2.4.1: Reasons for Prioritising Business Tasks

• Staff need to prioritise tasks due to conflicting demands of time, workload and deadlines
• Workload will influence prioritisation as staff need to ensure they can complete all tasks they are given.
• Conflicting demands of time can influence prioritisation as staff may be in a situation where they have multiple tasks that need completing at the same time.
• Meeting deadlines is crucial when prioritising tasks as there are different types of deadlines depending on whether it is internal or external, or interim or final.
• Internal deadlines are deadlines set by someone within the business. External deadlines are deadlines set by someone outside the business.
• Interim deadlines are deadline for a certain area of a task to be completed which ensure that the final deadlines are met on time. Final deadlines set a date for when a task needs to be completed by.
• Missing deadlines can have a large impact on a business, such as:

  • Looking unprofessional
  • Damaged business reputation
  • Loss of sales