Fire Drill! (jk)

Happy Monday, Sisters!

Today we’re chatting about one of my least favorite types of corporate cultures. The “fire drill” culture. 

Everything is urgent, and everything is a priority. Just when you feel caught up, some new “emergency” hits your inbox. You can’t plan ahead or get ahead, because you’re spending every second of the day just trying to complete the MANY urgent tasks you already have. Sound familiar?

I used to work for a company (in the marketing department) where we would frequently get requests from the top-level leaders along the lines of “we need to promote XYZ product NOW.” The social team would scramble to throw something together, the email guy would stay late to write new copy and change up the schedule, and the advertising team would throw money at campaigns that hadn’t been fully thought through.

And this was after the team had spent time and effort creating a strategic marketing plan, and presented it to said “top-level leaders.” And they approved it. 

You see the frustration!

One (or all) of several things is happening here: 

Maybe the middle-level managers are too scared to push back against the top and say “what about our strategic plan that you approved? We’re confident that is the best path forward.” 

Maybe leadership doesn’t truly understand how full everyone’s plates are, or how much effort their “requests” take to complete. 

Or maybe the company is addicted to the adrenaline rush of constant urgency, or feels like people aren’t being productive if they aren’t being pushed by deadlines. 

Whatever the cause, it can be incredibly stressful and draining. So here are a few ways you can deal with it:

Ask: is this really on fire? Sometimes just probing deeper when you’re given an assignment can reveal that it’s not actually an emergency. If someone gives you a deadline on a request, it’s generally appropriate to ask if that’s an immoveable deadline and let them know you’d prefer a little longer to be able to give the project the time and attention it deserves. You’d be surprised at how frequently people will say “Oh, absolutely! I just picked a deadline out of thin air!” 

You can also ask for clarification on which projects are highest priority. If your boss keeps throwing urgent tasks at you, ask them which should be top of your list. Respectfully let them know that if you prioritize this newest request, you likely won’t be able to hit the deadline of some of your other projects. If they come back with “they’re all top priority,” then you have a bad boss. Or THEY have a bad boss. Someone in your chain of command is a bad leader.

Over communicating about the “urgent” tasks you’re juggling can be very helpful as well. Letting people know that you’re juggling six fires can allow someone to step in and take something off your plate, or can prompt someone to admit that their deadline didn’t need to be so aggressive. 

Please also remember to step back and take breaks. Sometime we can be our own worst enemy, and work ourselves up into thinking things are more urgent than they actually are. Take a 10 minute walk (touch grass, as the kids say) and gain some perspective on things. 

I sometimes catch myself getting more worked up than I need to be, but then I remind myself that I don’t, in fact, work in an ER.

I hope everyone has a non-fire-drill-y week! Remember, you can either kick this week’s ass, or let it kick yours!