TABLE OF CONTENTS What makes something a priority? What are the different types of priority?
2 mins
What is meant when something is described as 'high priority?'
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When you hear the phrase 'high priority' or 'top priority' mentioned, it may mean that the task or required action:
is very urgent and must be dealt with immediately;
is very important and should be given a great deal of attention and thought;
is both urgent and important: it must be done immediately and done well;
takes precedence over everything else.
Check that your answer is along the lines of one of these.
You will notice that we used the words 'urgent' and 'important' in our answer. Let's now think about the difference between these two words.
3 mins
What do these words mean? Write down your own definitions of the two words:
Something is urgent when ________________________________________
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Something is important when _____________________________________
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These words are often confused, even though they mean quite different things.
Something is urgent when it demands immediate attention.
We can talk about things being more urgent or less urgent. When a job has to be done by a certain time, it becomes more urgent as the deadline draws near.
An urgent matter becomes more urgent as time passes.
Suppose Hensa, a first line manager, has two tasks:
to summarize the weekly timesheets of her workteam members, so that her manager can look at...
