How do you juggle competing priorities across teams?

Assessing the situation should not be done in isolation. Comparing the goals of your manager and senior leadership will help prioritize the work. We should always make sure that the work we do is in alignment with the organization's objectives.

To decide what tasks to work on first, you want to know what the priorities are. To decide what the priorities are you’ll need to know what the other parties are focussing on. The key to long term successful relationships is to aim for a win-win so that future interactions are welcomed. If we fulfil our priorities without considering the priorities of others, we reduce the probability of them wanting to interact with us in future. After all the priorities are on the table we can make meaningful decisions as to what happens first.

Conflicting priorities can arise when there is a gap between the hidden and surfaced agendas of leadership. It is essential to analyze whether the actions of leadership align with their public statements. For instance, if a leader publicly promotes innovation but privately demotes any innovative idea, this dissonance kills any possibility of fostering an innovative culture. It is also crucial to understand if competing priorities incentivize leaders. For example, the IT department may be incentivized to reduce costs and may sabotage a sales initiative aimed at implementing new software. Understanding these misaligned incentives and priorities is critical in identifying and addressing issues that may hurt organizational performance.

Peacebuilding traits play a crucial role. Effective communication and active listening foster understanding and empathy among team members, enabling conflict resolution and collaboration. Transparency promotes trust, reducing misunderstandings and promoting cooperation. Flexibility and compromise facilitate finding common ground, enhancing productivity amidst diversity. Promoting a culture of respect and appreciation for diverse perspectives also cultivates harmony and fosters creativity. Embracing these peacebuilding traits empowers teams to navigate competing priorities harmoniously, leading to collective success and a positive work environment.

One of the most important things is to understand the context of the various situations, not just to better decide but to better inform. We need to explain to the different teams the bigger picture and explain why we're taking the decisions we need to take. It's important for people to be a part of the process, or at least to understand what's going on, in order also to be able to step up and contribute in the best way possible.

As a nurse educator, I firmly believe that the first step in managing competing priorities—assessing the situation and understanding the scope, urgency, and impact of each task—is vital. Utilizing tools like priority matrices, Gantt charts, or Kanban boards helps visualize and organize tasks, which is particularly important in the fast-paced healthcare environment. Effective communication with team members, managers, and clients ensures that everyone understands the objectives, expectations, and dependencies. Ultimately, this leads to better time management, higher productivity, and reduced stress, fostering a more efficient and supportive healthcare team.

Adherence to PMI guidelines is key to a successful project. I highly recommend companies to have a strong PMO presence. PMP certified project managers with a servant leadership mindset collaborate with project team to build a robust project management plan aligned with cost, resources and schedule commitments needed to scope and deliver a minimum viable product (MVP). This is the secret to customer focused speed to market. If the scope is properly managed, the team will always be planning ahead and only working on important non-urgent tasks. A team that reacts to urgent tasks out of nowhere will experience project schedule delays and over budget. Apart from PMI guidelines, I recommend Greg McKeown's books, Effortless and Essentialism.

Planning and scheduling work in a realistic and flexible manner is crucial for effective project management. By carefully considering the available resources, timelines, and priorities, you can ensure that tasks are allocated efficiently and in alignment with project goals. This approach allows for better resource utilization, minimizing bottlenecks and optimizing productivity. Moreover, incorporating flexibility into the planning process enables the team to adapt to unexpected challenges or changes in circumstances. Ultimately, this approach increases the likelihood of successful project completion, as it aligns the team's efforts with the project's requirements and enables them to respond effectively to evolving needs.

Planning and all related activities are crucial for delivery, but so is communication. It's very important to get the message across to the teams, explaining clearly what is expected of them.

Delegation and collaboration will make sure that the work load is divided and that all the teams are aligned to achieve the same goals. However, leaders need to be the glue among all the conversations to make sure that both are done successfully.

Delegation and Collaboration translation: Your NETWORK is your NET WORTH! The strength and success of my organization is based on the value of our HUMAN CAPITAL! All of the technology in the world can never replace the value and capabilities of a vast and mighty community of people with unique skill sets and experiences. The winning formula call for us to think outside of the box to MAKE IT HAPPEN! Putting people in a position to shine and win is an invaluable step to meeting deadlines and smashing deliverables.

There should always be a single person who's in charge of keeping tasks on time. Delegation out is ideal but someone needs to manage the project to competition. Protip: Set up a Slack or Teams channel for quick communication that is centralized so all stakeholders helping out have visibility on issues or status. A weekly recap update is tremendously helpful and can avoid another meeting on your calendar!

It's my experience that delegation empowers your team members to take ownership of their tasks and make decisions. By trusting and supporting them, you foster a CULTURE of responsibility and accountability, encouraging them to uphold the values you advocate, in my case, sustainability and respect. How do I merge that concept with sustainable operations? I discovered, that by coordinating efforts, you can avoid duplication of work, optimize resource utilization, and collectively work towards your sustainable management and leadership goals across the organization.

One of the most overlooked actions is measuring results. People seem to naturally shy away from measuring the parameters of success because it exposes failure. Ignoring the parameters and looking away is a great way to inflate an underlying problem. We’ve all done this at some point… not look, find something else to focus on, then eventually it bites us you know where. Change the meaning of “it's not working” and “failure” to… “we've discovered ways that don't work”. It doesn’t diminish your value or worth to the business. In fact it increases it because you've gained wisdom along the way. Wouldn’t you rather know where you are in relation to outcomes so that you can recalibrate and adjust your approach?

Every time we need to tackle some challenge we need to define how we're going to act and then analyse and measure the results of what we're doing. Only by doing this can we make sure we're on the right path and adjust our actions accordingly, if necessary.

This is a crucial aspect of work culture that sadly gets pushed to the side in today's extreme-paced professional world. As a team leader, it is your responsibility to make sure your team is taking the time to separate themselves from work and disconnect from the stresses accrued there. On the same token, you as well must be able to divorce yourself from your job when needed. There's an old adage that says, "there's always another file, but never another hour" - meaning that you can easily spend all of your time obsessed with work - it will always be there - but you can never get the hours back when you shouldn't be. Make it clear to your team that you prioritize a proper work/life balance, and strive to help enforce it to thrive.

As a nurse educator, it's crucial to balance work and personal life and encourage your team to do the same. Use tools like time trackers and wellness apps, and engage in hobbies for balance. Set boundaries, communicate preferences, and practice self-care, mindfulness, and gratitude. Offer support, mentorship, and coaching to prevent burnout and enhance well-being, productivity, and creativity for yourself and your team.

With the belief that there are no mistakes, only learning experiences, you foster a growth mindset within your team and organization. This mindset encourages resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to take on challenges, knowing that growth and improvement are always possible. When you reevaluate the results of an effort, you have invaluable feedback that will contribute to your personal and professional growth, as an individual and as a team as well. We at "Infinity Growth," believe, that you can make a point to celebrate and acknowledge the learning moments that arise from challenges or setbacks. This reinforces the idea that every experience, positive or negative, contributes to the journey of improvement and growth.

Personal and professional growth should always be one of the end goals of any endeavor. By taking the time to cogitate on your completed task and reflect on it, you allow yourself to review the successes (and failures) and craft a pathway to improving. This also applies to your team as well. All members should use the opportunities presented to learn and grow, both personally and collaboratively. By making it an endcap to the team activity, you will promote a professional environment where every task can be used as an opportunity to strengthen your team so that future projects have the optimal chance of being successful.