How to manage Unplanned and Sudden Tasks in 6 Steps like a Master?

Successful people, as well as successful organizations, seek to plan the tasks they must perform to achieve the goals, they have long, medium, and short-term plans, in addition to an accurate daily agenda for daily tasks. Despite this, the reality of the business environment is characterized by rapid change, uncertainty, and the occurrence of unpredicted changes at all levels, whether political, economic, social, legal, environmental, technological, or the conditions of the pandemic. This may bring urgent, unexpected and unplanned tasks; however, it is of paramount importance, and you have to complete them in a very limited time frame, which may not be enough. Doing that task could lead to an opportunity or solving a problem.

So, what should you do when you have an unexpected task?

1. Think before you act.

First, think about the purpose of the task and classify it to determine its importance and urgency. The following chart can be used to break down sudden tasks and determine which task you should get done right away:

In fact, not all unplanned tasks are of equal importance and urgency. The importance and urgency of a task are determined by a number of the following factors:

• The reason behind the task.
• The impact that the task will create.
• The beneficiaries of completing the task.

2. It is the time to go for an extra mile.

This is the next stage after the process of determining the importance and urgency of the task, then deciding to postpone your agenda and put that extraneous task at the top of your priorities. An urgent plan must be drawn up to implement that task, however, the following questions must first be answered before starting:

• How much time do (I / we) have?
• What are the required resources to finish the task?
• Is there any additional information required?
• Do (I / We) need additional help?

3. Delay or delegate the pre-planned less important tasks.

You must decide what to do with the other tasks that you have to finish, as it was postponed in favor of that urgent task that you decided to give priority, so you must take into account what will be done regarding the postponed tasks, especially if the urgent task requires a long time that may exceed working hours.

Here are some tips that can be taken in this regard:

• Rearrange your agenda and postpone the unimportant ones.
• Ask your senior, manager, team leader or a colleague to carry out some of your tasks or to redistribute them.
• Inform your seniors and colleagues about your situation and what you are working on.

4. Make an action plan.

Divide the task into a set of specific objectives to help you follow up on what has been accomplished and to increase focus and reduce errors, especially as it is an urgent task and there may not be enough time to review and modify.

Here’s an example of an action plan regarding an unplanned task of providing a full report on the situation of the human resources within an organization.

5. Focus on the new task.

Your new task is now your main focus, and because of it you have postponed every other task or transferred it to someone else. It is important to give it full attention and not let anything disturb you such as another task or a colleague asking for help in another issue (only do that if it won’t affect your main course and time frame).

6. Turn the challenge to an opportunity:

Unplanned tasks are likely to happen with the rapid change and the diversity of variables surrounding the work environment. It is a great challenge facing employees in all organizations.

Despite that, it is a great opportunity for the employees to test their true abilities in dealing with problems and emergencies, as well as to prove their worth with the organization.  In addition, it will create a positive impact when considering the bonuses, incentives or promotions.

How to master handling unplanned tasks?

Here are a set of tips and ideas that can be taken into account to be ready and able to carry out surprising tasks:

• Accept the fact that not everything goes according to the plan, there are variables that occur from time to time, while the quality of the plan lies in its flexibility.
• You must be flexible enough to react to the problem or new task and not prolong the time of the shock. Rather, you must get out of that state as soon as possible and start working.
• Consider the time frame you are working through then organize the work with effective time management and efficient prioritization of objectives and deliver your task on time.
• Practice making contingency plans by always being proactive and asking (what if?).
• Knowledge is power and information is the source of this power, Therefore, you must collect all the information related to your work directly or indirectly and constantly renew it, as well as record and save it in a format that is easy to access and use when needed.
• After completing the task and handing it over, sufficient time must be allocated to assess the situation, determine the reasons that led to the need to complete this sudden work, and take adequate measures to reduce the occurrence of this again.
• Be calm regardless of the size of the work or the problem, calm in these cases is the best dealing tactic, as it enables you to make the right decisions and deal wisely with the situation, especially when you react with your manager who assigned you the task.

*Learn more about planning here: All You Need to Know About Planning – YouTube

*Are you planning for a startup? here’s how: The Best 5 Planning Strategies for Startups – SKILLTECS