Managing Chaos: Tools to Set Priorities and Make Decisions Under Pressure

Welcome to chaos, which is really just another name for the environment most of us work in every day. This seminar delivers proven strategies for managing that chaos and limiting its negative impact on your work and wellbeing. You will learn how to harness the energy of a dynamic, constantly shifting workplace rather than feeling overwhelmed by it. Through practical tools and structured exercises, you will rethink your approach to chaotic conditions and develop the capacity to leverage available resources when difficult situations arise. You will gain direct, hands-on experience with frameworks for setting priorities and adapting to shifting demands with greater clarity and composure. You will also practice analytical and problem-solving techniques and learn to communicate your decisions strategically. You will leave this seminar with the confidence and skills to apply the right approach in any situation, whether that means clarifying, reducing, or eliminating the chaos within your control, or managing your reactions to the chaos that lies beyond it.

How You Will Benefit:

• Identify the positive opportunities that can emerge from chaotic environments
• Clarify and leverage, or eliminate, the chaos you can control
• Set clear, defensible priorities across all of your activities
• Maintain focus and act decisively when priorities shift
• Apply problem-solving tools to select the best course of action
• Handle interruptions and conflicts with greater ease and composure
• Communicate your needs and constraints strategically

Learning Objectives:

• Define and isolate the aspects of chaos within your control
• Make decisions based on a multi-dimensional analysis of the situation
• Sequence tasks based on both importance and urgency
• Practice assertive communication when priorities shift or conflict
• Identify one or two tools most applicable to your specific situation

Lesson One

Welcome to Chaos:

• Identify the organizational challenges that affect both managers and employees
• Pinpoint the sources of chaos that can be reduced, clarified, or eliminated

Problem Solving:

• Generate multiple creative solutions quickly
• Identify the root causes of a problem or issue
• Organize a large set of ideas into natural groupings to better understand a challenge
• Select the right tool to address a case study scenario

Lesson Two

Priority Planning and Decision Making:

• Analyze four dimensions of a situation to determine priorities
• Identify how to close the gap between the current problem and the desired outcome
• Evaluate risk using three focused questions
• Use the Priority Matrix to guide your decision-making

Lesson Three

Planning Daily Work:

• Build a daily plan focused on your highest-priority activities
• Accurately estimate how long tasks actually take
• Distinguish between necessary and unnecessary interruptions

Communication Skills for Managing Chaos:

• Define assertive and strategic communication
• Respond assertively when priorities shift or conflict
• Develop an "I" statement for use in difficult or provocative situations
• Complete critical tasks despite ongoing changes, interruptions, and competing demands

Lesson Four

Communication Skills for Managing Chaos (continued):

• Continue practicing assertive and strategic communication
• Build and apply "I" statements in additional scenarios
• Reinforce your ability to complete tasks through chaos, change, and competing interruptions