Almost every individual occasionally has conflicting demands for their attention and need to prioritise where they spend their time as a result.
This, of course, isn’t easy!
Even in our private lives, trying to juggle our time can be a major challenge and in a professional environment it can be 10 times harder.
There are a number of techniques that can be used to try and help identify which of the demands on your attention are in fact those that are critically important and which can be at least temporarily deferred to second-priority status. In leadership development programmes this is called, technically, an impact assessment. It is all about trying to identify those things where you have the greatest risks or the greatest opportunities and which you should attend to first of all.
Space doesn’t permit a quick run through of the technique but if you do find yourself needing to sort things out, here are a few dangers you may need to guard against.
1. The “He who shouts loudest” syndrome. All of us may be subconsciously inclined to give priority to someone who is making a lot of noise about their particular issue. It may not, in reality, be that important.
2. Your pet subjects or friends. Giving priority to an activity because it is one you are particularly interested in above all others or because you like the person concerned, might not be an objective decision.
3. Brownie points. Try to avoid assuming something should be given top priority simply because it is the one that offers you the most scope for personal positive publicity.
4. Easy-peasy. We are all vulnerable to subconsciously parking the difficult challenges and dealing with the easy ones.
Don’t risk making decisions that you will subsequently regret based upon some of the above influences. Instead, get yourself on a leadership development course and learn some of the techniques associated with identifying priorities.
This, of course, isn’t easy!
Even in our private lives, trying to juggle our time can be a major challenge and in a professional environment it can be 10 times harder.
There are a number of techniques that can be used to try and help identify which of the demands on your attention are in fact those that are critically important and which can be at least temporarily deferred to second-priority status. In leadership development programmes this is called, technically, an impact assessment. It is all about trying to identify those things where you have the greatest risks or the greatest opportunities and which you should attend to first of all.
Space doesn’t permit a quick run through of the technique but if you do find yourself needing to sort things out, here are a few dangers you may need to guard against.
1. The “He who shouts loudest” syndrome. All of us may be subconsciously inclined to give priority to someone who is making a lot of noise about their particular issue. It may not, in reality, be that important.
2. Your pet subjects or friends. Giving priority to an activity because it is one you are particularly interested in above all others or because you like the person concerned, might not be an objective decision.
3. Brownie points. Try to avoid assuming something should be given top priority simply because it is the one that offers you the most scope for personal positive publicity.
4. Easy-peasy. We are all vulnerable to subconsciously parking the difficult challenges and dealing with the easy ones.
Don’t risk making decisions that you will subsequently regret based upon some of the above influences. Instead, get yourself on a leadership development course and learn some of the techniques associated with identifying priorities.
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