A mix of personal observations and documented approaches for managing multiple priorities and distractions. Includes references to Zenger-Miller, Pareto, Lean, and Agile, as well as a summary of Pomodoro and GTD, in addition to the author's experience.
1. Managing
Multiple
Priorities
A mix of personal observations and documented approaches
for managing multiple priorities and distractions.
David Hanson
March 2020
Version 2.0
2. Topics
1. Multi-tasking
2. LimitWIP
3. Learning to Say No
4. KnowYour Job
5. InterpersonalTechniques
6. Deflect, Defer, Delegate
7. Teach to Fish
8. LogTime Spent
9. Track & Prioritize
10. Importance & Urgency
11. Escalate
12. Risk over Easy
13. Pareto Rule
14. Communication
15. Work Smart, Not Hard
16. Overloaded &Ticketing
17. Agile Practices
18. Observed Managers
19. Summary
20. Rocks, Pebbles, Sand
21. PomodoroTechnique
22. GettingThings Done
3. Managing
multiple
priorities is not
multi-tasking
Multi-tasking
Study after study shows multi-tasking
produces lower quality results
• Important details are missed
• Careless mistakes are made
• Alternative options are not considered
Multi-tasking extends timelines and
delays value
• Two tasks worked together maximizes
timeline
• Instead of completing one task in half
the time
Task switching adds incremental tax to
the time required to complete the task
• Adds minutes to re-focus from one
task to another and back
Successful “multi-taskers”
Many managers and leaders have no
choice but to “multi-task”
Observe how they stay focused in a
meeting until conclusion reached
Observe how they ignore emails or
cancel meetings to achieve a critical
goal
Observe how they delegate and solicit
support
Only 1 in 40 people can actually task switch
effectively*
* Supertaskers:
http://appliedcognition.psych.utah.edu/publications/sup
ertasker_ii.pdf
4. LimitWork In
Progress
Expected Effort: 8 hours/task
Task SwitchingOverhead: 25%
Working in series 50% faster
than working in parallel
Parallel Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Effort Duration
Task A 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 10 hours 5 days
Task B 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 10 hours 5 days
Task C 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 10 hours 5 days
Task D 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 2 hours 10 hours 5 days
Average 5 days
Series Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Effort Duration
Task A 8 hours 8 hours 1 days
Task B 8 hours 8 hours 2 days
Task C 8 hours 8 hours 3 days
Task D 8 hours 8 hours 4 days
Average 2.5 days
Stop Starting and Start Finishing
5. Learning to
Say No
Managing multiple priorities is in large part learning to
say “no” …
No might not be “no”
No might be “not me, but him”
No might be “not now, but later”
No might be “not me, but you”
No might be “yes, if you help me”
No might be “yes, if it’s OK with my manager”
No might be “yes”, but “no” for something else
And sometimes, no simply means “no”
… while acting cooperatively.
6. KnowYourJob
Source:ManagingYourPriorities,
Leadership 2000,ZengerMiller
Understand your job and your
priorities
Brainstorm your tasks and
responsibilities
Write your job title in the center
Group related tasks together
Evaluate the results
Do others own some tasks?
What gets in the way of your
priorities?
What aspects do you control?
What aspects do you have no
control?
What actions can you take to gain
control?
Product Owner Role
20% story writing
20% strategic planning
20% business interface
20% research & teach
20% assisting team
Scrum Master Role
20% blocks
20% process & metrics
20% IT interface
20% continuous improvement
20% assisting team
8. Interpersonal
Techniques
Source:ManagingYourPriorities,
Leadership 2000,ZengerMiller
SayWhen
Why: Need to be honest when interrupted while
working on your own priorities; enables
cooperation while ensuring progress on own
priorities
When: Use when difficult to assert yourself
• Person making request is manager
• Don’t want to admit can’t do everything
• Person won’t take no for answer
• Person doesn’t know how busy you are
How:
1) Listen attentively
2) Clarify how much time required
3) Decide whether you can handle now
4) If not, say so
5) If appropriate, suggest someone else
6) If can be deferred, agree to a time
Learn More
Why: Clarify expectations, gather task details,
understand relative priorities to manage
workload efficiently
When: Use when taking over task from or
assisting someone more experienced
How:
1) Understand task and relationship to big
picture
2) Clarify expected results and required
standards
3) Agree on roles and responsibilities
4) Specify required resources
5) Review key points and understanding
6) Set date for early progress review
9. Interpersonal
Techniques
Source:ManagingYourPriorities,
Leadership 2000,ZengerMiller
Ask For Help
Why: Asking for help shows willingness to give
best effort, desire to fulfill commitments and
maturity to know that you cannot do it alone
When: Overloaded with too many demands
How:
Before the meeting:
1) Analyze current situation
2) List alternatives
3) Request meeting with manager, leader or
co-worker
At the meeting:
4) Explain the situation using neutral language
5) Discuss possible solutions
6) Agree to actions and follow-up
Give It Away
Why: Need to provide enough information to
insure person delegated task will be successful
When:
• Spend time on higher priority task
• Assign to someone on your team
• Transitioning to another task
• Supervising someone outside team
• Orient new team member
How:
First check:
• Preventing attention to higher priority?
• Can someone else master?
• Are others qualified and available?
• Sufficient time to transition and execute?
If doesn’t pass check, but is recurring:
• Identify and line up candidates
• Break down and delegate a piece
Follow How outlined in Learn More, but in reverse
10. Manage, Don’t
Do
Myinterpersonalextensions
Deflect, Defer, Delegate
Deflect
I don’t think I know that as well as my former
colleague
I need to run to a meeting, but support can
help with this task
Sounds like a data issue, did you ask the data
team?
You know, my junior colleague just learned this
Defer
I’m really busy right now, but I have time later
today or tomorrow
Sure I can help, but that will require some time,
can you send me an invite
When do you need it?
Delegate
Does another team member have bandwidth?
Does a co-op or intern want to learn?
Here’s my opportunity to pass along
something else!
Delegating to the floor…
Bait & Switch
Invest in the long-term
FairTrade
Sure I can help. Can you help me (now or
later)?
Sure I can help, but first I need…
Teach to Fish
Are they likely to come back? Maybe best to
show them how to help themselves.
Is someone else likely to need help? Maybe if
you teach someone else, there will be a bigger
pool to help.
Where to Fish
For faster response, next time, contact support
and escalate to me
Best if you ask my manager who’s best to help
out
Self Help
What did you try? Did you try this and that?
I’d google this or that, if I were you
11. TrackTime
Spent
Source:ManagingYourPriorities,
Leadership 2000,ZengerMiller
Wonder where the time goes?
Never get to important tasks?
Unable to complete anything?
Frequently interrupted?
Derailed by shifting priorities?
Spend a day or a week logging every activity
Log start time & time spent on each activity
Clearly note interruptions
Rank: Important, Urgent, Routine,Wasted
Comment how time could have been
managed
Analyze distribution of activity type and
interruptions
Could interpersonal techniques be leveraged?
Are there patterns?
Time Activity Spent Type Comment
8:30 AM Timesheet,
Calendar, Scrum
20 min Routine Log time
weekly?
8:50 AM Read some email 25 min Routine Time well
spent?
9:15 AM Attend Scrum 20 min Routine 15 min should
be enough
9:35 AM Review prod issue 25 min Interrupt:
Urgent
Do I need to
know?
10:00 AM Chatting 10 min Interrupt:
Wasted
10:10 AM Review notes for
business meeting
15 min Urgent
10:30 AM Business meeting 35 min Important Ran long
11:10 AM Emailed actions 20 min Important
11:30 AM Read more email 50 min Routine Time well
spent?
12:20 PM Lunch 20 min Routine
12:40 PM “Work” and eat 20 min Wasted Not focused
while eating
1 PM Prepare weekly
status report
80 min Important Might less be
more?
11
12. Track &
Prioritize
Value & Urgency
Track and prioritize for yourself
Consider both the value and
urgency of tasks
Weight value over urgency
Take on the valuable and urgent
ASAP
Take on the moderately valuable
and moderately urgent as time
permits
Avoid the least valuable and
least urgent
Escalate
Escalate to your manager to
prioritize or assist
Perhaps your manager is asking,
but fails to recall all that has
been asked and remains
outstanding
Show him your top half dozen or
dozen tasks
Come prepared with problems
and possible solutions
Ask for help!
Value
High Medium Low
Urgency
High 1 3 6
Medium 2 5 8
Low 4 7 9
Key ASAP If Time Avoid
13. Relative
Priority
Risk OverValue
Project risk more important than
business value
Especially during early phases of
project
Critical to drive down technical
and business risks
Don’t focus on risks with low
likelihood and impact
Risk measures likelihood and
impact
Low Hanging Fruit
Low effort if drives down project
risk or delivers high value makes
sense
Otherwise low effort yields little
benefit and acts as distraction
Persistent focus on low hanging
fruit can divert attention from
strategic goal
Persistent focus on low hanging
fruit can lead to draining
resources
Likelihood
Likely Moderate Unlikely
Impact
Major
Moderate
Minor
Risk High Medium Low
14. Low Effort
Paradox
Pareto Rule:
20% effort yields
80% results
Low hanging fruit may lead to sub-optimal solution
Sometimes initial investment required to achieve better outcome
15. BlockTime
RecurringTime
Block time for routine email late
morning and late afternoon
Block time for quiet hour at start
or end of day to complete
routine or priority tasks
Block time weekly or bi-weekly
for recurring priority, ideally
close to deadline
Set office hours for recurring
distractions
OneTime
Block afternoon for urgent and
critical tasks
Block time for self and others
Cancel other meetings to clarify
priority
16. Communication
Weaponsofmassinterruption
forinstantmiscommunication
Outlook
Set expectation that email read same day or
within 24 hours, but not ASAP
Use when not urgent, otherwise use instant
messaging
When email chain reaches 6 back and forth
schedule a meeting
Copy those that need to know and spare the rest
Remove yourself from unneeded distribution lists
Turn off email pop-ups
Insure Subject title relevant
State your point or your ask in first sentence
Leverage Rules to organize and filter email
Problems:
Email consumes increasing portion of everyone’s
day
Generally read as LIFO; no effective, simple
prioritization
More and more email goes unread or only
skimmed
Messaging
Set expectation that instant messaging
interrupts and should be important and urgent
Use when urgent, otherwise send email
If message not clear, pick up the phone or walk to
their desk
Invite others and share desktop when it makes
sense
Leverage “do not disturb” if need to focus
Meetings
Prepare ahead of time
Invite those that need to attend
Come with set agenda
Get to the point, stay on point
Reach conclusions, summarize actions
Start on time, end on time
Mobile
Put away or silence personal cell phones
17. WorkSmarter,
Not Harder
LeanTools
Voice of Customer: tool for identifying requirements
Who, What, Why, When, Where
5 Whys: tool identifying for fundamental root causes
Ask “why?” repeatedly (until blame management)
Fishbone: tool identifying for multiple root causes
Man, Material, Machine, Method, Mother Nature, Measurement, Management
5S: tool for organizing work & work environment
Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain
Types of Waste: tool for identifying waste
DOWNTIME: Defect, Overdone, Waiting, Neglect, Transport, Inventory, Motion,
Excess
A3 Problem: tool for solving small problems
Single page, big sheet
Theme, Problem Statement, Current State, Root Cause, Hypothesis, Target
State, Expected Benefit, Roadmap, Reflection
Value Stream Map: tool for identifying value & waste
Value Add, Non Value But Required, Non Value
Cycle Time = Activity Time + Wait Time
SIPOC: tool for flowcharting process
Supplier > Input > Process > Output > Consumer
Brainstorming: tool for identifying creative options
Lean Process
CustomerValue
- Ask the Right Questions, Solve the Right
Problems
- No More, No Less
Value Stream
- Build RightThing, BuildThing Right
- Maximize Work Not Done
Flow
- LimitWork In Progress
- Manage Workflow, Not Schedules
Pull
- Just InTime or Last Responsible Moment
- Learn First, Fail Fast
- Start Small, Scale Fast (RUP)
- Think LongTerm,Act ShortTerm
Perfection
- Pay Attention to the Details
- Don’tTolerate Defects
- Quality Reduces Cost & Schedule
18. Modern
Work Practices
Overloading
Ticketing
Overloading Sometimes Efficient
Projects, teams and individuals
overloaded with too many tasks
Goal: value added work will be
completed and non-value added
work will be eliminated
Side Effects: successful projects
and teams renewed;
unsuccessful projects and teams
cancelled or disbanded
Success largely determined by
value delivered
Ticketing Usually Inefficient
Modern ticketing systems create a
bureaucratic barrier to entry
Goal: encourage individuals to
learn workarounds and manage
tasks themselves
Side Effects: individuals live with
inefficiencies; long backlog of
inventory; tickets move but
issues are not resolved
When effective, acts as Kanban
queue; best when supported by
single team
19. LeverageAgile
LeverageScrumRoles,Events,
Artifacts
SimpleCollaborationRules
Scrum
Product Owner sets priorities
Scrum Master owns blocks
Team Members volunteer to help
each other
Daily Scrum notes activities and
distractions
Sprint Backlog limits work in
progress
Sprint Backlog tracks all work
Blocks, Impediments, Obstacles,
Distractions all the same
Collaboration
Team Member empowered to assist, when
request likely < 1 hour and confident can meet
daily scrum goal
Report as block in daily scrum
Scrum Master empowered to solicit assistance,
when request likely < 1 day and confident team
on track to meet sprint goal
Log as impediment and report in scrum of
scrums
ProductOwner empowered to set priorities,
when request likely > 1 day or may jeopardize
sprint goal
Product owner should assess urgency and
importance
If important, then log as work item and groom
If not urgent, then prioritize for future sprint
If urgent, then work with team to swap work
item
20. Good Enough
Agile
Time Boxing
Agile leverages time-boxing which
promotes good enough, as
opposed to perfection
Sprint duration is fixed, so need to
decide in Sprint Review if story is
good enough, as opposed to just
one more thing
Spikes are time-boxed to fixed
amount of effort; at the end of the
effort conclusions must be drawn,
else commit to another spike in
next sprint
Sprint events are all time-boxed
Lean
NonValue Add But Required
Lean recommends that non-value
added but required activities be
minimized
Do just enough to get it done
«Il meglio è l'inimico del bene.»
The best is the enemy of the good.
Voltaire, 1770
21. Observed
Practices &
Principles
Past Manager
Managers and leads should expect to “multi-task”
70% Rule reserves 15% for distractions (and 15%
for leave)
20% lead’s bandwidth reserved for strategic
planning
20% team’s bandwidth reserved for IT priorities
Queueing theory: working at or near capacity
exponentially slower
Observed practices when something important &
urgent:
• Works from home
• Cancels meetings
• Delegates routine work
• Stops reading email
• Pairs with SME
My Practices
Prioritization:
Importance: 3-Must, 2-Should, 1-Could, 0-Won’t
Urgency: 3-Now, 2-Soon, 1-Later, 0-Never
Rank = 2 * Importance + Urgency
- 9, 8 ASAP
- 7, 6 time permitting
- 5, 4, 3 wait
- 2, 1, 0 drop
Principles:
• Maximize work not done
• Simplest thing that could work
• Procrastination leads to efficiency
• Do what you know you need, not what you
think you need
• If worth doing, worth doing right, else not
worth doing
• Managers ask twice if they really care
• Good faith estimate, multiply by p
22. Managing
Multiple
Priorities
Not multi-tasking, more about saying “no”
Know your job and your priorities
Leverage interpersonal practices: Say When (Defer), Learn More (Accept), Ask for
Help (Escalate), Give It Away (Delegate), Suggest Who (Deflect)
Teach to Fish, those that learn to fish can feed themselves
Track time spent for self assessment
Prioritize weighing importance and immediacy
Risk >Value > Urgency > Effort
Pareto Rule and Low Effort Paradox
Block time on your calendar
Respect your and others time when communicating
Work smarter, not harder; leverage Lean techniques and principles
Modern workplace overloads, forcing efficiency, and tickets, creating bureaucracy
Leverage your product owner, scrum master, team members and team rules
Consider your manager’s expectations when managing multiple priorities
25. Outline realistic goals for 2 hours (e.g. morning or afternoon) in 4 half hour increments on notepad
Work in 30 minute increments; set 25 minutes for focused work and 5 minutes for reflection & recap
Work 4 consecutive 30 min increments; then take 15 to 30 min break for distractions & relaxation
Set timer while working to reinforce highly disciplined, focused technique; stop when time runs out
Check goal complete at end of Pomodoro with or mark incomplete with if unsuccessful
During Pomodoro, quickly note distractions, then resume focused effort; don’t stop!
Do not allow any disruption whatsoever during the 25 minute work window
- Educate your team and those around you
- Set Do Not Disturb in Communicator and turn off Outlook’s email message popups
During your extended break, answer distractions, talk to others, take a break
- Communication and unrelated topics may trigger brainstorming
- Quiet reflection and day dreaming help creative thinking
Breaks down work into small tasks with measurable goals
- If task incomplete, may need to roll to next Pomodoro or postpone to next Pomodoro set
- Track distractions as Inform, Negotiate, Schedule, or Call Back
Stages of planning, tracking, recording, processing, visualizing are fundamental to the technique
Requires high degree of discipline; discipline usually results in productivity and predictability
Using timer creates physical stimuli that reinforces mental focus & discipline (think Pavlov response)
If “in the zone” may warrant longer focus periods; works well when pair programming
Pomodoro
Technique
Noveltechniqueforfocusingwork
andmanaging distractions