Management Training Tips - The Urgency/Importance Grid
This section describes: How to use an urgency/importance grid to classify the
tasks that you currently perform, and how to optimize the amount of time that
you will spend on each type of task in the future.
Many people find that they spend a large proportion of their time dealing with
tasks that are urgent but not particularly important. It is very easy to confuse
urgency with importance when you are trying to identify your priorities.
Whilst many factors can change to make any one of your activities more or less
important, time is not one of them. An unimportant job is still unimportant even if
the deadline for delivery is in an hour's time.
You should draw a grid like the one shown then plot and label the activities you
have identified from your time log. You can then add in the percentage of your
time spent on each type of activity.
Time Management Skills - Zone 1 - you should put tasks here that are fairly
urgent but relatively low in importance. It is easy to find yourself spending too
much time on these tasks because of their urgency. Ideally they should be
completed adequately but above all quickly.
Ask yourself "How can I avoid spending too much time on these tasks?"
Time Management Skills - Zone 2 - you should put tasks here that are neither
important nor urgent. These tasks represent a particular danger, because if you
reduce the time spent doing them, you may find that you enjoy your working day
less. If some of these tasks involve interacting with others then you may feel that
reducing the time spent will distance you from your co-workers. If you really want
to manage time effectively you will need to be disciplined enough to eliminate
some of the things that make your work enjoyable and to persevere in the face of
resistance from colleagues.
Ask yourself "How can I avoid the temptation to do these easy or enjoyable
tasks?"
Time Management Skills - Zone 3 - tasks that appear here should be both
urgent and important. The danger is that you fail to properly plan these tasks
because of their urgency and then crisis manage them because of the pressure
you're under to complete them.
Tasks that are both urgent and important require immediate attention. Suppose,
for example, that an important customer needs a detailed proposal on their desk
for Monday morning. This may require that you re-arrange existing commitments
and prioritize working on the proposal, you may decide to concentrate on the key
parts of the document whilst delegating more straightforward parts of it to others.
Ask yourself "How can I give myself enough time to do these tasks well?"
Time Management Skills - Zone 4 - tasks that appear here should be
important but not urgent. They may have no specific deadline or a deadline that is
a long way off. If there is no deadline you may never get around to them, or you
may wait until the deadline is very close and resort to applying crisis
management to get them done.
Tasks that are important but not urgent are in danger of being deferred. Critical
functions that relate to long-term effectiveness often fall into this category - such
as strategic planning and progress reviews. It is often the non-urgent nature of
these tasks, combined with the slightly daunting prospect of tackling them, that
leads to them being constantly placed on the back-boiler. Take control of these
tasks, set aside time to address them and break them down into manageable
chunks.