Prioritize what matters most

- Endless to-do lists, back-to-back meetings, new initiatives. It's easy to see how your managers can get bogged down, which is why prioritization is essential, because if everything is a priority, nothing is. One critical way you can support your managers is by helping them identify and focus on the vital few objectives that drive real results. Here are four strategies for doing just that. First, streamline objectives through a targeted review. Take a close look at your company's objectives and ask what will have the greatest impact on our mission? Which strategies, tactics, and initiatives really have the potential to move the needle? Use metrics like return on investment, contribution to growth, or workload capacity utilization. Then engage your managers in this process to pressure test these priorities and uncover potential obstacles you may not have considered. Their perspective can further refine your top objectives, increase buy-in, and ensure a smoother execution. By engaging your managers early, you not only gain valuable insights, you also foster a sense of ownership and alignment. This can set the stage for a sharper focus on the most important priorities. Next, cast the new priorities in stone. Once you've identified the vital few objectives, eliminate or postpone anything that doesn't align with those high impact priorities. These refined objectives should serve as your North Star, guiding you every step of the way and every action that follows. Make sure your managers understand that these priorities are now the foundation for what they do. By making it crystal clear that the new objectives are here to stay, you eliminate confusion and give your managers a clear and consistent direction to follow. That empowers them to make decisions with confidence. Third, create clear boundaries for new requests. Your freshly established priorities will need protection. Without setting up some guardrails, your managers might be tempted to accept new requests or constantly switch their focus in reaction to the latest fire that needs to be put out. Encourage managers to ask, "How does this align with our key objectives?" If there isn't a clear answer, new requests get put on the back burner. This kind of discipline helps managers stay focused and reduces the stress of constantly reprioritizing. Finally, conduct regular business reviews. Make it a habit to frequently touch base with your managers to check the progress on key objectives and evaluate whether changing business conditions warrant a different priority. What's changed? Do we need to adjust our focus? As we wrap up, I'll give you one example of a company that leveraged this approach to prioritization. In 2008, a new CEO came on board for Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and he realized that growth was flat even though their products were selling well. He set out to do some relentless prioritization and laser focus the company on three strategic objectives. Then every potential product, activity, and initiative was evaluated by asking, "Will this help us reach one of our three objectives?" If the answer was no, it was abandoned. When priorities are clarified for your managers, they can concentrate on the things that really matter and let the rest go. It was successful for Intuit and it can be a powerful strategy for you as well.