You have a list of deadlines to prioritize. What’s the best way to tackle them?
When you run an e-commerce business, you have to juggle multiple tasks and deadlines. From product launches to marketing campaigns, from inventory management to customer service, you need to keep track of everything and deliver on time. But how do you prioritize your deadlines and avoid stress, burnout, and missed opportunities? Here are some tips to help you tackle your deadlines effectively.
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Sergii TriznaCTO | Outdoor and Technology enthusiast
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Idaira Domínguez SosaCMO | Marketing & Sales Director | Top Voice LinkedIn Digital Strategy & Marketing Management | Digital Marketing |…
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Ishneet KaurHelping startups and SME owners build e-commerce business in 90 days without money and resource wastage | Achieved 100%…
The first step is to assess your deadlines and determine which ones are urgent, important, flexible, or optional. Urgent deadlines are those that have a hard and fast due date and cannot be postponed or rescheduled. Important deadlines are those that have a significant impact on your business goals and performance. Flexible deadlines are those that can be adjusted or negotiated without compromising quality or results. Optional deadlines are those that are nice to have but not essential for your success. You can use a matrix or a tool like Trello to categorize your deadlines and visualize your priorities.
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Prioritization is the key and one can view at the urgency from a number of perspectives - If something broke and needs to be fixed and is impacting business Eg: checkout is not working on website. This is definitely urgent -Planning of Black Friday which is not so far, so that sales are not impacted falls under important - Adding a good to have feature on the website will be flexible So depending on the nature of the task, timeline and its impact, one can categorize them.
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When you have a list of deadlines to prioritize, the best way to tackle them is to evaluate each deadline carefully and determine its relative importance and urgency. Start by ranking the deadlines based on their due date and the consequence of not meeting them. Then, consider the complexity and time required to complete each task. Prioritize the deadlines that have a significant impact on your business's short-term and long-term goals or that have adverse consequences if missed. Additionally, break tasks down into smaller steps and set interim deadlines to ensure you are making progress toward your goals. Stay flexible and be prepared to adjust your priority list as needed as new deadlines arise or circumstances change.
The next step is to estimate how much effort each deadline requires and how much time you have available. Effort is the amount of work, energy, and resources you need to complete a task. Time is the duration, frequency, and schedule you have to work on a task. You can use a scale or a tool like Asana to rate your effort and time for each deadline and compare them. This will help you identify which deadlines are easy, hard, challenging, or unrealistic.
The third step is to plan your action and create a realistic and achievable timeline for your deadlines. You can use a calendar or a tool like Google Calendar to map out your deadlines and assign them to specific dates and times. You should also break down your deadlines into smaller and manageable tasks and set milestones and checkpoints along the way. This will help you track your progress and adjust your plan if needed.
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I'd start by assesing urgency and impact. Determine which deadlines are time-sensitive and which have the largest potential impact on business goals. Focus on projects that drive revenue or significantly improve brand visibility. Then, rely on your team, identify tasks that can be effectively delegated to team members, freeing up your time for critical, high-level decisions. Make sure everyone understands the overall priorities and their role in meeting deadlines. Finally, create a visual timeline, there are plenty of apps of project management such as Asana, Trello...
The fourth step is to delegate or outsource some of your deadlines if you can. Delegating is assigning some of your tasks to someone else who has the skills, knowledge, and authority to do them. Outsourcing is hiring someone outside your business to do some of your tasks for a fee. You can use a platform or a tool like Fiverr or Upwork to find freelancers or agencies who can help you with your deadlines. This will help you free up some of your time and focus on your core competencies.
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Delegation is beneficial as it distributes workload efficiently, allowing individuals to focus on core responsibilities. It facilitates skill utilization by assigning tasks to those with the necessary expertise, promoting quality execution and team development. Additionally, it aids in effective time management and fosters a positive team environment, ultimately contributing to successful project execution and organizational effectiveness.
The fifth step is to communicate and collaborate with your team, partners, and customers about your deadlines. Communication is sharing information, expectations, and feedback about your tasks and goals. Collaboration is working together, coordinating, and supporting each other to achieve your tasks and goals. You can use a tool or a platform like Slack or Zoom to communicate and collaborate with your stakeholders. This will help you build trust, rapport, and alignment with your deadlines.
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No one can do it all alone. Hence the need for collaboration. In my view the following works: -It is important to ensure a safe and trusting work environment where team can share ideas without fear - Fail fast and learn fast attitude - Attaching the team to the goal so that they see the impact of their work. This way everyone goes above and beyond to achieve results
The sixth step is to review and improve your deadline management process and results. Reviewing is evaluating your performance, outcomes, and feedback for each deadline. Improving is identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for each deadline and making changes accordingly. You can use a tool or a framework like SWOT or SMART to review and improve your deadlines. This will help you learn from your experience, celebrate your achievements, and avoid repeating your mistakes.
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First, I would evaluate the risks and consequences of missing each deadline and prioritize it as follows: - Does this affect my reputation (or my clients')? If so - TOP 1. - Does this affect fulfilling my obligations (given promises or contract clauses)? If so - TOP 2. - Does this affect achieving my goals? If so - TOP 3. - Does this affect losing resources? (employees, time, money, energy)? If so - TOP 4. - Does this affect the motivation of the people involved? If so - TOP 5. Now you have a clear picture of the priorities and can tackle them following the advice above.
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First finish the really small tasks that take less time than the prioritization exercise. Next check for the deadlines where you or your team are the most qualified to finish these tasks successfully. For the other tasks give them to a TPM or other lead so that they can find the appropriate owner. For the work that you are the most qualified for pick the top three tasks, evaluate the deadlines for these and readjust expectations if needed. Put the rest in the backlog and have an honest discussion with the stakeholders involved. Next see how you can adjust your planning strategy for the future.
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