Aligning Goals and Priorities To Manage

Time
Too much to do and too little time? Everything is urgent? Modern technology means
our employers can reach us 24/7, so schedule management and goal setting are more
important than ever. When you're under pressure to deliver, you need to know your
priorities. Meeting targets and achieving goals consistently regardless of the business
situation isn't easy. And this means managing your time effectively.

In this course, you'll learn about aligning each goal with your employer's expectations,
clarifying your goals, and prioritizing your most important work. You'll also learn
how to ask questions to clarify goals, and how to establish and schedule priorities
based on these goals.

Table of Contents
1. Aligning Goals and Priorities To Manage Time
2. What Happens When Goals Are Out Of Sync
3. Hitting the Bull's Eye: Goal Alignment Worksheets
4. Clarifying Goals by Asking Questions
5. Establishing Priorities at Work
6. How To Use a Priority Matrix

Aligning Goals and Priorities To Manage Time

[Course: Aligning Goals and Priorities to Manage Time.] HOST: Too much to do
and too little time? You're not alone. For most of us, modern technology means our
employers can reach us 24/7, so it's more important than ever to manage your time
effectively – but that's not easy. When you're under pressure to deliver, you need to
know what's expected of you, and when. In this course, you'll learn about aligning
your goals with your employer's expectations, how to clarify your goals, and about
prioritizing your most important work.

What Happens When Goals Are Out Of Sync

[Topic: What Happens When Goals Are out of Sync.] (EXASPERATED)LISA: I've
been here three years, so you'd think I'd know what I'm doing. But now I've got this
new manager, everything's out of whack.
He asked for a report on our social media plans. Hey – he's my new boss. I wanted to
impress…So I put in a ton of work, do my research…check and double-check the
numbers…then write it all up. And he's like, "I don't need this much detail. Just give
me the highlights." I couldn't believe it – that was how I've always done reports. My
last manager would've been thrilled.

Then he asks me how I'm doing with the Product Quality Report. Honestly, that was
the last thing on my mind! How did this happen?

HOST: Sounds like a classic case of goal misalignment – the frustrating disconnect

between what you think you should be doing and what your manager expects you to
do.

TOM: Right – with the social media thing…I just wanted an update. But the Product
Quality Report – I'm really counting on that for our client meeting.

HOST: Goal misalignment can result in you working on things that don't really
matter because you don't know what's really expected of you – or you're not clear on
what your boss and your company need from you to get results.

Lisa jumped into her task thinking she was doing the right thing, when she should
have checked with her new boss about the goal itself, and the steps she should take to
achieve it.

LISA: I thought I was on top of things… [Lisa sighs.] Now it's all-nighters to get

Tom what he actually needs.

HOST: What do you think Tom?

TOM: I don't like my employees working all hours. Hopefully it's just a one-time
thing and Lisa will get better at managing her time – and not wasting it.

HOST: When goals aren't aligned, no one wins. Your company won't benefit from or
appreciate your contributions. And you won't see how important your work is to the
organization.

If you don't know what to prioritize and why, you could end up feeling confused,
frazzled – pulled in different directions.

To avoid disappointing your company – or yourself – ensure your goals are aligned.
Then you'll deliver the right results at the right time.
Hitting the Bull's Eye: Goal Alignment Worksheets
[Topic: Hitting the Bull's Eye: Goal Alignment Worksheets.] LISA: My goal is to
prove I've got what it takes in my job to exceed expectations. I need to know exactly
what my company needs – or I'll waste time on unimportant tasks.

HOST: Effective, efficient employees find out what they need to do and what results
they're expected to deliver. That's the only way to make sure your goals and your
organization's goals align.

LISA: I've been struggling – working harder than ever, but why? I'm finding it tough
figuring out what my new manager wants from me. Luckily I found a handy tool to
help me out – a goal alignment worksheet.

HOST: A goal alignment worksheet helps you make sure the work you're doing is
directly related to what your company or team needs to accomplish. For every
organizational goal, you have an associated goal.

LISA: First my manager explained the new company directives and how our team fits
into the picture. Now I get where he's coming from. I penciled the organization's goals
into the first column of my worksheet.

After we talked about my role, I came up with specific goals for myself in line with
what the organization wants.

HOST: Lisa's got it. She started by identifying an organizational or departmental

goal. Then she determined her team goal.

So next, once the goals have been identified, talk to your manager to find out what
role you're expected to play in achieving that goal and use that info to come up with
achievable goals for yourself.

TOM: I was impressed when Lisa came to me with the goal alignment worksheet.
Proactive, innovative…that's what I want. I'm under pressure to optimize our service
delivery system and I need to get my team on board.

HOST: To meet the organizational goal of optimizing service delivery, Lisa's

department has been tasked with increasing service quality awareness.

Lisa's great with numbers and handles a lot of the company's social networking. After
talking to her boss, she realized she could contribute to the departmental goal by
conducting client satisfaction surveys.
Her specific goal is to use social network surveys to track client ratings of "very good"
for service.

LISA: And we also decided that I should be done by mid-year. So my goal is specific,

achievable, and has a clear deadline.

HOST: Aligning your goals will help you get a much better idea of not only what
you're supposed to do, but how you're supposed to do it. You'll understand what's
expected and when, and how to get it done.

Clarifying Goals by Asking Questions

[Topic: Clarifying Goals by Asking Questions.] LISA: Hey Seth, I heard about the
promotion. You're leading the project now? Awesome.

(NONCHALANTLY)SETH: Yeah…I'm excited.

LISA: You don't sound excited.

(CONFIDENTIALLY)SETH: Lisa, I don't even know what's involved. Tom wants the

whole project fully operational by June. But what does fully operational even mean?

LISA: Whoa…relax. Don't ask me. Ask Tom.

HOST: When given a task with a tight deadline and minimal detail, it's sometimes
tempting to jump right in and hope for the best. After all – you're under pressure to
deliver. But making time early on to flesh things out as best as possible can actually
save a lot of time down the road.

Consider Seth's situation. He may have plenty of experience, but for this project he's
unclear on goals – the project goals, and his own. Without a clear understanding of
those goals, how can he prioritize his tasks? Seth should have asked some questions to
clarify what's expected. Let's take a few examples.

SETH: Do I really have to get the project going by June?

HOST: Not a good question. Think about the possible responses: "Yes," "Of course,"
"Why are you asking me that?" If Seth's wondering about scope, a better question
would be, "When you say fully operational, do you mean rolled out to all
departments?"
Using the right kind of questions can help you clarify your goals and prioritize. Ask
inquisitive, discovery questions – questions that will provide information, such as
clarifying the parameters of the project. You can also use scoping questions that
specifically ask about tasks, goals, and time frames.

SETH: What's the point of a June deadline? I don't think we can hit it. And anyway,
Marketing doesn't need the deliverable until the third quarter.

HOST: Another poor question. You see, here Seth's actually making a statement that
doesn't leave room for discussion. It's judgmental, and assumes a negative outcome.
Questions like that cause more problems than they solve. A more inquisitive question
would be, "Hey, this is challenging – can we explore a phased deliverable over the
quarter?"

SETH: Okay. What I really need to know is, how can we break the deliverable down
into phased components?

HOST: Great question! Seth's asked about something that will help clarify his role.
Getting the right answer will help him establish project goals that are realistic, time
bound, and aligned. But to get those answers, Seth will have to talk to management.

When clarifying goals, it's not just what you ask – it's who you ask. Take your
questions to your manager. Then communication remains open and you'll be able to
find out everything you need to write up your project goals and manage your time.

Setting goals doesn't always mean it's clear how to order tasks, what resources are
required, or who else is involved. By asking the right questions in a non-judgmental
way, you'll clarify goals and eliminate confusion. Then you can focus on the tasks that
will help you in your path to success.

Establishing Priorities at Work

[Topic: Establishing Priorities at Work. Lisa is in her office talking on her
phone.] LISA: I get what you're saying, but that not what we....

[Tom walks into Lisa's office and starts talking to her while she's busy on her phone.
She keeps her ear to her phone and looks at him.] TOM: Lisa, here's that list of web
development companies we discussed and I need you to get the outsourcing specs to
me this afternoon. [Tom turns his back on her.]

[Lisa to Tom.] LISA: Whoa..whoa..whoa... [Tom is already on his way out.]

[Seth enters Lisa's office and also starts talking to her while she's trying to continue
her phone conversation.] SETH: I don't understand your performance analysis
requirements. So when are we meeting to go to over that?

[Lisa looks at Seth, but then the phone conversation demands her
attention.] LISA: No, no...I didn't know finance was...

[Seth continues talking to Lisa even though she's indicating that he should give her a
minute.] SETH: Is Wednesday good?

[Lisa desperately tries to continue her phone conversation.] LISA: ...budget this

Friday…

[Tom enters again.] TOM: Oh and by the way, your sister came by. She needs you to
pick your niece up from school this afternoon. [Lisa is overwhelmed. She puts her
phone down and sighs.]

HOST: With many competing demands, it's only natural for Lisa to feel a huge sense
of urgency. But just because something's urgent doesn't necessarily mean it's
important – or that it's what you should do first. Knowing what to do is essential, but
so is knowing when to do it.

To establish priorities, you need a clear understanding of what's important – not just
urgent – how much effort is required, and what resources are available.

Use that information to create a task list, in the order that works for you, and for the
project. And don't forget to include your personal commitments. Remember, when
you look after your personal needs, you're in a much better position to manage a
heavy workload.

Lisa met with her manager so she could ask questions to assess the urgency of her
tasks. [Lisa's task list is displayed in a table with three rows, and four columns. The
first column's heading is Task. Her tasks are Create Outsourcing Specs, Prepare
Budget Numbers, and Meet Seth to Discuss Performance Analysis. ] She discovered
that the meeting with Seth could be done in half an hour, and that the outsourcing
specs for a web development partner were a top priority.

Now that she knows which of her tasks require more time and resources than others,
Lisa can organize them into three categories. Tasks requiring "minimal" involvement
are less important than those that are only required to be completed to a point that
they're "good enough." Tasks that need to be "perfect" require the most time and
effort. [So the other column headings are Minimal, Good Enough, and Perfect.]
Lisa was happy to discover that, in some cases, minimal involvement was enough. [A
tick displays in the Minimal column next to the task Meet Seth to Discuss
Performance Analysis.]

What about "good enough?" "Good enough" isn't a bad thing – it means being
efficient and productive. Most experts say that it makes sense to determine what is
"good enough" rather than striving for perfection in everything. [A tick appears in the
Good Enough column next to the task Prepare Budget Numbers.]

Lisa was hesitant to mark anything as needing to be "perfect." But she knew that
outsourcing specs were critical. [A tick appears in the Perfect column next to the task
Create Outsourcing Specs.]

She also made sure to prioritize both her professional and personal responsibilities.

To successfully manage your time in the face of unexpected and urgent requests,
make sure your goals and priorities are based on your job function and skill set,
company needs, and discussions with your manager.

Try to reach an agreement with stakeholders on what constitutes a priority and work
out the parameters for deciding which task you should work on first. That's the only
way to find out what's truly a priority and how best to handle your tasks.

When faced with change, limited resources, and conflicting goals it's easy to get
overwhelmed. Don't give in to the pressure. Instead, work out what's important in the
big picture and tackle your top priorities head on.

How To Use a Priority Matrix

[Topic: How To Use a Priority Matrix. Lisa is talking on her
phone.] (ANXIOUSLY) LISA: Yeah...no, I can't talk right now. I'm totally swamped,
okay? Okay, bye.

SETH: Hey Lisa! Is everything okay?

LISA: Yeah...No. Tom was right, this project is a…I'm totally stressed out.

SETH: I've been there before, okay. Let me show you what worked for me.

HOST: When Seth felt overwhelmed, he used a Priority Matrix – a simple, yet

effective tool that helped him get focused. It's not easy prioritizing tasks, goals, and
requests when you're juggling your own responsibilities – personal or professional.
LISA: Yeah! And on top of that, unexpected things crop up all the time.

HOST: With so much on her plate, Lisa decides to create her own Priority Matrix.

A Priority Matrix helps you sort your tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important;
urgent and not important; important and not urgent and, finally, not urgent and not
important. [A four-quadrant square matrix displays. The x-axis is divided into urgent
and not urgent from west to east. The y-axis is divided into not important and
important from south to north.] That way, you can establish and visualize what you
need to get done within a specific time period – say a day, or a week.

So let's start with the urgent and important tasks. Put emergencies, problems requiring
immediate attention, or deadline-driven projects into this quadrant. This includes
anything that's a definite "must do" and something that clearly needs to be dealt with
first. Give these tasks the time they need.

But don't neglect what's important and not urgent. These are mostly longer-term tasks,
such as planning, relationship building, networking, personal development, and
identifying new opportunities. Make sure to set aside some time each day to tackle
tasks that are important, but not urgent. Because, if you delay these tasks for too long,
they may suddenly become urgent.

Tasks that need to be dealt with soon, but aren't important to you personally are
urgent, but not important. These include interruptions, priority phone calls or e-mails,
and handling other people's immediate concerns. Deal with them as quickly as
possible and move on.

The not urgent and not important tasks...you probably know what these are – the
things that are potential time wasters, like dealing with junk mail, low-priority phone
calls and e-mails...even social conversations with coworkers. These may offer a nice
break, but generally are not related to your most important tasks. Do these only when
there's nothing more important to do.

Fill the quadrants with items from your "to do" list, tasks that pop into your mind as
you're working and, of course, any requests that come from managers and coworkers.

To get the most out of your Priority Matrix, meet with a colleague or coworker who's
also using one and compare notes. See what they consider urgent, important, and not
so urgent and important, and the thought process behind it. Challenge each other's lists
and their differences to test your priorities. Then adjust priorities as needed.
When you're stressed about priorities and overwhelmed by what you have to do,
remember the value of organizing and prioritizing responsibilities. Using a Priority
Matrix helps you set clear priorities and better manage your time.

Let's review what you learned in this course. To manage your time effectively by
aligning goals with employer expectations, use goal alignment worksheets; clarify
your company’s goals, and your role in achieving them, by asking questions; find out
what your priorities are, as well as the availability of resources that you’ll need; and
use a Priority Matrix to determine your most important and urgent tasks.