You’re managing a project with conflicting priorities. How can you ensure you meet all your goals?

2 Prioritize your tasks

Once you have your objectives and scope defined, you need to break down your project into manageable tasks and activities. You can use tools such as a work breakdown structure or a Gantt chart to organize and schedule your tasks. However, not all tasks are equally important or urgent. Some may have dependencies, risks, or impacts on other tasks or stakeholders. You need to prioritize your tasks based on their value, difficulty, and deadline. You can use methods such as the Eisenhower matrix or the MoSCoW technique to help you categorize and rank your tasks.

3 Manage your resources

Another challenge of managing conflicting priorities is to allocate and optimize your resources, such as time, money, materials, equipment, and personnel. You need to estimate how much and what kind of resources you need for each task and how they affect your budget and schedule. You also need to monitor and control your resource usage and availability throughout the project. You can use tools such as a resource breakdown structure or a resource histogram to help you plan and track your resources.

4 Communicate effectively

Communication is key to managing conflicting priorities, as it helps you coordinate your actions, resolve issues, and update your progress. You need to communicate frequently and clearly with your team, clients, sponsors, and other stakeholders. You need to establish a communication plan that defines the purpose, frequency, mode, and audience of your communication. You also need to use appropriate communication styles and techniques, such as active listening, feedback, and conflict resolution, to build trust and rapport.

5 Adapt to changes

Finally, you need to be flexible and adaptable to changes that may arise during your project. Conflicting priorities may change over time due to new information, feedback, risks, or opportunities. You need to be able to assess and respond to these changes in a timely and effective manner. You need to use tools such as a change request form or a change log to document and approve any changes that affect your objectives, scope, tasks, or resources. You also need to update your plans, schedules, and budgets accordingly and communicate the changes to your stakeholders.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?