Priority Management

29/10/2026

One of the most useful communication skills at work is knowing when to ask another question instead of making another point.

Think about the last time a meeting became difficult.

Perhaps two people disagreed about the best approach. Maybe a project was falling behind, or a colleague wasn't responding to feedback as expected.

It's easy to focus on getting your own point across, but sometimes the conversation moves forward only when someone takes the time to understand what's behind the disagreement.

Try these questions instead:
- “What's the main concern from your perspective?”
- “What information might we be missing?”
- “What would a workable solution look like for both sides?”
- “What do we need to agree before we move forward?”

These questions don't guarantee agreement. They do help uncover assumptions, clarify what's important to each person and make it easier to explore options.

Influencing isn't about having the strongest argument in the room. It's about understanding the situation well enough to help people reach a useful outcome.

What's a question that has helped you navigate a difficult conversation at work?

27/10/2026

If your team can't explain how their work contributes to the organisation's priorities, your strategy may not be reaching them.

Many organizations invest considerable time developing strategic plans. The challenge is turning those plans into decisions people make every day.

A team may know that growth is a priority, but what does that mean when deciding which customer requests to prioritize, which projects deserve resources or which activities should stop?

The connection between strategy and ex*****on needs to be clear. Try this in your next team meeting:
1. Pick one organizational priority.
2. Ask what success would look like for your team in 12 months.
3. Agree on one measurable result and the actions needed to achieve it.
4. Clarify who owns each action and when you'll review progress.

This helps people see the bigger picture and understand how their decisions contribute to it.

A strategy isn't just a document for senior leaders. It should help people across the organization decide what matters, what comes next and where to focus their effort.

How do you connect your organization's strategy to your team's everyday priorities?

*****on

22/10/2026

When someone on your team brings you a problem, how quickly do you give them the answer?

It's tempting to jump straight into solution mode. You can see what needs to happen, and giving an answer feels quicker than working through the problem together.

But if you solve every problem for your team, you can unintentionally create a dependency on you.

Next time, try asking three questions before offering advice:
- “What have you considered so far?”
- “What options do you see?”
- “What would you recommend, and why?”

You may still need to give direction, particularly when the stakes are high or someone is learning a new task, but asking questions first gives people an opportunity to think, build confidence and take ownership.

Over time, that can mean fewer problems landing on your desk and more capable people making decisions independently.

Coaching doesn't mean leaving people to figure everything out alone. It means helping them develop the judgement to handle more themselves.

If you are looking to improve your Coaching skills, check out our Priority Coaching program here > https://www.prioritymanagement.com/priority-coaching

What's one question a manager has asked you that helped you find your own answer?

Learn how to help staff and colleagues optimize and enhance their priority and business skills training by providing a motivational environment, setting expectations, and lending support.

20/10/2026

A full calendar isn't proof that you're working on the right priorities. Here's a quick exercise to try before your next working week.

You can spend an entire day answering emails, attending meetings and dealing with requests, then reach the end of it wondering what you've actually moved forward.

It's a common problem for managers, especially when everyone else's priorities seem to arrive as urgent requests.

Look at your calendar and identify:

1. What moved an important outcome forward? Not just what you completed, but what made a difference.
2. What could have been shorter, delegated or skipped?
3. What important work keeps getting postponed because something more urgent appears?

Choose one high-value task and protect time for it before the week fills up.

You don't need to overhaul your entire schedule. Start by making room for one thing that matters.

At Priority Management, we support Fortune 500 organizations by showing them that productivity isn't about squeezing more into every hour, it's about making sure time reflects priorities.

To learn more about our Time and Workload Management programs, visit https://www.prioritymanagement.com/time-and-workload-management

💬 What's the biggest thing competing for your attention at work right now?



Read more about our suite of WorkingSm@rt programs for time and workload management.

15/10/2026

Being good at your job and being good at leading people are two different skill sets.

When someone is promoted into management, it's often because they were a strong individual contributor.

They knew the work, solved problems quickly and could be relied upon to deliver.

Then the promotion happens, and suddenly success depends on something different: helping other people do their best work. What exactly does that mean? It means:

- delegating instead of taking over
- coaching instead of immediately giving the answer
- setting expectations, giving feedback and making time for conversations that don't always feel urgent

The tricky part is that Managers are often expected to learn these skills while keeping their previous workload.

If you're developing new managers, try asking them one question:

- “What are you still doing yourself that someone on your team could learn to do?”

It can be the starting point for a conversation about delegation, capability and where their time would be better spent.

Promoting people into leadership is only the first step. Giving them the skills to succeed is what comes next, and this is where Priority Management can support you.

Check out our Leadership Skills programs and contact us to discuss the best journey for your leaders > https://www.prioritymanagement.com/leadership-skills

Read more about our leadership & management skills training programs, for new leaders, seasoned veterans and remote leaders.

13/10/2026

AI is helping people get work done, but are we getting valuable work?

AI tools are helping employees draft emails, summarize meetings, analyse information and complete routine tasks faster.

That's useful, but faster task completion doesn't automatically translate into better organizational performance.

If an employee saves an hour drafting a report, but spends that hour in another meeting that could have been an email, what has really improved?

The opportunity is to rethink how work gets done, not simply add AI to existing processes.

At Priority Management, we believe AI adoption should start by establishing how we can use it to solve a work problem and use The WorkingSm@rt Method to support it.

Here are three questions worth asking in your organization:

1. Which repetitive tasks could AI help us simplify or eliminate?
2. Where would people’s time make the greatest difference if they got some of it back?
3. How will we measure whether the change has improved quality, outcomes or customer experience?

💬 Where is AI making a measurable difference in your team's work today? Let us know if the comments!

To find out more about how your Organization can implement The WorkingSm@rt Method to AI, check our programs here: https://www.prioritymanagement.com/workingsmart-using-ai

Priority Management’s newest series of workshops helps professionals harness the power of AI and Microsoft Copilot to streamline work, boost productivity, and stay competitive. Choose from three targeted programs tailored to your organization's unique needs.

08/10/2026

What happens when you give AI to people without a better way of working?

They can work faster, but faster isn’t necessarily more productive. If people are still:
📧 Reacting to every email
📅 Filling their calendars without protecting priorities
💬 Losing actions in Teams conversations
🤝 Leaving meetings without clear ownership
📋 Managing tasks across multiple places

Copilot can make some of these activities quicker but it doesn’t create the system nor the structure for managing them.

The WorkingSm@rt® Method is The Missing Link that gives people a consistent, practical approach to managing their time, tasks, communications, meetings and priorities across Microsoft 365 tools.

Once those foundations are in place, Copilot becomes a productivity accelerator rather than another tool to learn.

That’s how we help Organizations leverage AI, by using better ways to work.

Learn more about how our WorkingSm@rt using AI programs can support your Organization: https://www.prioritymanagement.com/workingsmart-using-ai

07/10/2026

Being promoted into leadership doesn't come with an instruction manual.

One day you're responsible for getting your own work done and the next, you're responsible for helping other people succeed - that requires a totally different set of skills...

→ How do you delegate without micromanaging?
→ How do you build trust and credibility?
→ How do you give feedback?
→ How do you develop your team?
→ How do you handle difficult conversations?
→ How do you create enough space to actually lead?

Our FREE 1-hour Emerging Leaders webinar explores the practical skills and mindset behind this transition.

You'll get a preview of how our Emerging Leaders program helps participants develop:
✔ Leadership confidence
✔ Stronger communication
✔ Trust and credibility
✔ Effective delegation
✔ Coaching and development skills
✔ Strategies for navigating challenging situations
✔ A practical roadmap for continued growth

Ready to make the shift from doing the work to leading others?

📅 October 14th 2026
⏰ 1100-1200 ET
🎟️ Register here: 733c1342-2122-4c43-b476-91400e336ddd@5d48e3e6-c55c-47e0-83b4-017de8b900ca" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/733c1342-2122-4c43-b476-91400e336ddd@5d48e3e6-c55c-47e0-83b4-017de8b900ca

To learn more about our new Emerging Leaders program, visit https://www.prioritymanagement.com/emerging-leaders

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

06/10/2026

Microsoft Copilot is powerful. But is something missing?

Copilot can summarize your emails, draft your responses, capture meeting actions, help create documents, analyze data.

But there’s one thing Copilot can’t do for you: Decide how you should work.

If your inbox controls your priorities, your meetings have no clear purpose and your tasks aren’t organized, AI can simply help you do more of the same.

That’s why The WorkingSm@rt® Method is The Missing Link to Copilot.

The WorkingSm@rt Method provides practical ways of working to help people:
→ Prioritize what matters
→ Plan and protect their time
→ Manage commitments and expectations
→ Keep tasks visible and moving
→ Delegate with clear ownership
→ Make meetings more purposeful

Then Copilot can do what it does best: speed up the work.

The real opportunity isn’t just using AI. It’s finding A Better Way to Work with it.

Learn more about how our WorkingSm@rt using AI programs can support your Organization: https://www.prioritymanagement.com/workingsmart-using-ai

Priority Management’s newest series of workshops helps professionals harness the power of AI and Microsoft Copilot to streamline work, boost productivity, and stay competitive. Choose from three targeted programs tailored to your organization's unique needs.

01/10/2026

What if working smarter sometimes means letting go, starting small, or even putting something off?

This month’s LearningLink explores three ideas that challenge some of our usual assumptions about productivity:

🎯 How much control do we really have?
- A look at the power of surrender in leadership and why trying to control everything may actually get in the way.

🧠 Why isn’t knowing enough?
- Small, repeatable habits can be the difference between understanding a better way of working and actually changing how we work.

💭 Could procrastination sometimes be productive?
- Giving an idea space to develop can sometimes lead to better thinking, particularly when creativity and problem-solving are involved.

Sometimes better productivity isn't about pushing harder or doing more but knowing what to control, what to change, and when to give yourself space to think.

Check out this month’s LearningLink for some ideas to get you thinking!

https://www.prioritymanagement.com/learninglink