Setting priorities

1. Setting Priorities
Terrell Yon
[email protected]
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2. •Better understand the need to set priorities
•Focus on importance, not urgency in time
management
•Recognise that effectiveness requires
balancing relationships, roles, activities and
quality of output
•Understand the value of periodic assessment
of tasks
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Session Objectives

3. Session Outline
•Session purpose
•The meaning of time management
•Importance versus Urgency
•Challenges in setting priorities
•ASME perspective
•Key points
•Priorities scenario
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4. The Purpose of Setting Priorities
•Priorities are about:
–Making time to attend to important
matters
–Getting tasks done
–Keeping track of tasks to monitor
progress
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5. Time Management
•“Try” versus “Make” time.
•“Don’t have the time” versus “Making
a priority”
•80% of results come from 20% of
your activities
•About 50% of your time is out of your
control
•Multi-tasking is not an effective use of
time

6. Importance versus Urgency
•How do you spend your time?
•How do you react to crisis?
•What is essential?

7. Importance versus Urgency
URGENCY
HIGH LOW
H
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L
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W
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P
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A
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C
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Crisis
 Deadlines
 Problems
 Planning
 Prevention
 Relationship Building
 Interruptions
 Some calls
 Some e-mail
 Trivia
 Watch TV
 “Escape” activities

8. Importance versus Urgency
•Habit 3 in Stephen Covey’s list for highly
effective people “first things first” is about
setting priorities.
•The underlying principle is the need for
balance in relationships, roles and
activities.
–Things which matter most should not be at the
mercy of those which matter least.
–Focus on the truly important and say no to the
unimportant.

9. Importance versus Urgency
•To determine priorities one needs to
review:
–Roles
–Goals
–Tasks
•Consider weekly reviews since daily
gives a limited view and too many
things change in a month.

10. Importance versus Urgency
•Roles
–Organize all that you do by roles
•Enables a view of balance and comfort level
–Roles represent responsibilities and
relationships
–Examples
•Family – spouse, parent
•Work – projects, administration, training
•Volunteer – ASME, Church, Scouts

11. Importance versus Urgency
•Goals
–Consider big picture view things
that need attention
–Set one or two each week that are
likely to have the most impact

12. Importance versus Urgency
•Tasks
–“To Do” Lists
– Organize by roles
– Evaluate with integrity
•Consider “Toggle” method
–Focus on one or two until
completed

13. Application

14. Challenges in Setting Priorities
•Understanding goals and expectations
•Triage list of all tasks and determine “must
do” items
–Break up big tasks
•Scope
•Timeline
•Relationships – consider involving others in
completion of efforts.

15. ASME Perspective
•Tasks
–Programmes, events – leading, delegating,
communicating, etc.
–Running meetings – make meetings effective
–Administrative duties – budgets, forms, updating
rosters, etc.

16. ASME Perspective
•Example Tasks
– Accessing unit financial information online
– Submitting updated rosters for unit committees
–Scheduling meetings, creating agendas,
conducting meeting
–Planning programs (sections) / developing
Products and Services (division and sections)
–Delegating / recruiting volunteers to carry out
programs
–Creating a strategic plan for the unit
–Identifying /nominating candidates for Honors &
Awards, filling out necessary paperwork

17. Application

18. Summary of Key Points
•Importance matters more than urgency and
should be the basis for actions
•Time management is about making time for
important activities
•Planning, execution and reflection are important
to achievement
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19. Related Sessions
•Team Building
•Business Plan Methods
•Effective Meetings

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Setting Priorities