Routinely, it’s easy to get into deep water with tickets and projects. Here is an email exchange between one of my team members, JC Foster, and I.
Jon Foster
Where does this fall on my priority list?
- Tickets
- AD Project
- PBX Project
- Office 365 Project
- Visual Studio Project
- Teams rollout
I am spinning plates as hard as I can here.
Jonathan Merrill
Thank you for asking. My own list is overwhelming. The organization is hustling. Projects are piling up and plates are falling as only so much can be done to keep those spun. Let me turn you onto a recent EntreLeadership podcast, #263 – Thriving in the Age of Overload. Skip to the Daniel Tardy’s talk about, “The Tyranny of the Urgent”.
Questions Needing Answered When Looking At Your Workload
- Does it have to be done? Can we eliminate it?
- If I can’t eliminate, can I automate it? ß This is where I feel the most work needs to be done.
- If I can’t automate it, can I delegate it? Let someone else do it.
- If I can’t delegate it, is it urgent? Is it a fire?
- If it is urgent, how do we approach, getting the right people in the room? Most often, someone’s fire is not a fire to the organization.
Our temptation is everything is on the list is a fire. We need to prioritize on impact and urgency based on the most impact to the most people.
If you’ve listened to the pod cast, tasks (or WIP) should be limited 3. So, looking at this list, here is my recommendation where your head should be at:
- Tickets – I agree. Although take care against this taking up 100% of your day. Handle Critical and Highs only. Sometimes, that means contacting customers, negotiating and adjusting the criticality.
- Visual Studio Project – Most impact. Most urgent. Key to our business.
- Office 365 Project – Most impact. Most urgent.
This is an exercise everyone can do. And should be aligned to what is on our team Kanban.
\\ JMM