Stop Teaching People to “Organize” When Your Organization Has No Understanding What Really Is Important: Why Time Planning Training Fails in Dysfunctional Companies
Let me going to destroy one of the greatest popular myths in organizational training: the assumption that showing workers better “prioritization” methods will solve efficiency problems in workplaces that have absolutely no coherent priorities themselves.
Following extensive experience of working with organizations on efficiency problems, I can tell you that time management training in a chaotic workplace is like instructing someone to organize their possessions while their home is actively on fire around them.
This is the fundamental issue: most organizations dealing with from time management crises don’t have efficiency problems – they have management failures.
Traditional priority management training presupposes that organizations have consistent, unchanging priorities that workers can be trained to identify and concentrate toward. This idea is totally divorced from the real world in the majority of current organizations.
The team consulted with a major communications firm where employees were constantly complaining about being “struggling to manage their responsibilities properly.” Management had poured massive sums on priority planning training for each employees.
This training included all the typical methods: Eisenhower systems, task classification approaches, time management techniques, and detailed work management systems.
Yet productivity kept to drop, staff stress rates rose, and client delivery times got more unreliable, not better.
After I examined what was really occurring, I discovered the actual cause: the company as a whole had zero stable strategic focus.
This is what the typical situation looked like for workers:
Each week: Executive executives would communicate that Client A was the “top objective” and everyone needed to focus on it immediately
Tuesday: A different top executive would distribute an “urgent” communication stating that Initiative B was really the “most essential” priority
48 hours later: Yet another department leader would call an “emergency” session to declare that Client C was a “essential” deliverable that needed to be delivered by end of week
The following day: The first executive leader would express disappointment that Initiative A was not been completed enough and require to know why people had not been “focusing on” it correctly
End of week: Each three clients would be delayed, various deliverables would be not met, and staff would be criticized for “poor priority organization abilities”
Such scenario was repeated continuously after week, systematically after month. No degree of “task organization” training was able to enable employees manage this organizational dysfunction.
This fundamental issue wasn’t that employees didn’t know how to prioritize – it was that the company as a whole was entirely failing of creating consistent strategic focus for more than 48 hours at a time.
We convinced leadership to scrap their focus on “employee time planning” training and alternatively create what I call “Organizational Focus Clarity.”
Rather than working to show staff to organize within a constantly changing organization, we concentrated on creating actual company clarity:
Implemented a unified executive decision-making team with specific authority for setting and maintaining strategic focus
Implemented a formal project assessment system that occurred regularly rather than daily
Established written guidelines for when projects could be adjusted and what type of authorization was necessary for such modifications
Established enforced communication systems to make certain that all priority adjustments were communicated clearly and consistently across each teams
Established protection phases where absolutely no project disruptions were acceptable without exceptional justification
This transformation was instant and substantial:
Staff stress instances dropped substantially as staff for the first time knew what they were supposed to be concentrating on
Output increased by more than half within six weeks as workers could really focus on finishing projects rather than continuously changing between multiple priorities
Work delivery results improved significantly as teams could coordinate and complete tasks without daily changes and re-prioritization
External relationships got better dramatically as work were genuinely delivered as promised and to specification
That lesson: before you teach staff to prioritize, ensure your leadership really has consistent direction that are deserving of prioritizing.
This is another method that priority organization training fails in dysfunctional workplaces: by assuming that staff have genuine control over their time and priorities.
We consulted with a public sector organization where staff were constantly receiving reprimanded for “inadequate task management” and mandated to “productivity” training sessions.
The actual situation was that these employees had almost no authority over their work activities. Here’s what their typical schedule looked like:
Approximately three-fifths of their schedule was occupied by required conferences that they couldn’t decline, no matter of whether these meetings were useful to their core responsibilities
An additional 20% of their schedule was assigned to processing required reports and administrative tasks that provided zero usefulness to their actual work or to the citizens they were meant to serve
The leftover 20% of their time was meant to be dedicated for their core job – the tasks they were paid to do and that really was important to the organization
But even this tiny amount of time was regularly invaded by “emergency” requirements, unexpected calls, and bureaucratic demands that were not allowed to be delayed
Under these conditions, no amount of “priority planning” training was going to enable these workers get more efficient. The challenge wasn’t their individual priority planning techniques – it was an organizational system that made productive activity almost impossible.
I helped them implement organizational improvements to resolve the actual barriers to effectiveness:
Got rid of pointless conferences and created specific criteria for when gatherings were genuinely justified
Simplified paperwork requirements and eliminated unnecessary documentation requirements
Created dedicated blocks for actual work tasks that would not be interrupted by administrative tasks
Developed clear protocols for evaluating what qualified as a legitimate “urgent situation” versus standard tasks that could be scheduled for designated slots
Created workload sharing processes to make certain that tasks was distributed equitably and that zero single person was carrying excessive load with impossible responsibilities
Worker efficiency increased dramatically, professional satisfaction improved substantially, and their agency genuinely started offering improved results to the public they were supposed to support.
The crucial insight: organizations cannot solve efficiency problems by training employees to work more productively within dysfunctional organizations. You must fix the structures initially.
At this point let’s examine possibly the greatest ridiculous element of priority organization training in chaotic organizations: the idea that employees can somehow manage responsibilities when the management as a whole changes its priorities multiple times per month.
I worked with a technology startup where the executive leadership was famous for going through “game-changing” revelations several times per week and requiring the complete team to instantly pivot to accommodate each new direction.
Workers would come at work on Monday with a clear awareness of their objectives for the day, only to discover that the management had concluded over the weekend that everything they had been focusing on was not a priority and that they needed to instantly begin focusing on something totally different.
This cycle would happen several times per week. Work that had been announced as “critical” would be dropped halfway through, departments would be repeatedly re-assigned to new work, and significant portions of resources and work would be lost on projects that were not finished.
Their company had spent significantly in “adaptive work management” training and sophisticated project management systems to enable employees “respond quickly” to shifting priorities.
But absolutely no amount of skill development or tools could address the basic challenge: organizations cannot effectively organize constantly changing objectives. Constant shifting is the antithesis of successful organization.
The team helped them create what I call “Focused Direction Management”:
Implemented quarterly strategic assessment cycles where major priority changes could be evaluated and approved
Developed firm standards for what constituted a valid basis for adjusting established directions apart from the scheduled planning cycles
Implemented a “direction protection” time where absolutely no modifications to established objectives were permitted without exceptional justification
Created specific notification procedures for when objective modifications were genuinely necessary, with complete impact assessments of what work would be abandoned
Mandated formal approval from senior leaders before any substantial direction modifications could be enacted
The improvement was remarkable. After 90 days, real work success statistics increased by nearly three times. Worker frustration instances dropped significantly as employees could at last concentrate on completing work rather than repeatedly starting new ones.
Product development surprisingly increased because teams had enough opportunity to fully explore and refine their ideas rather than continuously changing to new projects before anything could be properly developed.
That lesson: effective prioritization requires directions that stay unchanged long enough for employees to really concentrate on them and achieve substantial outcomes.
Here’s what I’ve concluded after years in this field: priority management training is merely valuable in organizations that already have their organizational act working properly.
If your workplace has clear business direction, achievable workloads, competent leadership, and structures that support rather than prevent productive activity, then time organization training can be helpful.
But if your company is characterized by perpetual chaos, competing priorities, incompetent planning, impossible demands, and reactive decision-making approaches, then task planning training is more harmful than useless – it’s actively damaging because it faults personal behavior for leadership dysfunction.
Stop throwing away resources on priority planning training until you’ve fixed your organizational direction first.
Begin creating organizations with stable organizational direction, competent decision-making, and processes that really facilitate productive accomplishment.
Company staff will organize extremely effectively once you offer them direction deserving of focusing on and an organization that genuinely enables them in completing their jobs. overwhelmed with unsustainable demands
Employee efficiency increased dramatically, work fulfillment increased notably, and this department finally started providing improved services to the citizens they were meant to serve.
The key lesson: companies cannot address efficiency issues by showing individuals to work better successfully within chaotic structures. You must fix the structures first.
At this point let’s examine possibly the most absurd element of time organization training in poorly-run companies: the assumption that staff can somehow prioritize work when the organization as a whole changes its priorities several times per week.
I worked with a IT business where the executive leadership was famous for having “innovative” insights several times per period and demanding the whole organization to immediately pivot to implement each new direction.
Employees would come at work on Monday with a clear understanding of their objectives for the week, only to discover that the CEO had decided overnight that all priorities they had been working on was suddenly not relevant and that they should to right away start concentrating on an initiative completely unrelated.
That cycle would repeat several times per period. Initiatives that had been announced as “essential” would be dropped halfway through, teams would be continuously redirected to new work, and significant amounts of resources and investment would be squandered on projects that were never finished.
The company had poured heavily in “adaptive project management” training and complex task management systems to help workers “respond rapidly” to evolving directions.
However no degree of training or systems could address the core challenge: organizations cannot efficiently manage constantly evolving priorities. Continuous shifting is the opposite of good prioritization.
We worked with them implement what I call “Focused Priority Consistency”:
Created quarterly priority assessment cycles where major priority modifications could be discussed and approved
Established strict requirements for what represented a legitimate reason for changing agreed-upon directions outside the planned planning cycles
Implemented a “objective protection” time where no adjustments to current directions were allowed without emergency approval
Created clear communication protocols for when priority changes were really necessary, featuring complete impact assessments of what work would be interrupted
Established documented sign-off from several stakeholders before all substantial priority changes could be enacted
The transformation was outstanding. After three months, actual work delivery statistics improved by over dramatically. Staff burnout instances decreased significantly as employees could finally work on delivering tasks rather than repeatedly beginning new ones.
Innovation actually improved because groups had enough time to thoroughly explore and evaluate their solutions rather than continuously changing to new directions before any work could be adequately completed.
The reality: good prioritization requires priorities that remain consistent long enough for teams to really concentrate on them and achieve significant progress.
This is what I’ve concluded after decades in this field: priority organization training is merely useful in organizations that genuinely have their leadership act together.
When your workplace has clear business priorities, reasonable workloads, competent management, and systems that facilitate rather than prevent effective activity, then task organization training can be beneficial.
However if your workplace is defined by perpetual crisis management, conflicting priorities, inadequate organization, excessive expectations, and reactive decision-making styles, then time planning training is more counterproductive than ineffective – it’s directly damaging because it blames personal behavior for organizational dysfunction.
End throwing away resources on time organization training until you’ve fixed your systemic direction before anything else.
Begin establishing workplaces with clear strategic focus, functional decision-making, and structures that really support meaningful activity.
Your workers would organize perfectly fine once you offer them direction suitable for working toward and an organization that really facilitates them in accomplishing their work.
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