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How Time Planning Training Is Useless in Poorly-Run Organizations
Quit Teaching People to "Prioritize" When Your Business Has Zero Understanding What Actually Matters: How Time Organization Training Is Useless in Dysfunctional Workplaces
I'll about to destroy one of the biggest popular false beliefs in organizational training: the assumption that showing staff improved "task management" skills will fix efficiency problems in organizations that have absolutely no coherent strategic focus themselves.
Following nearly two decades of consulting with organizations on efficiency issues, I can tell you that time planning training in a poorly-run organization is like teaching someone to arrange their items while their home is literally collapsing around them.
This is the basic issue: most businesses suffering from productivity problems cannot have time management issues - they have organizational failures.
Conventional task organization training presupposes that organizations have consistent, stable priorities that workers can be taught to recognize and focus toward. That assumption is totally separated from actual workplace conditions in the majority of current workplaces.
We worked with a large communications firm where workers were constantly expressing frustration about being "unable to prioritize their responsibilities effectively." Leadership had spent hundreds of thousands on time management training for every workers.
This training covered all the typical approaches: urgency-importance systems, ABC ranking methods, schedule blocking techniques, and sophisticated work organization systems.
But efficiency kept to drop, worker overwhelm instances got higher, and project quality results became worse, not better.
When I examined what was genuinely going on, I learned the underlying issue: the company itself had absolutely no stable strategic focus.
Let me share what the typical experience looked like for employees:
Monday: Senior executives would declare that Project A was the "most critical focus" and each employee needed to concentrate on it as soon as possible
Tuesday: A another senior executive would distribute an "immediate" communication stating that Initiative B was really the "top critical" priority
Wednesday: Another different division leader would schedule an "urgent" meeting to announce that Initiative C was a "must-have" deliverable that needed to be delivered by Friday
The following day: The original executive leader would express frustration that Project A hadn't advanced enough and demand to know why people weren't "focusing on" it as instructed
Friday: All three projects would be behind, various commitments would be missed, and workers would be blamed for "ineffective priority planning skills"
Such pattern was happening week after week, regularly after month. No level of "priority planning" training was able to enable employees handle this organizational insanity.
This fundamental issue wasn't that workers couldn't understand how to organize - it was that the organization at every level was completely failing of creating stable direction for more than 72 hours at a time.
I persuaded leadership to eliminate their emphasis on "employee priority organization" training and instead create what I call "Strategic Priority Systems."
In place of working to show workers to manage within a constantly changing organization, we concentrated on establishing real company priorities:
Established a unified executive management team with defined authority for setting and enforcing organizational focus
Established a structured priority assessment system that took place monthly rather than daily
Established clear guidelines for when priorities could be changed and what level of authorization was needed for such modifications
Implemented mandatory coordination procedures to ensure that each priority adjustments were communicated explicitly and uniformly across every teams
Established stability phases where absolutely no focus disruptions were acceptable without emergency circumstances
This transformation was remarkable and outstanding:
Employee stress instances dropped significantly as employees for the first time were clear about what they were expected to be concentrating on
Efficiency increased by over half within a month and a half as workers could really concentrate on delivering projects rather than constantly redirecting between multiple demands
Project delivery results decreased considerably as staff could organize and execute projects without daily interruptions and modifications
Client happiness improved dramatically as projects were actually delivered as promised and to standards
This point: before you teach staff to manage tasks, guarantee your leadership genuinely has stable priorities that are worth prioritizing.
This is one more method that task management training fails in chaotic companies: by presupposing that staff have real control over their work and tasks.
The team consulted with a public sector organization where workers were constantly receiving blamed for "poor time organization" and sent to "efficiency" training courses.
The reality was that these workers had virtually zero authority over their job time. This is what their normal day seemed like:
About the majority of their time was consumed by required meetings that they were not allowed to decline, no matter of whether these sessions were relevant to their core job
Another one-fifth of their workday was allocated to filling out bureaucratic forms and bureaucratic obligations that contributed no usefulness to their real work or to the clients they were intended to help
This remaining small portion of their workday was expected to be dedicated for their real responsibilities - the work they were hired to do and that really was important to the organization
Additionally even this small amount of time was regularly invaded by "immediate" requirements, unexpected calls, and administrative obligations that had no option to be delayed
Given these constraints, zero amount of "priority management" training was able to assist these staff turn more effective. Their problem wasn't their employee time management abilities - it was an systemic framework that made productive work almost unachievable.
I helped them establish structural improvements to fix the underlying impediments to efficiency:
Eliminated pointless meetings and implemented clear requirements for when gatherings were actually justified
Reduced paperwork requirements and removed unnecessary form-filling processes
Implemented protected time for core professional tasks that were not allowed to be interrupted by meetings
Established clear protocols for evaluating what constituted a genuine "emergency" versus normal demands that could be planned for appropriate slots
Created workload sharing systems to guarantee that work was allocated appropriately and that not any single person was overburdened with unsustainable demands
Employee efficiency rose dramatically, work satisfaction improved notably, and the department finally began delivering improved services to the citizens they were intended to support.
The crucial lesson: you cannot solve efficiency challenges by showing individuals to work more successfully within chaotic structures. You have to repair the structures before anything else.
At this point let's discuss possibly the greatest absurd element of priority management training in poorly-run organizations: the belief that employees can magically manage responsibilities when the organization at leadership level changes its focus numerous times per day.
I worked with a IT company where the founder was well-known for having "innovative" ideas numerous times per period and requiring the whole company to immediately pivot to accommodate each new priority.
Workers would come at their jobs on regularly with a specific understanding of their tasks for the period, only to learn that the leadership had decided suddenly that everything they had been working on was not a priority and that they should to instantly start concentrating on a project completely new.
That pattern would repeat several times per week. Work that had been declared as "highest priority" would be forgotten halfway through, departments would be continuously re-assigned to different projects, and massive amounts of resources and energy would be wasted on projects that were never finished.
The organization had spent significantly in "agile task management" training and complex project tracking software to help employees "adapt efficiently" to shifting directions.
But zero amount of training or systems could overcome the core challenge: you won't be able to successfully prioritize continuously changing priorities. Continuous modification is the enemy of good organization.
I assisted them implement what I call "Focused Direction Consistency":
Established regular planning review cycles where major priority changes could be evaluated and approved
Developed firm criteria for what qualified as a legitimate reason for adjusting agreed-upon objectives apart from the regular review periods
Established a "priority stability" time where zero changes to established objectives were acceptable without emergency approval
Created specific communication protocols for when objective changes were genuinely required, with complete consequence assessments of what projects would be interrupted
Mandated formal approval from senior stakeholders before each significant priority shifts could be implemented
This improvement was remarkable. In 90 days, actual work success rates rose by more than 300%. Worker burnout instances dropped substantially as employees could at last work on finishing projects rather than repeatedly beginning new ones.
Product development remarkably improved because departments had adequate resources to fully explore and test their ideas rather than repeatedly moving to new projects before any work could be fully developed.
This lesson: good organization needs directions that stay unchanged long enough for teams to really work on them and complete meaningful outcomes.
This is what I've concluded after extensive time in this field: priority organization training is exclusively useful in organizations that currently have their leadership priorities working properly.
When your company has consistent business direction, realistic demands, competent leadership, and structures that facilitate rather than prevent effective activity, then time management training can be beneficial.
However if your workplace is characterized by perpetual dysfunction, competing directions, poor organization, unrealistic workloads, and emergency management styles, then task organization training is more counterproductive than useless - it's systematically destructive because it blames employee performance for leadership incompetence.
Quit squandering time on task planning training until you've addressed your leadership direction initially.
Start building companies with consistent strategic direction, competent leadership, and processes that really support efficient work.
Your workers will prioritize just effectively once you give them something deserving of prioritizing and an environment that genuinely facilitates them in accomplishing their jobs. carrying excessive load with unrealistic demands
Worker efficiency increased significantly, job fulfillment increased notably, and their department genuinely commenced delivering improved results to the citizens they were intended to help.
That crucial lesson: companies can't fix productivity challenges by showing employees to work more effectively successfully within broken organizations. Organizations need to improve the structures before anything else.
Now let's discuss probably the biggest absurd component of priority management training in dysfunctional companies: the belief that employees can mysteriously organize tasks when the organization as a whole modifies its direction several times per week.
I worked with a IT business where the CEO was notorious for experiencing "innovative" revelations numerous times per week and expecting the entire team to immediately shift to implement each new idea.
Workers would show up at work on regularly with a clear awareness of their objectives for the day, only to discover that the leadership had concluded overnight that all work they had been concentrating on was no longer relevant and that they needed to instantly commence working on an initiative totally unrelated.
That cycle would happen multiple times per week. Work that had been stated as "highest priority" would be abandoned before completion, departments would be repeatedly re-assigned to new work, and massive amounts of time and investment would be squandered on projects that were ultimately not delivered.
The organization had spent heavily in "flexible project management" training and sophisticated project management tools to help workers "adapt quickly" to evolving requirements.
However no degree of training or systems could solve the basic issue: you won't be able to successfully organize constantly evolving priorities. Constant modification is the enemy of good organization.
The team worked with them create what I call "Strategic Objective Management":
Established scheduled strategic planning cycles where major strategy changes could be considered and approved
Established strict standards for what represented a legitimate reason for modifying set directions apart from the planned review cycles
Established a "priority stability" time where zero modifications to current objectives were permitted without exceptional circumstances
Created specific communication systems for when direction modifications were really required, featuring full consequence evaluations of what initiatives would be interrupted
Required written authorization from several stakeholders before all significant strategy changes could be implemented
The transformation was outstanding. After three months, real initiative completion percentages increased by over three times. Worker frustration levels dropped substantially as people could actually concentrate on finishing projects rather than continuously initiating new ones.
Innovation remarkably increased because teams had enough resources to thoroughly implement and refine their ideas rather than continuously switching to new initiatives before any work could be properly finished.
That lesson: effective organization demands objectives that stay stable long enough for people to genuinely work on them and complete substantial outcomes.
Let me share what I've learned after extensive time in this industry: task planning training is only useful in organizations that already have their leadership systems together.
If your organization has stable business direction, realistic expectations, functional decision-making, and systems that facilitate rather than hinder effective work, then task organization training can be useful.
Yet if your workplace is marked by perpetual dysfunction, competing priorities, poor planning, impossible expectations, and reactive management cultures, then priority planning training is worse than ineffective - it's directly harmful because it blames personal choices for systemic dysfunction.
End throwing away money on time organization training until you've resolved your systemic priorities first.
Start establishing workplaces with clear business direction, effective decision-making, and processes that actually enable efficient accomplishment.
Company workers can manage tasks just fine once you provide them something worth prioritizing and an organization that really enables them in doing their jobs.
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