You’re a middle manager in a small manufacturing plant. Today is Monday, and you’ve just returned from a week’s vacation. The first thing you discover is that your assistant won’t be in today (his aunt died, and he’s out of town at the funeral). He did, however, leave you the following note:

Dear Boss: 

Sorry about not being here today. I will be back tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some things you need to know:

Ms. Glinski [your boss] wants to see you today at 4:00. The shop steward wants to see you as soon as possible about a labor problem. 

Mr. Bateman [one of your big customers] has a complaint about a recent shipment.

Ms. Garcia [one of your major suppliers] wants to discuss a change in delivery schedules 

Mr. Prescott from the Chamber of Commerce wants you to attend a breakfast meeting on Wednesday to discuss our expansion plans.

The legal office wants to discuss our upcoming OSHA inspection 

Human resources wants to know when you can interview someone for the new supervisor’s position. 

Jack Williams, the machinist you fired last month, has been hanging around the parking lot, and his presence is making some employees uncomfortable.

 

Exercise Task 

Review the preceding information and then do the following: 

1. Prioritize the work that needs to be done by sorting the information into three categories: very timely, moderately timely, and less timely. Then address the following questions. 

a. Are importance and timeliness the same thing? 

b. What additional information do you need before you can begin to prioritize all of these demands on your time? 

c. How would your approach differ if your assistant were in the office?