Better Manager 7th prelims:Better Manager 7th edition

• the significance of the task to be done in terms of its
  impact on your work (and reputation) and on the results
  achieved by the organization, your team or anyone else
  involved;


• the importance of the person requesting the work or
  expecting you to deliver something – less significant tasks
  may well be put higher on the priority list if they are set
  by the chief executive or a key client;


• the urgency of the tasks – deadlines, what will happen if
  they are not completed on time;


• any scope there may be for extending deadlines – altering
  start and finish times and dates;


• how long each task will take to complete – noting any
  required or imposed starting and completion times which
  cannot be changed.

3. Assess how much time you have available to complete the
   tasks, apart from the routine work which you must get done.
   Also assess what resources, such as your own staff, are avail-
   able to get the work done.


4. Draw up a provisional list of priorities by reference to the
   criteria of significance, importance and urgency listed at (2)
   above.


5. Assess the possibility of fitting this prioritized schedule of
   work into the time available. If this proves difficult, put self-
   imposed priorities on a back-burner and concentrate on the
   significant tasks. Negotiate delayed completion or delivery
   times where you believe this is possible, and if successful,
   move the task down the priority list.


6. Finalize the list of priorities and schedule the work you have
   to do (or you have to get others to do) accordingly.

Set out step by step like this, prioritization looks like a formid-
able task. But experienced managers go through all these stages
almost unconsciously, although systematically, whenever they
are con fronted with a large workload or conflicting priorities.
What many people do is simply write out a ‘things to do’ list at
the beginning of the week or, in their mind, quickly run through
all the considerations described in the above six-stage sequence
and make notes on the order in which they should be tackled.

282 How to be an Even Better Manager