Management Tools

On the battlefield, medics conduct triage to quickly sort injuries according to which needs medical attention first. The purpose is to allocate scarce medical resources where they will have the biggest impact. Priority is given to patients with life threatening conditions who can be saved with immediate treatment.

Triage can be applied in business as well to set priorities, especially when you have more work than available resources.

The key is to look at all the work to be done, quickly identify and prioritize critical items that will have significant impact if not dealt with right away. These are the things that you don’t want to get lost in the pile because they can jump out and bite you.

Start by asking yourself these questions:

• Is there anything that will kill me right away if I don’t do something about it? If so, what is it, what’s the potential impact, what needs to be done now?

• Is there anything that will kill me later if I don’t do something now? What do I need to put in place now to prevent a crisis later on?

When you’re conducting triage you should also look at opportunities:

• Is there any opportunity right now that will go away if I don’t take action now?

• Is there any opportunity I can see in the future that I’ll be able to capture only if I do something now?

Especially when you’re dealing with overload, these questions can help ensure that you’re not overlooking something important. Identify the most critical items, take any immediate steps necessary to ‘stop the bleeding’, and then proceed to planning and executing the work.