization requires priorities that stay stable long enough for people to really work on them and accomplish substantial results.
This is what I’ve discovered after decades in this field: task planning training is only useful in companies that already have their leadership priorities functioning.
Once your organization has clear business priorities, realistic expectations, effective management, and processes that facilitate rather than hinder efficient performance, then task planning training can be helpful.
But if your company is defined by perpetual dysfunction, unclear priorities, incompetent planning, unrealistic workloads, and reactive leadership styles, then task planning training is more counterproductive than useless – it’s directly destructive because it holds responsible employee performance for leadership failures.
Quit squandering time on priority management training until you’ve resolved your leadership priorities first.
Focus on building organizations with stable business focus, competent management, and systems that really facilitate meaningful accomplishment.
The staff would organize just fine once you give them priorities deserving of prioritizing and an environment that actually enables them in accomplishing their responsibilities.
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