This document provides guidance on prioritizing tasks and making meetings more effective. It introduces a task priority checker that categorizes tasks as urgent/not urgent and important/not important. Tasks that are urgent but not important or not urgent but important should be considered carefully. Other factors like quality, commercial impacts, and time requirements also influence priority. The document then lists nine rules for effective meetings: start and end on time; have clear objectives and agenda; come prepared; stay engaged by avoiding phones/laptops; communicate visually; focus on solving problems; hold meetings near the problem location when possible; and avoid meetings that don't discuss, decide, or lead to action. Following these rules can make meetings more productive.

1. URGENT
BUT
NOT IMPORTANT
URGENT
AND
IMPORTANT
NOT URGENT
BUT
IMPORTANT
NOT URGENT
AND
NOT IMPORTANT
2
1
4
3
Task Priority Checker
NOTES:
Tasks classified as 2(URGENT BUT NOT IMPORTANT) or 3(NOT URGENT BUT IMPORTANT)
should be considered carefully.
In some cases, the priority of a task is influenced not just be ‘due date’.
Other Influences to consider:
- Quality (eg: By doing a task sooner enables better quality upstream).
- Commercial (eg: Doing a task sooner enables more cost saving/avoidence.)
- Time (eg: Tasks that are less ‘URGENT’ may require more time to complete.)
Reviewregularlytoensuremostappropriateclassification
Nine Rules for Fighting Endless Meetings
Meetings are typically 60 minutes long, which should be 50 minutes of actual meeting time and 10 minutes to get to the next
meeting.
Here are nine rules for fighting endless meetings:
#1 Start on time. You don't arrive 15 minutes late for a school examination. You don't arrive 15 minutes late for your flight. If you
do, you don't fly. You don't arrive 15 minutes late for a job interview. Yet once we pass the test, make the flight and get the job,
we think nothing of making others wait for meetings at work. Why?
#2 Have clear objectives. Meetings will be more productive when you start with an agenda that answers the questions: Why am
I at this meeting? Who requires that I be here? When does this meeting end? How will we know if the meeting is successful?
#3 Be prepared. Review the agenda or other background information ahead of time. Know where the meeting will be held and
how long it takes to get to and from that meeting place so you can be on time.
#4 Be engaged. This starts with turning off your cell phones and laptops! Ideally, put them all on the table where they are visible
to all. Make reaching to answer them is a visible offense. Pay $1 towards charity if you reach for your phone, unless it's an
emergency. As long as meetings are kept short, you can get back to people who call you in a reasonable amount of time. Stand
up rather than sit, it will keep you more aware.
#5 Communicate visually. Humans process more than 80% of information through their sense of sight. Psychologists say most
of communication happens through body language, then tone of voice and a smaller portion through the actual content of speech.
Give and read visual cues. Use images to tell a story and anchor your communication, rather than talking on and on about
something without structure. Avoid ‘death by PowerPoint’!
#6 Solve problems. If everything is going well, why meet? Ideally meetings should help solve problems. If there is a clear
objective and a problem to solve, the meeting can end either when the problem is solved or everyone knows what to do to start
solving the problem. Problem solving is engaging, and in that is what we are all here to do.
#7 Practice genchi gembutsu. Whenever possible hold the meetings at the location where the particular problem or issue being
discussed has occurred. This is more visual, engaging, and improves direct access to the facts. This speeds up problem
resolution by taking away opportunities for conjecture and blurring of the actual condition.
#8 End on time. You need to get to the next meeting on time.
#9 Avoid the Three Evils of Meetings
as taught by Takeshi Kawabe, former executive of Showa Manufacturing Co. and student of Taichi Ohno (the creator of Lean):
1. Meet but don’t discuss
2. Discuss but don’t decide
3. Decide but don’t do
These nine rules will develop the behaviors to support more effective meetings.

2. Task Prioritisation
PRODUCTION
SUPPORT
1
2
3
4
PROJECT
IMPLEMENTATION
SUPPORT
1
2
3
4
PROJECTS
IN
PROGRESS
1
2
3
4
ADMIN
AND
MEETINGS
1
2
3
4
URGENT
BUT
NOT
IMPORTANT
URGENT
AND
IMPORTANT
NOT URGENT
BUT
IMPORTANT
NOT URGENT
AND
NOT
IMPORTANT
2
14
3