If you find yourself in a situation where you are constantly prioritising and choosing between various projects and initiatives at work, it might be a good idea to step back and analyse which initiatives are worth continuing and which should be stopped. This article is a quick 10 minute read on how to deal with initiative overload.
1) As a strategist it is important to understand that eliminating tasks/initiatives that no longer support the strategy is very important. Productivity, engagement, performance, and retention can suffer because of initiative overload.
2) Seven causes of initiative overload have been identified in this article: Impact blindness, multiplier effects, political logrolling, unfunded mandates, cost myopia, and inertia. Understanding these causes can help leaders diagnose the risk in their organisation and make smarter decisions about what to keep and what to kill.
3) Prioritizing by function or department, establishing overall priorities without deciding what to cut, and making across the board initiative cuts are some of the strategies that leaders use to deal with initiative overload. However, these strategies either have no impact or make the problem worse.
4) The article provides a step-by-step process that can help guide you and your company while making choices. It involves processes like analysing the project, analysing resources, sizing up stakeholder support and setting limits.
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