Sam’s client has been behind him for a long time, and he wants Sam to sign off the project as soon as possible. The problem is that Sam has another urgent project that requires his attention. There is absolutely no way he can get the two things done in the given time frame. He feels all tied up and is not able to get things done effectively.
The question is which project should be carried forward, and how should he explain the situation to the client that his project is less important than someone else’s. It is widespread to be in such situations. The way you deal with it makes all the difference in the world. In this article, we will focus on how to prioritize and how to resolve conflicting priorities. But before we start, it is important to understand what prioritizing really means.
What is prioritizing?
Prioritizing is all about knowing what is more important at the moment. It is easy said than done. You need to take into account your short and long-term vision/ strategy and primary business objectives. By default, you are inclined to lean into the tasks that are high in your priorities with more of your attention, energy, and time. For that matter, it is natural to focus on important things even at the expense of lower-value activities. It is also about making the right choices about what is right for you to do and what is not. To be good at prioritizing, it is essential to understand the difference between what is important and what is urgent. It is about recognizing that a more urgent A1++ priority can very well substitute your A1 hot priority.
Clashing Priorities
I am sure you must now be well versed with the consequences of clashing priorities. The quality of work takes a huge hit when we are not able to prioritize things well. You will see yourself delivering work later than the promised time. Probably you will have to walk that extra mile almost every day to fulfill the expectations. Working for long hours may appear to be effective, but it will just add to your stress level and pressure in the long run. This way, your performance level will also take a hit and make stakeholders unsatisfied with your work. It can also lead to you missing major opportunities down the line, like new projects/ assignments.
Using Eisenhower’s Principles
In the year 1954, U.S president Eisenhower was addressing the second assembly of churches. He quoted Dr. J. Miller, the president of Northwest University, and he said, “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent ones and the important ones. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” This is the way US president Eisenhower organized his workload.
He realized that work needs to be categorized to use time effectively. It would help if you also were effective and efficient for time management. Therefore, you must spend your time on high-value things and not the ones that need your immediate attention. To do this and minimize the stress of tight schedules and crushing deadlines, we need to understand the meaning of what is important and what is urgent.
- Important activities: These have an outcome that helps us achieve our targets and meet our long-term goals, which could be in our professional or personal lives.
- Urgent activities: These are the activities that demand our immediate attention. In most cases, these are associated with someone else. These can have consequences if not dealt with immediately.
If we successfully segregate which activities are important and which ones are urgent. We can overcome the tendency of wasting time on unimportant activities. This gives us enough space on our schedule to delegate our time on more important things. This art of segregation and knowing which task you should put before the other is constructive when there is a clash of priorities.
How to manage conflicting priorities?
The following are the tips to manage conflicting priorities and keep everyone happy effectively.
1. Schedule work effectively
This one is the most important tip and also a no-brainer. Your first step towards mitigating conflicting priorities is to clarify and pin your current priorities. Also, your schedule must work effectively. This helps you know what you should do and allows you to negotiate deadlines and meet people’s expectations. Now, if someone walks up to you with a new opportunity (maybe a project), you would know what is best for you.
A lot of times, it happens that we can not squeeze tasks into our schedule. You need to step back and see which tasks are not very important and not urgent in such cases. Several tools out there can help us think in a streamlined fashion and prioritize tasks effectively. You can always refer to Eisenhower’s urgent/ important tool to know which task needs your immediate attention and which one you should be focussing on.
Once you are done assessing all your priorities, it is always better to assess them with other primary stakeholders (in case they exist). To know if their priorities match with yours. If it matches, then you should add the task to your to-do list or action plan. After doing so, you will realize which task is clashing, and you will again need to renegotiate the new deadlines.
2. Negotiate the Deadline
Once you have put all your priorities in your to-do list or your planner, look at it from a bird’s eye’s view to see if it is conflicting and if there is a need for you to renegotiate the deadlines. Things can be simple to handle or very complex. You can say, “I am currently working on a project for Jocelyn that she needs by 12 noon. Can I get back to you by 3? Sometimes if the project is big, you need to delay by weeks or months. You have decided whether you will delay it all at once or in a small chunk of time.
While you are making a negotiation happen, keep in mind to have a win-win situation. Try and have your negotiation done in such a way that everyone walks out of the room thinking they have reached a reasonable compromise.
3. Manage Expectations
Managing expectations is the key to keep everyone happy when there is conflict in the priorities. It is important you actively make efforts towards managing expectations before you shake hands with someone on a new task. For instance, if your boss is delegating you some new project, it is imperative that you openly communicate with him. Tell him all your current priorities, and discuss the completion date keeping in mind the work you have in hand and another ongoing workload. If it is a client and not your boss, make clear communication if it is likely to take some time before taking on a new task.
It is even important that you manage expectations on tasks or the project you are currently working on. For example, if the work that you are doing has slipped behind schedule then it is important that you convey it to the manager. Let them know that you will not be able to deliver on time, just this time. However, make a point that you do not make it a habit. Make sure you work on your time estimation skills and come up with a better deadline when you enter the room for discussion on the project. Once you are done fixing a deadline, do all it takes to meet it, even if you have to work late or put in overtime.
4. Be Professional
Working on a strict deadline, especially when you have high-priority things on the top of your list, is really stressful. You are bound to juggle people’s priorities and expectations. You also find yourself oscillating between tasks which can leave you all frazzled up. These are the moments that make us react in really unconventional ways. We cope in ways we can’t think in normal situations. Things that you think can help you relieve the tension like snapping at others, holding others responsible, ignoring deadlines, etc.
It is during these times, how you can hold yourself together makes all the difference. Your professionalism, even at the time of crisis and exceptional time crunch/ pressure, demonstrate what kind of a person you are to the people around you. Finally, it is important to manage emotions all wisely and effectively in such situations.
5. Agility
People who are rigid with things often are caught between tasks and get things ugly for themselves. Therefore, it is important to have agility while working. It would help if you had flexibility as there will be days when you will not be able to say ‘No.’ Days when there will be no one but you to delegate the unimportant urgent work. It is always safe to keep downsides in mind while you work.
This will prepare us to be flexible and walk that extra mile to do things for ourselves; often, we need to do it to keep people satisfied. Ensure that this does not become a regular thing as it will crush you in the long run.
Defending the Priorities
When we prioritize things and communicate them to the stakeholder, not everyone will agree to your decisions and choices. People will show disagreement and will expect you to re-prioritize tasks. It is always better to listen to the other party and see if they substance in what they are saying or just greedy to get their thing on the top of the list. If what they say makes sense, then you can consider re-prioritization. But if they irrationally keep pestering with their tasks being more important, you should certainly know how to defend your priorities and deadlines without jeopardizing the relationship.
Imagine that you have a friend who has asked for your help on a report. You have told her that you could not simply do it because you have a presentation to prepare for the boss, which is due at the end of the day. Your friend finds it unreasonable as the report needs 30 minutes. Defending your priorities in such situations is really important because your relationship can be on the line here.
Show Empathy
Start by showing empathy towards the other person. Tell them that you understand why they feel frustrated and upset. You need to see things from their shoes and also for them to know that you are empathetic. After you are done with it, assert yourself clearly. For instance, you may have to emphasize that you have to submit your boss’s project by 6 pm. Tell them that it is important for you to complete this task and how essential it is to devote your undivided attention to the task.
Reach a compromise
Once you think you have effectively communicated what you wanted to, it is time to come to a compromise. Tell them that you will be more than happy to help them first thing in the morning or probably with something else that may come up later.
Conclusion
We all have tasks which clamor with each other for our time and attention. It is an important life skill to be able to manage these effectively, keeping everyone happy. Firstly, clarify your own priorities and schedule. After that, renegotiate the timeline and strategies. It is also important to learn to manage people’s expectations and be professional, especially at the time of crisis. It would help if you also were flexible to work at a stretch when there is a need for it.
Defend your priorities if you need to by showing empathy and asserting your point rationally.
