Choose between commitments
Compare two projects against the time already booked for customers, suppliers and staff. The owner can then decide what to finish, move or stop.
Priority reviewsDecide what fits in the week.
A customer request, a staffing issue and a planned project can all need the same people. We help owners and team leaders decide what to do first, what to defer and who can make the next call.
See our advisory work
One calendar can show what the whole team has committed to.
See how a decision is recordedThree kinds of work
An owner may need to choose between projects, change an approval rule or find a way to start an agreed plan.
Decide who can approve what
Trace a purchase or customer request through the business. Identify who can make the call and what information they need before acting.
Decision rightsMake the first week practical
Take an agreed change into the next working week. Identify the first task, the person doing it and the commitment that has to make room.
Putting plans to workA closer look at the week
Select a situation to see where a review can begin.
A customer promise and a new project
Both need the same manager this week. Start by checking the customer deadline and the time the new project actually needs.
What the owner can decide
About a priority reviewKeep the customer date, move the project start, or agree a different customer date with the people affected.
A purchase keeps coming back
A manager may be able to choose a replacement but lack authority to commit to a service contract. The rule needs to distinguish those decisions.
What to agree
Recurring business decisionsSet the spending boundary and say who handles a purchase outside it.
The plan has a gap before it starts
A team cannot begin a customer follow-up if no one has decided which customers to include or where the responses will be recorded.
The first task
Putting a plan to workChoose the cases and the person responsible for recording the responses.
From the working week to an agreement
We look at a real set of commitments with the people involved. The work can end with an agreed order of priorities or include help putting the first changes into use.
- Read the current week
Look at the work already promised, who is doing it and the dates that cannot move.
- Compare the choices
Set the requests against available time. Decide what can be postponed and who needs to agree.
- Put the change to use
Write down the first action and the person responsible. Review it after the team has tried it.
WQ / 01Illustrative working note
One decision.
A useful record.
- The question
- Which commitments can this team realistically meet this month?
- The evidence
- Available time, existing work and the consequences of delay.
- The decision
- Choose what goes first. Name the work that will wait.
- The review
- Compare the plan with what happened. Change what needs changing.
A note to return to.
Illustrative order of work
- Proceed: complete the customer review already promised
- Defer: begin the proposed internal project
The existing customer commitment keeps its place. The internal project waits.
Notes for your next meeting
Write the decision before the agenda.
What needs to be decided, and who can decide it? Write those two things before adding a meeting. Bring the evidence that could change the answer.
A priority needs a trade-off.
If every commitment stays in the plan, the ranking may not change the work. Name what will wait, stop or receive less attention when something becomes a priority.
Review the assumption, too.
A plan carries assumptions about time, capacity and demand. When the result differs from the plan, check those assumptions before asking the team to work harder.
Start with the work in front of you
Tell us what is competing for time, which decision is waiting and who is involved. A short description is enough to begin.
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325 Chestnut StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19106
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