Did you ever have a priority list where everything is a priority? It has happened to many business owners. We gather the task list, get our coffee, and as we settle for a productive day, we get overwhelmed by new projects rushing in, which need our immediate attention.
Many business owners seek help on how to manage time for all this. According to Eric Dalius, time management is dependant on the way you work your priorities. We all have a limited amount of energy and time to devote to everything. Hence, by taking care of all the priorities, it is necessary to stay productive while reducing stress, burnout, and pressure.
Eric J Dalius shares tips for managing change in business priorities
While it is essential to keep the work according to the schedule, it can get overwhelming when you have new priorities and deadlines to cater to. It is necessary to manage the change in business priorities without affecting projects and change initiatives. The following tips can help you.
1. Assess the change strategy
It includes raising a few questions which will bring the overall change strategy in focus, starting with the “why.” The questions to ask might include:
- Why are you changing something, and what’s driving it?
- How does this change sync in with the company’s fundamental goals?
- Who started this change, and what is their vision when the change gets attained?
When you get the data, you can better manage the change and know what it means for your business. You can also prioritize the tasks effectively.
2. Evaluate the task priority
As you are aware of the change, you can start to assess it on a deeper level. For instance, decide if the change is essential. It might be necessary for one person, but you need to check whether it’s nice for others as well or not.
When you keep a fine communication line with your team and management, it will guide you better. You might as well ask if they want your concern or interest. When you ask questions now, it will help you save more time.
3. Organize the current tasks
You need to consider the current initiative list! Before you change priorities, decide the impact on the work scope, budget, and schedule. You should also consider the hours required to accomplish every task. Everything can’t be a priority. Hence, you can shift the less-crucial job to a place of lesser relevance.
4. Stay open to change
It might sound irrelevant, but it’s necessary to reiterate the thought of staying open to new ideas! When there are disruptions in the priorities, you can either remain closed off or embrace the same. It is a better idea to accept the challenge and make necessary changes. You might get a little skeptical in the beginning. Once you have your concerns and questions answered, you can step on to the challenge.
5. Concentrate on what you can manage
When there is a change in business priorities, you need to concentrate on the sections you can manage! You can stay productive on knowing the things that you can impact control and impact. Hence, it will enable you to stop wasting time on things that you can’t control.
6. Manage your energy
Everybody is different! Some people have a bout of high-energy during the morning while others have maximum energy during lunch. There are others whose energy peaks during the latter half of the day! It would be best if you found out which part of the day works best for you. That way, you can schedule the challenging priorities during that part of the day.
7. You can ask for support.
You need to reach out to who you report if you require assistance about prioritizing your task. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Instead, it shows that you have started to think on a strategic level and mean much more than accomplishing tasks.
8. You need to follow-up.
Once you have changed your business priorities, you need to follow-up with the concerned person upon making changes. It would help if you got a sanction on the new priority list. You might let them know that you are happy to make this change and impact other works. You can even ask if the person is ok with that. It would help if you did this beyond catering to the task. There might be other company initiatives and changes taking place simultaneously that you might not be aware of.
Also, the person making the change might not know about the detailed impacts. They might want to know about the consequences concerning any shifts, and it’s moving smoothly or not.
9. Manage the expectations
Here it would help if you managed expectations of yourself and others. It will help if you stay prepared to get unprepared and assist others through any challenging times. It would help if you thought about your company culture and how it manages change initiatives. It won’t be of any use if you think why things aren’t moving fast. If you work in a slow-moving company and need many approvals, you must give the required time. You need to go with the flow and ask if there’s anything you can do to make things move slightly faster.
10. Encourage data sharing
There is no need for you to do something drastic to get things done! You need to ask whether an existing technology would assist your team with a brand-new project. For instance, some companies like to use Trello to organize tasks and collaborate with people. You need to decide if there are common elements that you can use and share with others. You need to talk to your formal, informal, external, and internal networks! They might want to share their ideas and experiences to assist the team in accomplishing their goals.
Managing change in business priorities takes discipline, skill, and patience. It also requires the willingness to stay adaptable and flexible. By understanding when to ask for assistance, you can know the difference between daily, urgent, and essential tasks when you are not sure about prioritizing things.
