Working efficiently in agencies – how to learn to prioritise

Prioritising is a task that accompanies all of us throughout our professional lives. Getting your priorities right is the key to working efficiently and effectively. Especially at the beginning of your career, it can be difficult to judge which tasks are more important than others. In this blog, PR consultant Sarah Krasser and junior consultant Irene Maurer give tips on what to look out for when setting priorities.

Priority 1: Don’t lose your head

It doesn’t matter whether you’re just starting out in your career or have years of experience: Prioritising is something we all have to do from day one. Especially at the beginning, it’s easy to be given lots of different tasks that you’ve either never done before or only done a few times. This makes it difficult to know which tasks need to be done first. In order to prioritise tasks, it is important to discuss them with managers and team members and ask them what is most important. Don’t worry: no one will feel harassed. On the contrary, it underlines your personal commitment and shows that you are thinking along with them. Over time, you will develop an understanding of which tasks take priority and a routine will develop.

Helpful methods

There are several ways to set priorities effectively. One good tool is the Eisenhower Matrix, which allows you to group tasks into four categories according to their urgency and importance. Another method is the simple but effective ABC analysis, which prioritises tasks according to their importance to an overall task. Tasks are divided into A, B and C priorities, with A being the highest and C the lowest. Another example is the ALPEN method, which assesses tasks according to the criteria of task length, person, benefit, urgency and sequence. This method provides a structured approach and helps to focus on the most important and urgent tasks.

Asking questions helps

Before deciding on one method or another, or even a mix of methods, it is important to analyse and test your own way of working. Depending on your individual working style, different approaches may be more appropriate and can therefore be adapted to your own needs in your daily work. You should always bear in mind that effective prioritisation is essential in order to work as efficiently as possible in a team. As a good team worker, we recommend that you always ask yourself the following question, at least at the beginning, when accepting a work assignment “What is the priority here?”

Photo (C) Unsplash / Brett Jordan