Stop Teaching People to “Prioritize” When Your Business Has Zero Clue What Genuinely Matters: Why Task Organization Training Doesn’t Work in Dysfunctional Organizations
I’m about to dismantle one of the greatest widespread false beliefs in workplace training: the belief that training workers better “task management” skills will resolve time management challenges in companies that have no clear direction themselves.
With nearly two decades of working with companies on efficiency problems, I can tell you that task management training in a dysfunctional organization is like instructing someone to organize their items while their building is literally on fire around them.
Here’s the fundamental reality: the majority of organizations suffering from productivity issues don’t have productivity problems – they have management dysfunction.
Traditional time planning training believes that workplaces have consistent, reliable objectives that employees can learn to understand and focus toward. This assumption is totally divorced from actual workplace conditions in the majority of current companies.
I worked with a large advertising company where staff were repeatedly expressing frustration about being “struggling to manage their responsibilities properly.” Management had poured hundreds of thousands on task organization training for all employees.
Their training included all the standard techniques: Eisenhower matrices, task classification approaches, schedule blocking techniques, and complex work tracking software.
But efficiency continued to drop, worker frustration rates rose, and client delivery times became more unreliable, not more efficient.
After I investigated what was genuinely occurring, I discovered the underlying issue: the company as a whole had absolutely no stable priorities.
Here’s what the typical reality looked like for workers:
Monday: Top management would declare that Client A was the “most critical priority” and all staff must to work on it right away
The next day: A another executive executive would announce an “urgent” email declaring that Project B was really the “most essential” priority
Wednesday: A third division head would organize an “immediate” session to declare that Initiative C was a “essential” requirement that needed to be completed by immediately
Day four: The original executive executive would express disappointment that Initiative A was not progressed as expected and demand to know why staff were not “focusing on” it properly
By week’s end: Each three initiatives would be delayed, multiple commitments would be failed, and workers would be held responsible for “inadequate priority management techniques”
That scenario was repeated constantly after week, systematically after month. Absolutely no amount of “time management” training was going to assist employees manage this management chaos.
The fundamental problem wasn’t that staff couldn’t understand how to prioritize – it was that the company as a whole was totally unable of maintaining stable priorities for more than 48 hours at a time.
We helped leadership to eliminate their concentration on “personal priority organization” training and instead create what I call “Strategic Direction Management.”
Instead of attempting to show workers to organize within a constantly changing system, we concentrated on creating real strategic priorities:
Created a single leadership management team with defined authority for establishing and preserving company priorities
Implemented a structured project assessment process that happened on schedule rather than constantly
Created clear criteria for when priorities could be changed and what degree of authorization was required for such changes
Implemented enforced coordination protocols to guarantee that all focus changes were announced clearly and uniformly across every teams
Established buffer times where no focus changes were permitted without emergency approval
Their improvement was immediate and substantial:
Staff stress rates decreased substantially as people finally understood what they were required to be concentrating on
Productivity increased by nearly significantly within 45 days as staff could really focus on delivering projects rather than continuously redirecting between multiple priorities
Client delivery results got better considerably as departments could coordinate and execute tasks without daily changes and modifications
External relationships increased substantially as deliverables were actually delivered on time and to standards
That point: prior to you teach employees to organize, make sure your organization genuinely possesses clear strategic focus that are worth working toward.
Here’s a different method that task management training doesn’t work in chaotic companies: by presupposing that staff have real authority over their time and priorities.
We worked with a public sector organization where staff were constantly being reprimanded for “ineffective task planning” and sent to “efficiency” training sessions.
This actual situation was that these workers had essentially zero control over their daily activities. Let me describe what their average day looked like:
About 60% of their workday was taken up by compulsory conferences that they were not allowed to decline, no matter of whether these conferences were relevant to their real job
A further one-fifth of their schedule was dedicated to completing mandatory documentation and administrative tasks that added absolutely no usefulness to their primary job or to the people they were meant to serve
The remaining small portion of their workday was meant to be allocated for their actual work – the activities they were paid to do and that genuinely mattered to the public
However even this limited amount of availability was regularly invaded by “urgent” demands, unexpected meetings, and management demands that were not allowed to be delayed
With these circumstances, absolutely no amount of “priority planning” training was going to help these employees become more effective. The problem wasn’t their employee task planning skills – it was an organizational framework that ensured productive activity almost unachievable.
We worked with them create structural reforms to fix the underlying obstacles to effectiveness:
Eliminated unnecessary conferences and implemented specific requirements for when gatherings were really required
Simplified administrative obligations and got rid of redundant form-filling processes
Established dedicated blocks for actual job tasks that were not allowed to be invaded by non-essential demands
Created defined procedures for deciding what qualified as a genuine “immediate priority” versus routine demands that could wait for appropriate slots
Established delegation processes to guarantee that tasks was shared appropriately and that zero employee was carrying excessive load with impossible responsibilities
Worker productivity rose dramatically, job happiness improved notably, and their agency finally commenced offering improved outcomes to the public they were supposed to help.
That important point: organizations cannot solve time management issues by showing individuals to function better successfully within broken structures. You need to improve the systems first.
Now let’s examine perhaps the greatest laughable component of priority planning training in dysfunctional workplaces: the idea that workers can mysteriously prioritize tasks when the organization as a whole shifts its priorities several times per month.
We worked with a technology company where the CEO was famous for experiencing “innovative” insights several times per week and expecting the entire organization to instantly pivot to pursue each new priority.
Staff would show up at the office on Monday with a specific awareness of their priorities for the day, only to find that the leadership had decided over the weekend that everything they had been working on was not relevant and that they needed to immediately start concentrating on an initiative totally unrelated.
This cycle would occur multiple times per week. Work that had been stated as “critical” would be forgotten halfway through, departments would be repeatedly moved to different projects, and massive amounts of time and work would be squandered on work that were never delivered.
Their company had invested heavily in “flexible project planning” training and complex project management tools to assist employees “respond quickly” to evolving priorities.
However zero level of education or software could address the fundamental problem: organizations won’t be able to effectively organize perpetually evolving objectives. Continuous modification is the enemy of effective prioritization.
The team helped them establish what I call “Disciplined Objective Stability”:
Implemented scheduled strategic assessment periods where significant direction modifications could be considered and implemented
Created firm requirements for what represented a valid justification for adjusting established priorities outside the regular review periods
Established a “priority protection” time where no changes to set directions were allowed without extraordinary justification
Established clear coordination systems for when priority modifications were really required, with complete cost evaluations of what projects would be delayed
Established written authorization from senior decision-makers before each major strategy changes could be enacted
The change was outstanding. After a quarter, measurable initiative success statistics rose by more than three times. Employee frustration rates dropped considerably as staff could finally work on completing projects rather than repeatedly initiating new ones.
Creativity actually improved because departments had enough time to completely explore and evaluate their concepts rather than constantly changing to new initiatives before any project could be properly completed.
That lesson: effective organization needs objectives that stay stable long enough for teams to actually work on them and accomplish meaningful outcomes.
This is what I’ve concluded after years in this field: priority planning training is exclusively valuable in companies that currently have their organizational priorities working properly.
Once your workplace has stable organizational direction, achievable workloads, competent management, and systems that facilitate rather than prevent effective work, then time organization training can be useful.
However if your organization is characterized by continuous chaos, conflicting messages, inadequate organization, impossible demands, and reactive leadership cultures, then time planning training is more harmful than pointless – it’s systematically destructive because it holds responsible personal performance for systemic dysfunction.
Quit throwing away resources on time organization training until you’ve resolved your organizational direction first.
Begin establishing workplaces with stable organizational direction, functional leadership, and structures that really support efficient activity.
The staff will prioritize just effectively once you give them direction suitable for prioritizing and an environment that actually supports them in completing their responsibilities. overburdened with impossible workloads
Worker efficiency rose dramatically, professional fulfillment improved considerably, and this department actually began providing higher quality services to the community they were intended to help.
That key insight: you can’t address productivity problems by teaching people to function more successfully within dysfunctional organizations. You must repair the structures before anything else.
Currently let’s discuss perhaps the biggest laughable element of task planning training in chaotic organizations: the assumption that workers can magically prioritize tasks when the company itself changes its direction several times per month.
The team worked with a technology startup where the CEO was famous for experiencing “brilliant” revelations multiple times per day and demanding the complete team to immediately pivot to pursue each new priority.
Workers would come at work on any given day with a specific knowledge of their objectives for the period, only to learn that the leadership had decided overnight that all priorities they had been concentrating on was suddenly not a priority and that they should to instantly begin focusing on an initiative totally new.
That pattern would repeat multiple times per week. Projects that had been stated as “essential” would be forgotten mid-stream, teams would be repeatedly re-assigned to different initiatives, and enormous quantities of resources and investment would be wasted on initiatives that were ultimately not completed.
The organization had poured heavily in “agile task planning” training and sophisticated task management software to assist workers “respond quickly” to shifting directions.
But zero level of skill development or tools could overcome the basic problem: organizations cannot effectively organize continuously evolving priorities. Continuous change is the enemy of successful organization.
The team helped them create what I call “Strategic Priority Stability”:
Established scheduled priority planning periods where major strategy changes could be considered and implemented
Created strict criteria for what represented a genuine basis for changing established priorities outside the regular assessment sessions
Established a “objective consistency” phase where zero modifications to set priorities were permitted without extraordinary approval
Established clear communication systems for when priority modifications were really necessary, including thorough cost evaluations of what work would be interrupted
Required written sign-off from several leaders before any substantial direction changes could be implemented
The improvement was dramatic. Within a quarter, real work completion percentages increased by more than three times. Employee frustration instances dropped substantially as staff could actually focus on delivering work rather than continuously initiating new ones.
Innovation actually improved because teams had sufficient resources to completely develop and evaluate their ideas rather than constantly switching to new initiatives before any project could be fully completed.
That reality: successful prioritization requires priorities that remain stable long enough for employees to genuinely focus on them and complete substantial outcomes.
Let me share what I’ve concluded after decades in this business: time management training is merely effective in organizations that currently have their organizational priorities working properly.
If your workplace has stable organizational priorities, realistic demands, effective management, and structures that facilitate rather than obstruct efficient performance, then time management training can be useful.
However if your organization is defined by continuous crisis management, conflicting messages, inadequate planning, unrealistic demands, and emergency leadership approaches, then priority planning training is more counterproductive than useless – it’s directly destructive because it faults employee behavior for organizational dysfunction.
Stop throwing away money on task planning training until you’ve fixed your organizational dysfunction before anything else.
Focus on creating organizations with consistent business direction, competent decision-making, and structures that actually support productive work.
The employees would manage tasks just effectively once you give them direction worth working toward and an workplace that actually enables them in doing their responsibilities.
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