Creating urgency where there isn’t any

Peeve of mine: why do some people create urgency where there isn’t any? If I ask you to do a task, as your program or project manager it is safe to assume I am a reasonable and thoughtful person. I am coming to you with plenty of notice to incorporate this into your everyday work cycles and expect it will be completed within reason: time, money and resources all being relevant to that reason. I wouldn’t ask you to do a task with the assumption you will drop everything and focus only on my item – as if you were standing around waiting for me to swoop in and drop this gem in your lap.

An example recently: I had a few conversations about adding a PM to a program. The hiring manager and I chatted about preferred skill sets, location, experience, etc… I conveyed that information (albeit with my filters) to a recruiter. We had settled the conversation, she asked all her questions, there wasn’t anything left to say. THEN she said “I assume this needs to be ASAP?”

My literal response: incorrect assumption, what in our conversation provided you a sense of urgency?

Her: blank face and dead air

Me: There is no urgency here; better to find the right person with the right skill set and we can wait a little while to find what we are looking for. Better question to have asked me is: “when do you need a PM in place by?” OR “which is more important to you; quick placement or quality placement?”

Her: Okay.

Really? Okay is your response to me. Well then allow me to use this blog to expand on what a peeve that is of mine. Urgency often creates drama, which can lead to misunderstandings, or mistakes, or worse, can lead to bad outcomes. Why must you leap to the assumption that faster is better? In our smart phone having, fast food eating, faster by the second lifestyles (by the way I do NOT eat fast food – literally EVER but you get the point) I guess it is the natural assumption that we want everything fast: including our work product and deliverables.

I am here to tell you; that isn’t true. Sometimes as program/project managers we provide plenty of lead time and notice for people to do good work with reasonable schedules and workloads. I don’t always want things done quickly, I want or NEED them done accurately and with extraordinary quality. If you are a creator of urgency I implore you to check yourself. To ask each and every time a work request comes in some clarifying questions on timing, urgency, and how timing relates to quality. These are important clarifications. Further, if you can do that for your personal life as well, you might find a happier healthier balance we all desire. Perhaps you are creating your own imbalance by assuming everything is urgent. Do not create urgency where there isn’t any.

Food for thought.