How Time Planning Training Is Useless In Poorly-Run Organizations
Quit Teaching People to "Organize" When Your Organization Has Zero Clue What Actually Should Be Priority: Why Priority Organization Training Is Useless in Chaotic Companies
I'm about to destroy one of the greatest widespread false beliefs in corporate training: the belief that teaching workers more effective "task management" skills will fix efficiency problems in workplaces that have zero clear priorities themselves.
With extensive experience of working with companies on productivity issues, I can tell you that time organization training in a poorly-run company is like instructing someone to arrange their possessions while their home is literally on fire around them.
This is the basic reality: the majority of organizations suffering from efficiency problems don't have time management problems - they have organizational dysfunction.
Traditional task organization training assumes that organizations have well-defined, unchanging objectives that workers can be trained to identify and focus with. Such assumption is entirely separated from reality in the majority of current organizations.
The team consulted with a significant advertising agency where workers were continuously reporting problems about being "failing to organize their tasks effectively." Leadership had spent enormous amounts on time organization training for every workers.
The training included all the usual techniques: Eisenhower matrices, ABC ranking methods, calendar organization techniques, and detailed work organization applications.
But productivity kept to drop, staff stress instances increased, and project quality results became more unreliable, not better.
Once I investigated what was actually going on, I discovered the actual problem: the organization as a whole had absolutely no consistent strategic focus.
Here's what the typical reality looked like for workers:
Regularly: Top leadership would communicate that Client A was the "most critical objective" and all staff needed to focus on it right away
Tuesday: A separate senior executive would distribute an "urgent" email stating that Client B was really the "top essential" priority
48 hours later: Another different team head would schedule an "emergency" conference to communicate that Client C was a "essential" deliverable that needed to be delivered by Friday
Day four: The initial executive leader would express disappointment that Initiative A had not advanced as expected and require to know why people weren't "focusing on" it as instructed
End of week: Every three projects would be behind, multiple deadlines would be not met, and workers would be held responsible for "inadequate task planning abilities"
That pattern was repeated continuously after week, month after month. Absolutely no amount of "task organization" training was able to help employees manage this organizational chaos.
Their core issue wasn't that employees couldn't know how to manage tasks - it was that the company as a whole was entirely incapable of establishing stable priorities for more than 48 hours at a time.
We persuaded management to eliminate their focus on "employee time planning" training and rather implement what I call "Strategic Priority Clarity."
Rather than trying to train employees to organize within a chaotic system, we worked on creating actual strategic priorities:
Established a unified senior decision-making team with defined authority for setting and preserving company priorities
Created a systematic project assessment system that took place on schedule rather than constantly
Established clear standards for when projects could be changed and what level of authorization was required for such changes
Implemented enforced communication procedures to make certain that all focus changes were shared explicitly and uniformly across all teams
Implemented stability phases where zero focus modifications were allowed without emergency approval
Their improvement was remarkable and outstanding:
Staff frustration rates decreased dramatically as people for the first time were clear about what they were supposed to be focusing on
Output increased by more than 50% within six weeks as workers could actually work on delivering work rather than constantly redirecting between competing demands
Client quality schedules decreased considerably as departments could plan and execute work without daily disruptions and modifications
Client relationships increased significantly as deliverables were actually completed according to schedule and to requirements
The reality: prior to you teach people to prioritize, ensure your company actually possesses consistent priorities that are deserving of prioritizing.
This is a different way that time planning training doesn't work in dysfunctional companies: by believing that workers have actual authority over their work and priorities.
The team consulted with a public sector agency where employees were constantly being reprimanded for "inadequate time management" and sent to "time management" training sessions.
The reality was that these workers had virtually absolutely no control over their work time. Let me describe what their average day appeared like:
Roughly three-fifths of their schedule was consumed by required sessions that they were not allowed to avoid, irrespective of whether these sessions were useful to their real work
A further significant portion of their schedule was dedicated to filling out mandatory reports and bureaucratic tasks that added absolutely no benefit to their real responsibilities or to the clients they were intended to help
The remaining one-fifth of their time was expected to be used for their actual responsibilities - the activities they were hired to do and that actually mattered to the agency
Additionally even this tiny fraction of schedule was constantly invaded by "immediate" demands, unplanned calls, and bureaucratic obligations that had no option to be rescheduled
Under these conditions, no amount of "task organization" training was going to enable these employees get more productive. The problem wasn't their personal time planning abilities - it was an organizational structure that rendered efficient accomplishment virtually impossible.
I worked with them implement systematic reforms to resolve the underlying obstacles to effectiveness:
Removed pointless conferences and implemented strict standards for when conferences were actually necessary
Streamlined bureaucratic requirements and got rid of redundant documentation procedures
Created dedicated blocks for real work activities that would not be interrupted by administrative tasks
Developed clear systems for determining what constituted a real "emergency" versus normal tasks that could be scheduled for designated times
Created task distribution systems to guarantee that responsibilities was allocated equitably and that no individual was carrying excessive load with impossible responsibilities
Staff efficiency rose dramatically, professional happiness got better notably, and the department actually started providing better services to the citizens they were meant to serve.
That crucial insight: companies won't be able to address efficiency issues by training individuals to work better efficiently within dysfunctional systems. Organizations must fix the systems before anything else.
Now let's discuss perhaps the most ridiculous aspect of task planning training in dysfunctional workplaces: the assumption that workers can mysteriously organize responsibilities when the management at leadership level modifies its direction several times per week.
The team consulted with a software business where the founder was famous for going through "brilliant" revelations numerous times per period and expecting the entire company to immediately redirect to accommodate each new priority.
Employees would arrive at the office on regularly with a defined understanding of their tasks for the day, only to learn that the CEO had determined over the weekend that everything they had been focusing on was suddenly not a priority and that they needed to immediately begin focusing on a project totally unrelated.
That pattern would repeat multiple times per period. Projects that had been announced as "critical" would be forgotten halfway through, groups would be repeatedly moved to new projects, and significant amounts of time and energy would be squandered on projects that were not finished.
Their company had invested heavily in "adaptive task organization" training and sophisticated project tracking tools to enable workers "adjust quickly" to shifting directions.
However no degree of training or systems could overcome the core challenge: organizations won't be able to successfully prioritize constantly changing objectives. Continuous modification is the opposite of effective organization.
We helped them establish what I call "Strategic Direction Consistency":
Created scheduled planning assessment periods where important priority modifications could be evaluated and adopted
Created strict criteria for what qualified as a valid justification for adjusting established priorities beyond the scheduled planning sessions
Created a "direction protection" phase where zero modifications to established priorities were permitted without exceptional approval
Created defined communication systems for when priority modifications were absolutely necessary, featuring thorough impact evaluations of what initiatives would be abandoned
Established documented sign-off from senior leaders before each major strategy modifications could be enacted
The transformation was outstanding. After 90 days, actual project delivery percentages improved by more than 300%. Staff burnout levels fell considerably as people could actually focus on completing tasks rather than continuously starting new ones.
Innovation remarkably improved because departments had adequate resources to completely develop and test their solutions rather than repeatedly switching to new projects before anything could be adequately developed.
The lesson: successful prioritization requires directions that keep consistent long enough for teams to really focus on them and achieve significant outcomes.
This is what I've learned after years in this business: task planning training is exclusively useful in companies that already have their leadership priorities together.
If your workplace has stable strategic priorities, realistic workloads, competent management, and systems that enable rather than obstruct efficient performance, then time organization training can be useful.
Yet if your company is defined by constant crisis management, competing priorities, inadequate organization, impossible expectations, and emergency management approaches, then time planning training is worse than useless - it's systematically destructive because it holds responsible employee behavior for leadership dysfunction.
Stop wasting resources on task organization training until you've fixed your organizational dysfunction first.
Begin creating workplaces with stable business focus, effective management, and processes that actually enable productive activity.
The employees will prioritize perfectly well once you provide them something deserving of prioritizing and an organization that genuinely supports them in accomplishing their work. overburdened with unsustainable demands
Employee effectiveness rose significantly, professional satisfaction got better considerably, and their department finally commenced delivering higher quality outcomes to the community they were meant to support.
The key lesson: you won't be able to address time management challenges by training people to function more effectively productively within dysfunctional structures. Companies have to improve the structures before anything else.
At this point let's address perhaps the most ridiculous element of priority management training in dysfunctional companies: the assumption that staff can magically organize work when the company as a whole modifies its focus multiple times per month.
I consulted with a technology company where the founder was notorious for going through "innovative" revelations numerous times per day and demanding the whole team to right away redirect to pursue each new idea.
Staff would show up at the office on any given day with a specific understanding of their objectives for the period, only to find that the leadership had concluded over the weekend that everything they had been focusing on was suddenly not a priority and that they must to immediately commence concentrating on something entirely unrelated.
Such pattern would repeat several times per week. Initiatives that had been announced as "critical" would be dropped before completion, groups would be constantly re-assigned to new initiatives, and massive amounts of resources and work would be wasted on work that were not delivered.
Their company had invested heavily in "flexible task management" training and advanced priority organization software to assist workers "adjust rapidly" to changing directions.
Yet no degree of education or software could solve the basic problem: organizations won't be able to successfully manage continuously shifting directions. Continuous shifting is the enemy of good prioritization.
I worked with them create what I call "Disciplined Direction Consistency":
Established scheduled priority assessment periods where major strategy adjustments could be evaluated and implemented
Established clear standards for what represented a valid justification for changing set directions apart from the regular planning periods
Created a "objective consistency" period where zero adjustments to established directions were allowed without emergency circumstances
Created defined coordination protocols for when direction modifications were really required, including full cost assessments of what projects would be delayed
Established documented authorization from several decision-makers before any major strategy shifts could be enacted
This improvement was remarkable. In 90 days, actual work completion rates improved by nearly dramatically. Worker burnout rates dropped considerably as employees could finally focus on finishing projects rather than constantly starting new ones.
Creativity actually got better because groups had adequate time to completely develop and evaluate their concepts rather than constantly switching to new initiatives before anything could be adequately developed.
The point: good organization requires objectives that stay unchanged long enough for employees to really concentrate on them and accomplish significant outcomes.
Here's what I've concluded after decades in this field: time organization training is exclusively effective in workplaces that genuinely have their organizational systems functioning.
Once your company has consistent strategic direction, reasonable demands, effective decision-making, and structures that facilitate rather than prevent effective performance, then task planning training can be helpful.
Yet if your workplace is characterized by perpetual crisis management, conflicting messages, incompetent coordination, excessive demands, and emergency management approaches, then time organization training is more counterproductive than useless - it's directly damaging because it faults individual behavior for organizational failures.
Stop throwing away money on task management training until you've fixed your systemic direction initially.
Focus on establishing companies with stable organizational focus, effective decision-making, and structures that genuinely support productive activity.
Company staff will prioritize extremely fine once you provide them priorities deserving of prioritizing and an organization that really facilitates them in doing their responsibilities.
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