Productivity & Prioritization Skills

Productivity does not mean merely working hard or working fast. It means working on things in the right order. Prioritization skills put tasks in the sequence that produces results quickly and efficiently. If employees in your small business perform tasks out of order, you can waste a lot of money trying to correct the problems that result. Prioritizing skills can improve the productivity of your workplace by eliminating wasted effort.

To set priorities, begin with the end in mind. You must know the end product or end process before you begin, so that you understand the sequence that will lead you to your goal. As the owner of a small business, it’s your job to know the end result. Employees can work under your direction without knowing how the process will turn out. But it is important that you and your lead managers are aware of what the end result of your product should be along with all of the steps leading up to achieving the production of your quality service or product.

You should set objectives that are the small steps that lead to the larger goal. Set these by working backwards from the goal. Look at the end result you want and ask yourself what needs to happen just before that. Continue the process until you arrive at the present. Have you laid out all of the objectives you must reach on the way to your goal? You can assign these objectives in the proper order to your project managers and team leaders so that they in turn can communicate it to your employees.

Once you have made your plan, you must communicate the vision. Lay out your priorities for your project manager or team leader. This passes your prioritization skills on to your team. This can maximize productivity because your project managers and team leaders will understand the importance of doing things in order.

Either monitor the progress in completing tasks or delegate this role to someone. Priorities by themselves do not guarantee good execution. Someone must make sure that each prioritized task has been completed satisfactorily before the next task begins. Productivity reaches its peak when prioritized tasks flow seamlessly.