Don’t accept the work before checking deadline and priority

Before accepting any work ask for deadline and priority. It’s a simple tip, but not always done and easily forgot.

As more jobs have blurred limits of responsibility, we find the opportunity to do more work are increasing. We don’t meet many people with not enough work to do.

So when we’re given work it is vital to check on the priority, its deadline and agree when it will be done. Because so many of us are service driven and we want to please our internal and external clients our natural reaction is to say yes. But that answer can do more harm than good as we may be over committing ourselves.

So if we can remember to ask this question it may help everyone involved. Next time you’re given a piece of work discuss the deadline and the priority.