Hi again -

I know, I know, it's late January, but Happy New Year 🎉. May 2022 be all the things you want and nothing that you don't.

It felt fitting with this being the month of resolutions and goal setting and all that to make the leadership topic of this issue the ever-important skill of prioritization. So, make that list and check it twice...oh, wait - wrong season. Let's do this! 👇

Prioritization: So easy, it's hard

Here's the thing: Prioritization is something we do all the time. We prioritize thousands of things a day without even realizing it. So, we must all be good at it, right? Uhm, no. 👎

Add in being a leader and prioritizing not only your time, but the time and focus of your team, and it gets downright hard.

I've seen leaders charge forward and do a tremendous amount of work in the wrong direction. I often tell my coaching clients, don't be the leader who mows the lawn when the house is on fire.

Here's a few ways to ensure you are prioritizing you and your team's time and energy wisely.

Prioritizing Focus with a Focus on Prioritizing

Below are three tactics that can improve the likelihood of focusing you and your team in the right direction.

Rethink the To-Do List

To-do checklists feel helpful in prioritizing your tasks, but they can easily become lists of minor, unimportant items that feel good to "check off" ✅ but don't move the needle.

Supercharge your To-Do list by making it an engine of true prioritization.

• Start with your main objective for a period of time (day, week, month, quarter...).

• Then back out to the specific tasks needed to achieve that objective.

• Finally, consider the order (urgency) and the impact (how far it moves you toward your main objective), and sequence the actions accordingly.

Establish a Routine of Prioritization

Dedicate time at regular intervals to talk priorities with your team. A good rule of thumb is to discuss big priorities at least once a quarter and then to review progress on a weekly or biweekly basis.

These conversations should include asking pointed and focusing questions such as:

1. What is the one/two/three things we must do to advance our purpose during the next [period of time]

2. What blockers will we face in trying to achieve these critical milestones?

3. What needs to be delayed or removed to enable us to accomplish these tasks?

4. What has changed since we last reviewed these tasks and how does that impact our purpose?

Get Comfortable Saying No

If you aren't saying no to new ideas and initiatives (even good ones *gasp* - where you can say no, not right now) then you aren't likely prioritizing well. You are probably the victim of scope creep and some level of dispersed focus.

You will be asked to take on new tasks, you yourself may want to add to the priority list at times, your team will get great ideas and all these things will be potential distractors.

When new requests or ideas surface, evaluate them for relevance to the purpose/goals of your work right now, or in the near or longer term. Act accordingly. If the relevance to the now or near-term work is high, decide what comes off the priority list or how to add more resources. If the relevance is to the longer term, add it to the parking lot. If there isn't enough relevance overall, just say no.

As a leader you, and your team need you to be brave enough to be ruthless about priorities and that means learning how to say no, nicely but firmly.

Want to Learn More about Prioritization?

11 leaders share techniques to prioritize projects and make progress on goals — www.fastcompany.com

Don’t let multiple projects or big goals overwhelm you; instead, learn to prioritize and keep moving forward.

How to Focus on What’s Important, Not Just What’s Urgent — hbr.org

If something is really important, block out a whole day.

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller, Jay Papasan, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® — www.barnesandnoble.com

What's your ONE thing? People are using this simple, powerful concept to focus on what matters most in their personal and work lives.

How About a Cheat Sheet?

The next time you are trying to prioritize with your team, use this cheat sheet to get to the most important work fast.

One Last Thought

Prioritizing well doesn't mean you won't get thrown a curve ball. For most of us, prioritization is a constant state of balancing spinning plates. (Best laid plans and all that.) Adaptability and prioritization aren't mutually exclusive. Prioritize well, evaluate often, adjust as needed and communicate with all your stakeholders. Easy, right? Well, I never promised it would be 😀.

And if you need a little humorous reminder:

Adam Grant on Twitter: "The perfect decision tree for every time optimist and people pleaser 😆… " — twitter.com

“The perfect decision tree for every time optimist and people pleaser 😆”

Don't forget - if you find this useful, please consider sharing it with someone in your network (it's easy to do! see how in the footer) or shouting it out on social. And don't forget to tag me @eduversequeen if you hang around on Twitter. https://twitter.come/eduversequeen