Member-only story
5 Ways to Create a Necessary Sense of Urgency
They may sound similar, but there’s a big difference between urgency and emergency. Emergency is an after-the-fact response to an action or consequence, while urgency is a proactive state of performance that CEOs often need to create.
Urgency is often needed in times of change, which may arise for various reasons. Most often, change is needed when management tries to avoid a situation likely to result without the change. Or change may be needed in response to market demand. In either case, urgency must be communicated in order to complete the change in the shortest amount of time.
Competitive pressure is another reason urgency is needed. If a manager is unable to keep forward movement at an urgent pace, it might never be possible to be first-to-market with anything, or provide consumers with the solutions they need, when they need them.
In any case, urgency must be done correctly to be effective. When done correctly, urgency can achieve goals in a healthy way.
- Communicate clearly, effectively, and with consistency. Employees need to hear a clear, directive message on a consistent basis. They need to know what is happening, why it’s happening, the deadlines for doing their part to help the company get…
