Gertrude Farkas
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How Time Planning Training Is Useless in Poorly-Run Organizations
Stop Teaching People to "Organize" When Your Business Has No Understanding What Actually Should Be Priority: How Time Management Training Is Useless in Chaotic Companies
Let me about to destroy one of the greatest common misconceptions in workplace training: the belief that training employees more effective "time organization" methods will solve productivity issues in companies that have no consistent direction themselves.
With extensive experience of working with companies on time management problems, I can tell you that time planning training in a dysfunctional workplace is like teaching someone to organize their possessions while their building is actively on fire around them.
Here's the basic issue: most businesses suffering from productivity issues do not have productivity challenges - they have management dysfunction.
Standard priority planning training presupposes that companies have well-defined, reliable objectives that workers can learn to identify and concentrate toward. This assumption is completely separated from the real world in nearly all current organizations.
The team worked with a major marketing firm where employees were repeatedly expressing frustration about being "failing to manage their work effectively." Leadership had spent hundreds of thousands on task organization training for every workers.
The training included all the standard techniques: urgency-importance matrices, ABC categorization approaches, calendar blocking techniques, and sophisticated work tracking software.
However efficiency remained to drop, staff frustration levels increased, and project quality times got worse, not better.
When I examined what was actually occurring, I discovered the real issue: the organization at the leadership level had no clear direction.
This is what the normal reality looked like for employees:
Regularly: Senior management would announce that Project A was the "top focus" and each employee needed to concentrate on it immediately
Tuesday: A another senior leader would send an "immediate" communication declaring that Client B was actually the "top important" objective
Day three: A third team leader would call an "immediate" meeting to communicate that Initiative C was a "critical" requirement that required to be delivered by end of week
Day four: The first top manager would voice frustration that Client A had not advanced sufficiently and demand to know why employees were not "prioritizing" it as instructed
End of week: Every three clients would be delayed, several deliverables would be not met, and employees would be criticized for "poor time planning techniques"
Such cycle was happening constantly after week, systematically after month. Absolutely no level of "task organization" training was able to enable staff manage this systemic chaos.
The basic challenge wasn't that workers did not understand how to prioritize - it was that the company at every level was entirely incapable of establishing consistent strategic focus for more than 48 hours at a time.
The team persuaded leadership to eliminate their concentration on "individual task management" training and rather establish what I call "Strategic Focus Systems."
Rather than trying to show workers to organize within a dysfunctional system, we concentrated on building real organizational clarity:
Implemented a unified senior management committee with specific power for setting and maintaining company direction
Implemented a formal project review process that took place monthly rather than whenever someone felt like it
Established specific criteria for when initiatives could be changed and what type of approval was necessary for such modifications
Created mandatory notification systems to make certain that all focus adjustments were announced explicitly and uniformly across all departments
Implemented buffer periods where no priority disruptions were allowed without exceptional approval
The transformation was instant and substantial:
Worker stress levels decreased dramatically as people at last understood what they were supposed to be working on
Output improved by over 50% within 45 days as staff could actually concentrate on finishing work rather than continuously changing between competing requests
Client quality results got better considerably as teams could coordinate and deliver work without continuous disruptions and redirection
Customer satisfaction improved dramatically as projects were consistently completed according to schedule and to standards
The point: instead of you show people to organize, guarantee your company genuinely possesses stable strategic focus that are suitable for focusing on.
This is another way that task organization training fails in chaotic companies: by presupposing that workers have actual power over their schedule and priorities.
I worked with a public sector organization where workers were continuously getting blamed for "poor task planning" and mandated to "time management" training courses.
The truth was that these staff had virtually zero authority over their job schedules. Here's what their normal day looked like:
Approximately 60% of their time was consumed by mandatory sessions that they couldn't skip, irrespective of whether these sessions were relevant to their real job
A further significant portion of their workday was assigned to filling out required forms and paperwork obligations that provided absolutely no value to their primary work or to the citizens they were intended to serve
The final small portion of their workday was supposed to be dedicated for their real responsibilities - the tasks they were hired to do and that actually made a difference to the agency
However even this small portion of schedule was constantly invaded by "emergency" demands, unplanned meetings, and management obligations that couldn't be delayed
Under these constraints, zero amount of "task planning" training was going to enable these workers turn more effective. Their challenge wasn't their personal task organization techniques - it was an systemic system that rendered productive work almost unachievable.
The team worked with them create structural reforms to address the actual impediments to efficiency:
Removed redundant meetings and established strict requirements for when meetings were actually necessary
Reduced administrative requirements and got rid of redundant reporting procedures
Implemented reserved blocks for core job tasks that couldn't be invaded by meetings
Developed specific procedures for determining what represented a real "emergency" versus standard tasks that could be scheduled for designated slots
Implemented workload sharing processes to make certain that tasks was shared appropriately and that not any single person was overwhelmed with impossible responsibilities
Worker effectiveness rose significantly, work satisfaction got better notably, and the department actually commenced offering improved services to the public they were intended to serve.
That important insight: companies can't solve efficiency issues by teaching employees to operate more effectively successfully within chaotic structures. Organizations need to improve the systems initially.
At this point let's discuss possibly the biggest absurd component of priority planning training in dysfunctional workplaces: the idea that employees can magically manage tasks when the organization itself changes its focus several times per month.
The team consulted with a software business where the CEO was famous for going through "game-changing" insights several times per day and expecting the whole company to instantly redirect to accommodate each new direction.
Workers would arrive at their jobs on any given day with a specific knowledge of their tasks for the day, only to find that the CEO had concluded over the weekend that all work they had been concentrating on was no longer important and that they must to right away begin concentrating on something completely new.
Such cycle would repeat numerous times per month. Projects that had been declared as "highest priority" would be forgotten halfway through, departments would be repeatedly redirected to new work, and massive quantities of time and energy would be squandered on initiatives that were ultimately not delivered.
Their startup had poured significantly in "agile project organization" training and complex project tracking systems to enable staff "adapt quickly" to shifting directions.
However zero amount of skill development or systems could overcome the fundamental problem: organizations can't efficiently organize perpetually changing priorities. Perpetual shifting is the antithesis of good planning.
I assisted them implement what I call "Disciplined Objective Consistency":
Implemented regular priority planning sessions where important strategy adjustments could be considered and adopted
Created firm standards for what qualified as a legitimate reason for changing agreed-upon priorities apart from the scheduled assessment sessions
Created a "priority stability" period where no changes to established priorities were allowed without extraordinary justification
Created specific communication systems for when direction modifications were absolutely essential, featuring full consequence assessments of what projects would be delayed
Required written authorization from multiple leaders before each substantial strategy shifts could be implemented
This transformation was dramatic. Within a quarter, measurable initiative success statistics rose by nearly three times. Employee stress rates dropped considerably as employees could actually focus on completing work rather than constantly starting new ones.
Innovation remarkably improved because departments had adequate resources to fully implement and test their solutions rather than constantly switching to new projects before anything could be adequately developed.
The lesson: successful organization demands objectives that stay unchanged long enough for employees to really focus on them and accomplish substantial progress.
This is what I've concluded after years in this business: task organization training is merely valuable in organizations that genuinely have their strategic priorities functioning.
Once your organization has stable strategic objectives, achievable demands, competent leadership, and systems that facilitate rather than obstruct effective activity, then priority organization training can be beneficial.
However if your workplace is characterized by constant crisis management, unclear messages, poor coordination, unrealistic expectations, and emergency decision-making styles, then priority planning training is more harmful than ineffective - it's systematically damaging because it faults employee choices for leadership incompetence.
Stop throwing away resources on task planning training until you've fixed your organizational dysfunction first.
Begin building organizations with stable strategic direction, functional management, and systems that actually enable meaningful accomplishment.
The staff would prioritize extremely fine once you give them priorities suitable for working toward and an workplace that really enables them in accomplishing their jobs. overwhelmed with unrealistic demands
Staff productivity increased substantially, professional fulfillment increased substantially, and the department genuinely started offering higher quality services to the citizens they were meant to help.
This crucial lesson: you can't solve productivity issues by showing employees to function better successfully within chaotic organizations. You have to fix the systems initially.
Currently let's examine probably the greatest ridiculous component of time planning training in dysfunctional workplaces: the assumption that staff can mysteriously organize work when the organization itself modifies its direction multiple times per week.
The team consulted with a technology business where the executive leadership was notorious for having "brilliant" revelations numerous times per week and expecting the complete team to instantly redirect to pursue each new idea.
Workers would arrive at work on regularly with a defined understanding of their tasks for the day, only to discover that the CEO had decided over the weekend that everything they had been working on was not important and that they needed to immediately start focusing on a project completely different.
This pattern would happen numerous times per period. Work that had been declared as "highest priority" would be forgotten mid-stream, groups would be repeatedly moved to alternative work, and massive portions of resources and energy would be squandered on initiatives that were ultimately not completed.
Their company had invested heavily in "agile work management" training and complex priority tracking systems to enable workers "adjust quickly" to evolving priorities.
However zero amount of skill development or systems could solve the basic challenge: you cannot efficiently organize continuously shifting directions. Perpetual change is the antithesis of good organization.
The team assisted them implement what I call "Strategic Priority Stability":
Established regular strategic assessment cycles where major strategy adjustments could be discussed and adopted
Developed clear requirements for what qualified as a valid basis for modifying set objectives outside the planned review sessions
Established a "direction protection" time where zero adjustments to current directions were permitted without exceptional justification
Implemented clear communication procedures for when direction modifications were genuinely essential, featuring thorough cost analyses of what work would be delayed
Mandated documented authorization from multiple leaders before each major direction modifications could be enacted
Their transformation was remarkable. Within a quarter, real project success rates improved by nearly three times. Staff frustration levels dropped considerably as staff could at last focus on delivering tasks rather than continuously beginning new ones.
Innovation remarkably got better because groups had enough resources to fully explore and test their concepts rather than repeatedly moving to new initiatives before any project could be properly developed.
That point: effective planning needs priorities that remain unchanged long enough for employees to really work on them and complete substantial results.
This is what I've concluded after extensive time in this industry: task organization training is exclusively effective in workplaces that currently have their organizational priorities together.
If your organization has clear business direction, reasonable expectations, effective leadership, and structures that facilitate rather than hinder effective performance, then time organization training can be useful.
However if your workplace is characterized by continuous chaos, competing priorities, inadequate planning, impossible demands, and reactive leadership styles, then priority organization training is more harmful than useless - it's actively destructive because it blames personal choices for systemic failures.
Quit wasting resources on priority management training until you've resolved your organizational priorities before anything else.
Start establishing organizations with stable business focus, competent decision-making, and processes that really enable efficient accomplishment.
Your staff can manage tasks perfectly fine once you provide them something deserving of prioritizing and an environment that genuinely supports them in completing their jobs.
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