Quit Teaching People to “Organize” When Your Company Has No Clue What Really Should Be Priority: The Reason Task Management Training Fails in Dysfunctional Organizations
I’m going to demolish one of the greatest widespread false beliefs in organizational training: the idea that teaching staff improved “time organization” methods will resolve productivity issues in companies that have absolutely no consistent direction themselves.
With seventeen years of training with businesses on efficiency issues, I can tell you that priority planning training in a chaotic company is like instructing someone to arrange their possessions while their building is literally on fire around them.
Here’s the fundamental reality: most companies suffering from efficiency issues don’t have efficiency problems – they have organizational failures.
Standard priority planning training presupposes that companies have clear, reliable objectives that staff can be taught to recognize and work toward. That idea is completely divorced from actual workplace conditions in nearly all modern workplaces.
I worked with a large advertising agency where staff were constantly complaining about being “struggling to prioritize their tasks successfully.” Management had spent hundreds of thousands on priority planning training for each workers.
Their training featured all the usual approaches: Eisenhower systems, priority categorization systems, schedule blocking methods, and complex work management software.
But efficiency remained to get worse, worker frustration levels rose, and client delivery schedules became more unreliable, not more efficient.
After I analyzed what was really occurring, I found the real problem: the agency itself had absolutely no stable priorities.
Let me share what the daily reality looked like for staff:
Regularly: Top leadership would announce that Project A was the “top priority” and each employee should to work on it immediately
The next day: A another senior manager would announce an “urgent” message insisting that Client B was really the “most important” priority
Day three: A third division manager would organize an “urgent” meeting to announce that Client C was a “essential” deliverable that needed to be delivered by Friday
Thursday: The original top leader would voice anger that Initiative A hadn’t progressed as expected and require to know why employees weren’t “prioritizing” it properly
Friday: All three clients would be behind, several deliverables would be not met, and staff would be blamed for “inadequate task organization skills”
This pattern was occurring week after week, regularly after month. Zero degree of “time planning” training was going to help workers handle this systemic chaos.
The core issue wasn’t that workers couldn’t know how to manage tasks – it was that the agency itself was totally unable of maintaining consistent direction for more than 24 hours at a time.
We persuaded management to abandon their focus on “employee priority organization” training and rather establish what I call “Strategic Direction Management.”
Instead of trying to train employees to organize within a dysfunctional environment, we worked on creating genuine organizational clarity:
Established a central leadership management committee with defined authority for determining and preserving strategic direction
Implemented a systematic project evaluation procedure that occurred monthly rather than whenever someone felt like it
Created specific standards for when projects could be modified and what level of authorization was necessary for such modifications
Established required communication protocols to make certain that all project adjustments were announced systematically and to everyone across all departments
Established buffer periods where zero project modifications were acceptable without extraordinary justification
This improvement was remarkable and substantial:
Staff overwhelm levels decreased substantially as people at last understood what they were expected to be working on
Efficiency rose by more than 50% within a month and a half as employees could really concentrate on delivering projects rather than continuously switching between multiple priorities
Project completion schedules improved significantly as staff could coordinate and execute work without constant disruptions and redirection
Client satisfaction improved substantially as deliverables were consistently delivered on time and to specification
The point: prior to you train people to prioritize, guarantee your company actually has clear priorities that are deserving of focusing on.
Let me share another approach that time management training fails in chaotic organizations: by presupposing that employees have genuine power over their work and responsibilities.
The team worked with a government organization where staff were repeatedly getting blamed for “inadequate priority planning” and required to “efficiency” training courses.
Their truth was that these staff had almost absolutely no influence over their job time. This is what their average schedule looked like:
Roughly three-fifths of their time was taken up by mandatory conferences that they couldn’t avoid, regardless of whether these conferences were necessary to their actual work
Another one-fifth of their time was dedicated to filling out required documentation and paperwork obligations that provided no benefit to their actual work or to the clients they were intended to serve
This remaining one-fifth of their workday was supposed to be allocated for their real job – the work they were paid to do and that really was important to the agency
Additionally even this small fraction of availability was constantly invaded by “emergency” requests, unplanned conferences, and administrative requirements that were not allowed to be rescheduled
Given these constraints, no level of “time planning” training was able to enable these workers turn more efficient. The problem wasn’t their individual task organization abilities – it was an organizational framework that ensured efficient work almost unattainable.
I worked with them create organizational reforms to fix the real barriers to efficiency:
Removed pointless conferences and created clear standards for when conferences were genuinely justified
Streamlined paperwork obligations and got rid of unnecessary documentation procedures
Implemented reserved blocks for real professional responsibilities that couldn’t be invaded by non-essential demands
Created defined procedures for determining what constituted a genuine “urgent situation” versus normal requests that could be planned for appropriate slots
Established workload sharing approaches to make certain that tasks was shared fairly and that not any employee was overburdened with unsustainable workloads
Staff efficiency increased dramatically, work satisfaction increased substantially, and the department finally commenced delivering improved services to the citizens they were intended to help.
That key lesson: companies won’t be able to fix time management problems by showing individuals to function better productively within broken organizations. Companies have to repair the structures initially.
Currently let’s address perhaps the most laughable element of priority organization training in chaotic companies: the belief that employees can mysteriously prioritize responsibilities when the company itself modifies its focus multiple times per week.
The team consulted with a technology startup where the CEO was well-known for going through “innovative” revelations several times per week and requiring the entire team to right away shift to pursue each new priority.
Workers would show up at the office on regularly with a defined knowledge of their priorities for the day, only to learn that the CEO had determined suddenly that everything they had been working on was no longer relevant and that they should to right away begin working on an initiative completely different.
Such behavior would repeat several times per month. Work that had been declared as “highest priority” would be abandoned before completion, teams would be repeatedly re-assigned to alternative projects, and significant amounts of time and investment would be squandered on initiatives that were not delivered.
Their startup had invested heavily in “adaptive work planning” training and advanced priority tracking systems to assist employees “adapt quickly” to evolving requirements.
Yet absolutely no level of skill development or software could solve the core challenge: people can’t efficiently organize perpetually changing objectives. Constant shifting is the enemy of effective planning.
The team helped them create what I call “Disciplined Direction Consistency”:
Implemented quarterly planning review cycles where significant strategy modifications could be considered and adopted
Created firm requirements for what constituted a genuine reason for changing established objectives beyond the scheduled review cycles
Established a “objective consistency” phase where absolutely no modifications to current priorities were allowed without extraordinary circumstances
Established clear notification procedures for when direction changes were genuinely required, including complete cost assessments of what work would be interrupted
Mandated written sign-off from senior stakeholders before all major strategy changes could be approved
Their transformation was remarkable. After three months, actual work completion statistics improved by over 300%. Employee stress rates decreased substantially as employees could at last concentrate on completing tasks rather than repeatedly initiating new ones.
Product development surprisingly got better because teams had sufficient time to completely explore and test their concepts rather than continuously moving to new projects before anything could be properly developed.
This reality: effective planning requires objectives that stay stable long enough for people to really concentrate on them and achieve significant outcomes.
This is what I’ve discovered after decades in this field: priority organization training is merely useful in organizations that already have their organizational priorities functioning.
If your workplace has clear business objectives, reasonable workloads, effective leadership, and structures that support rather than prevent effective performance, then task planning training can be useful.
Yet if your company is characterized by constant chaos, conflicting directions, poor planning, unrealistic workloads, and reactive leadership approaches, then time organization training is more counterproductive than ineffective – it’s systematically destructive because it holds responsible employee behavior for leadership dysfunction.
End wasting time on time planning training until you’ve fixed your organizational dysfunction before anything else.
Focus on creating organizations with clear strategic priorities, competent leadership, and processes that genuinely enable efficient work.
Company workers can prioritize perfectly fine once you provide them something suitable for working toward and an environment that genuinely enables them in accomplishing their work. overburdened with impossible demands
Worker effectiveness rose substantially, work happiness improved substantially, and their agency actually began offering better services to the public they were meant to help.
This key insight: companies cannot solve time management issues by training individuals to work more productively within chaotic systems. Organizations need to fix the structures first.
Now let’s examine possibly the most ridiculous component of priority planning training in dysfunctional workplaces: the assumption that staff can magically manage tasks when the company at leadership level modifies its focus numerous times per week.
I consulted with a software startup where the founder was well-known for experiencing “innovative” ideas multiple times per day and requiring the whole organization to right away redirect to implement each new direction.
Employees would show up at their jobs on any given day with a defined awareness of their tasks for the period, only to discover that the leadership had concluded over the weekend that all work they had been working on was not a priority and that they needed to instantly begin focusing on an initiative completely different.
That pattern would repeat several times per week. Initiatives that had been stated as “essential” would be forgotten mid-stream, teams would be repeatedly re-assigned to new projects, and significant portions of time and energy would be lost on projects that were never finished.
The startup had spent significantly in “adaptive task planning” training and sophisticated task organization systems to help staff “respond quickly” to changing priorities.
But no level of education or tools could overcome the fundamental issue: organizations cannot efficiently manage perpetually evolving priorities. Constant change is the antithesis of good prioritization.
We helped them implement what I call “Disciplined Objective Stability”:
Created scheduled planning review sessions where significant priority adjustments could be discussed and implemented
Established firm criteria for what qualified as a legitimate justification for adjusting established objectives apart from the planned planning periods
Created a “objective consistency” period where absolutely no adjustments to current objectives were permitted without emergency justification
Implemented defined communication procedures for when direction adjustments were absolutely necessary, with complete cost evaluations of what projects would be abandoned
Established formal approval from senior leaders before all substantial direction modifications could be implemented
The change was dramatic. After a quarter, measurable work success percentages increased by over dramatically. Worker frustration levels decreased significantly as people could at last focus on completing tasks rather than continuously beginning new ones.
Innovation surprisingly increased because teams had adequate opportunity to fully implement and refine their concepts rather than constantly switching to new projects before anything could be properly finished.
The point: effective organization demands priorities that keep consistent long enough for people to actually concentrate on them and achieve substantial outcomes.
Let me share what I’ve learned after decades in this industry: time management training is merely effective in workplaces that currently have their organizational priorities together.
When your company has stable business priorities, realistic workloads, functional leadership, and systems that support rather than prevent effective activity, then task planning training can be helpful.
However if your workplace is defined by continuous crisis management, competing messages, poor planning, excessive demands, and reactive decision-making cultures, then time management training is more counterproductive than useless – it’s directly harmful because it blames personal performance for systemic dysfunction.
Quit squandering money on task organization training until you’ve addressed your organizational direction initially.
Start establishing companies with clear strategic focus, competent management, and processes that really support productive accomplishment.
Company staff will organize extremely effectively once you provide them direction suitable for prioritizing and an workplace that actually enables them in accomplishing their jobs.
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