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LO4: be able to prioritise business tasks - Coggle Diagram
LO4: be able to prioritise business tasks
reasons for prioritising business tasks
workload
means the amount of work to be done - if you have a lot of work to complete, it may be necessary to complete, it may be necessary to decide which work to complete first
importance of meeting deadlines
meeting deadlines is important to ensure the smooth running of the business or projects to satisfy stakeholders, and to maintain reputation/sales/profits
deadlines may be internal (set within the organisation) or external (set by customer or external stakeholder)
deadlines may be interim (deadlines within a project for smaller tasks) or final ( deadline for entire project
impact of missing deadlines may include loss of custom, loss of trust, adverse effect on reputation/future sales/repeat business
you need to understand that some deadlines are more important than others
conflicting demands on time
when there are a number of different tasks to be completed within a period of time, all requiring your attention, you will need to make a decision on the priority of each task
factors that influence task prioritisation
urgency of task - tasks should be dealt with according to how urgent they are
complexity of task - the more complicated a task, the more time it requires to complete; it may be more beneficial to complete the less complicated ones first
resource constraints - these could include the availability of human resources, equipment, materials or technology, if any necessary resources available, you may not be able to complete a task
suitability for delegation - can the task be done by someone else
length of time required to complete a task - shorter task may be completed first to focus on a longer task, or you may start work on a longer task first to allow enough time for it to be completed
time commitments - these may influence the order in which tasks are carried out, e.g. yo umay need to leave a task until later if you do not have sufficient time to deal with it immediately because you are working on other projects
significance of originator - how important is the stakeholder who request the task, e.g. a customer complaint or a task set by a senior manager may need to be dealt with more quickly than a request from a peer
how to use info to inform prioritisation
internal sources
business objectives - these inform the targets and can be used to help you decide which tasks are most important and need to be done to reach the ultimate business goal
stakeholders' resources and budget - these could include funding, number of employees, skill sets etc - are there enough resources to complete the task - if resources are unavailable, the task may become a lower priority
external sources
changes in the economy - includes changes in interest rates and exchange rates. interest rates determine the amount of money available in the economy and exchange rates primarily affect importers and exporters. if interest rates are forecast to increase then the priority may be to find a cheaper lender to reduce the payment costs. if sterling is forecast to decrease in value, then it may be necessary for importers to order stock from overseas as soon as possible to avoid spending more
external stakeholders requirements , feedback and availability - how important it is for a business to be seen to deal with external stakeholders such as customer demands and feedback quickly. if a particular stakeholders request is considered to be particularly important - it may be given high priority - e.g. its imperative for a supermarket to remove a product form their shelves immediately if it has been found tampered with - take priority over other tasks
data sources
numerical - internal/external data, statistics form customers satisfaction surveys, sales trends and costings can be used to inform the urgency of task
graphical - you need to be able to interpret data presented as a pie chart/graph
tabular - data presented in tables or spreadsheets
e.g. if surveys from sales trends indicate that consumers are buying less fruit juice due to high sugar content then a fruit juice producer would prioritise making an alternatives or increase marketing the health effects of drinking fruit juice
assigning priorities and identify appropriate actions to complete tasks in accordance with their priority
high priority
these are urgent tasks requiring immediate attention - e.g. dealing with foods
low priority
these are tasks which are not urgent and can be completed when other tasks are done - e.g. leaky tap
medium priority
these are tasks which are not very urgent, but need to be dealt with as soon as possible - e.g. replacing the toilet seat in a restaurant is not very urgent but it should be done as soon as possible to avoid dissatisfied customers
need to change priorities when necessary
change deadlines - this should the last resort when there are no other options - e.g. heavy snow might have delayed the delivery of a car part so the deadline for completing the repairs may have to be changed and the customer informed
delegate tasks - if you are busy with other tasks, can someone else undertake the task so that deadlines are not missed