Staying Busy is NOT the Objective

Your people are no doubt working hard to do a good job. The question is: Have you given enough structure for them to know what a good job really means?

Usually the weakness in that is a lack of sequenced priorities from leadership. How do they even know if they're working on something that matters?

Employees cannot make good decisions if management cannot sequence the list of multiple priorities. Giving employees a list of more than one priority, without sequencing, abdicates responsibility.

If you can't decide what's important, how can they?

It is typically the unreasonable fear of leaders that nothing other than Priority #1 will be worked on if we let them know it's most important.

Let me ask you: Would that be so bad? If every single employee can make #1 move closer to the finish line right now, why would you want them to work on something else right now?

I've yet to see an organization in which every single employee could positively impact the top single priority at all times. Have you?

By providing all employees with a sequenced list of a handful of priorities, each is positioned to make better decisions every single day.

If I can't move #1 along, I should work on #2; if I can't move #2 forward, I should work on #3; etc.

The fear that employees will do absolutely nothing if they can't work on Priority #1 is silly. Think how powerful it is for your leadership team to help each employee see how their work supports priorities.

The goal is not for all of your employees to stay busy. The goal is for each employee to contribute to organizational and personal success by working on what matters most.

Isn't that the purpose of strategy?