You're an Engineering Manager with a ton of tasks. How do you prioritize to meet deadlines?

1 Assess the urgency and importance

The first step to prioritize your tasks is to evaluate how urgent and important they are. Urgent tasks are those that have a tight deadline or a high impact on your team, customers, or stakeholders. Important tasks are those that align with your goals, vision, or strategy. You can use a matrix to categorize your tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important, urgent but not important, important but not urgent, and neither urgent nor important. This will help you identify which tasks to do first, which to delegate, which to schedule, and which to eliminate.

2 Estimate the effort and value

The second step to prioritize your tasks is to estimate how much effort and value they require and generate. Effort is the amount of time, resources, or skills needed to complete a task. Value is the benefit, outcome, or impact of a task. You can use a scoring system to rank your tasks based on their effort and value. For example, you can assign a score from 1 to 5 for each task, where 1 means low effort or value and 5 means high effort or value. Then, you can calculate the priority score by dividing the value score by the effort score. The higher the priority score, the higher the priority of the task.

3 Review and adjust your priorities

The third step to prioritize your tasks is to review and adjust your priorities regularly. Priorities can change due to new information, feedback, requests, or issues. You need to be flexible and adaptable to respond to changing situations and expectations. You can use a tool like a Kanban board to visualize your tasks and their status. A Kanban board consists of columns that represent different stages of your workflow, such as to-do, in progress, done, or blocked. You can move your tasks across the columns as you work on them, and update their priority as needed.

4 Communicate and collaborate with your team

The fourth step to prioritize your tasks is to communicate and collaborate with your team. You can't do everything by yourself, and you need to rely on your team members to help you achieve your goals. You can use a tool like a Gantt chart to plan and track your tasks and dependencies. A Gantt chart shows the start and end dates, duration, progress, and milestones of your tasks on a timeline. You can share your Gantt chart with your team and stakeholders to keep them informed and aligned on your priorities and deadlines.

5 Balance your workload and well-being

The fifth step to prioritize your tasks is to balance your workload and well-being. You need to manage your time, energy, and stress levels effectively to avoid overwork and burnout. You can use a tool like a Pomodoro timer to break down your tasks into manageable chunks and take short breaks in between. A Pomodoro timer is a technique that divides your work into 25-minute intervals, followed by 5-minute breaks. You can also use a tool like a calendar to schedule your tasks and block your time for focused work, meetings, and personal activities.

6 Learn and improve your prioritization skills

The sixth step to prioritize your tasks is to learn and improve your prioritization skills. You can always find ways to optimize your processes, tools, and methods to prioritize your tasks more efficiently and effectively. You can use a tool like a retrospective to reflect on your successes, challenges, and lessons learned from your projects and tasks. A retrospective is a meeting that allows you and your team to review your performance, identify what went well, what didn't go well, and what can be improved for the future.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?