Re-Defining Urgent: An Exposé

Beth Spriggs' professional career began in information technology in 1999. As a certified PMP with over a decade of project management experience, she has combined her love for tech and project management by focusing her career on managing technology projects and portfolios. She is author of The Project Manager's Little Book of Cheats.

  Business Intelligence   Strategy   Talent Management  

Defining Urgent
Urgency, the feeling that something must be done quickly or there will be undesired consequences. Work faster, work longer, work harder. Time is of the essence. It’s important, imperative even, that we go faster and realize results. In some cases, lives are literally hanging in the balance. Hospital emergency room staff, the fire department and other emergency personnel have to be on their toes, moving with urgency and making quick and effective decisions.

If we don’t get this work done by end of week, we could lose millions of dollars from not meeting the terms of a contract. Or a law might not get passed that would benefit thousands, or tens of thousands, of children. Or worse, a law will get passed that hurts kids. We can’t let that happen.

If we don’t move quickly, bad things could happen. That’s urgency.

Re-Defining Urgent
The examples where lives are at stake are in fact urgent. But for the other 99% of us doing work where lives are not hanging in the balance, what happens when we promote a sense of urgency? Not actual urgency, but the sense of urgency? I’ve heard as a principle within project management to have a sense of urgency. Including the word “sense” implies that we already know the situation is not actually urgent. We don’t say, “Work with urgency.” We say, “Work …

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