In his best-selling book, A Sense of Urgency, John Kotter argued that without that crucial element, all transformation efforts are doomed to fail. That should get any IT or business leader’s attention given today’s ambitious digital transformation goals.
As a leader, you know that urgency and drive are critical for achieving goals and pushing performance. However, taken too far, urgency can become overwhelming and create unnecessary stress. The key is fostering focused intensity without burning out your team.
Here are 7 tactics to inspire a sense of urgency and momentum while still respecting work-life balance:
1. Lead by Example
Actions speak louder than words When you consistently model diligence, determination, and drive, your team will follow suit Come to work energized, tackle high-priority projects proactively, and put in extra effort when needed to meet deadlines. Don’t ask more of your team than you deliver yourself.
At the same time vocalize the importance of family time, self-care and recharging. Be transparent about leaving early for a kid’s school play or taking a mental health day off. Setting an example of balanced urgency will motivate your team more than demanding overtime.
2. Establish Shared Values
Bring the team together to co-create core values centered on excellence, quality, customer dedication, and achievement. When urgency comes from shared purpose rather than top-down orders, people respond with passion and commitment instead of resentment.
Define what success looks like collectively. Allow the team autonomy in how they deliver urgent work, as long as it aligns with your shared standards.
3. Define Your Purpose
Ensure everyone understands the “why” behind urgent priorities. Explain how specific projects and deadlines tie directly to customer needs, company growth objectives, or market positioning.
When people see purpose behind the urgency, they engage more meaningfully. Remind them regularly how their effort drives outcomes that matter.
4. Distinguish Real vs. False Urgency
Some managers default to proclaiming everything is urgent to light a fire under their team. This fatigue sets in, diluted focus, and burnout.
Before declaring something urgent, evaluate whether it truly requires an intense sprint or flexible timing would suffice. Be judicious in using the “urgent” label only when the impact is substantial.
Also push back on unrealistic stakeholder demands that create unnecessary urgency at the expense of quality. Don’t let false urgency drown out what’s truly important.
5. Take Initiative
Don’t just stand over your team, commanding they work urgently. Roll up your sleeves and dive into urgent projects yourself.
Even when you don’t formally own a deliverable, look for ways to lend your skills and support. This demonstrates your shared commitment and empathy.
Jumping into problem-solve and brainstorm takes pressure off individuals feeling overwhelmed alone.
6. Keep Calm
In tense, demanding situations when urgency reaches a fever pitch, keep cool. Don’t panic or convey stress.
Your steadiness will provide reassurance and focus for people who get flustered. Address missteps dispassionately without casting blame.
Cultivate a team culture of resilience. Remind everyone mistakes are learnable moments, not cause for punishment. Level-headed leadership reduces anxiety so your team can perform under pressure.
7. Establish Milestones
Rather than one giant deadline looming, set incremental markers for urgent projects. Divide intimidating initiatives into smaller chunks with distinct deliverables and dates.
Celebrate regular micro-wins. This allows urgency to ebb and flow, preventing prolonged crunch times that spark burnout. Check in frequently to realign if initial time estimates prove too ambitious.
Make stretch goals feel reachable through deliberately planned steps. Milestones provide structure while offering flexibility when needs shift.
Bonus: Empower Breaks
Interweave intensive work periods with sanctioned breaks for people to wholly unplug without guilt. Mandating full days off between long nights or weekend work. After an urgent product launch, schedule team events to reconnect and recharge.
Build slack into normally hectic schedules and redistribute workloads to allow breathing room. Empower people to take real vacations completely off the grid.
Urgency resonates most when people know recovery time is guaranteed on the tail end. Disconnected rest restores peak motivation and performance long-term.
Outcomes of Balanced Urgency
With the right balance, urgency delivers huge benefits:
- Laser-focused priorities that eliminate distractions
- Full team engagement toward shared goals
- Proactive ownership and accountability
- Creative problem-solving and breakthrough innovation
- Ability to move at the speed of opportunity
- Accomplishment, meaning and fulfillment from excellent work
But without balance, urgency causes:
- Workplace stress, anxiety and exhaustion
- Lower quality outputs with excessive errors
- Disengaged team members resentful of demands
- Lack of collaboration and helpfulness
- Difficulty sustaining effort over the long-term
By establishing clarity of purpose, modeling self-care, dividing work into manageable steps, and empowering renewal, leaders can cultivate productive urgency that energizes rather than burns out their team.
With the right urgency balance, teams maintain their drive, enthusiasm, and exceptional performance over the long haul. An energized yet realistic sense of possibility keeps them continually reaching higher without losing steam.
Final Thoughts
Done right, urgency produces the intensity, focus, and determination needed to accomplish great things. Handled poorly, it is a fast track to frustration and fatigue. As a leader, honestly examine whether declared urgency is authentic or manufactured.
Coach your team to work passionately but pace themselves for the long game. Set an example of driving hard yet recharging. Infuse work with purpose beyond tasks. Through moderated urgency, your empowered team will make a powerful impact without paying an unsustainable personal price.
Educate everyone on the rationale for urgency
One of the most important steps in fostering a sense of urgency in the IT organization also can serve to keep potential disquiet at bay. “Ensure executives and teams understand why urgency is so important for the initiative,” advises Rob Llewellyn, founder of CXO Transform, which offers a digital transformation framework. People need to know that you’re not just asking them to run faster for the sake of running faster.
People need to know that you’re not just asking them to run faster for the sake of running faster, but what the outcomes are that urgency is designed to achieve. Just as importantly, IT leaders should make it clear what the business consequences of delay are, Llewellyn says.
“Talk about the vision and benefits of making forward progress,” says Mindy Bostick, global people and change lead at North Highland Worldwide Consulting, who works closely with CIOs and other C-suite executives. “Excitement and possibility will unleash energy in your workforce.”
Model unruffled but urgent behaviors openly and often
Bostick says CIOs should make a point to “prioritize, plan, and take action in a rapid and public way,” which demonstrates decisive movement for their organizations.
Canopy Manager Tip: How do you create a sense of urgency without demoralizing team
How do you create a sense of urgency in your company?
1. Promote a culture of innovation Before you worry about creating a sense of urgency in your company, focus on creating an environment that values innovation. Part of developing a productive team is making employees feel excited to come to work, and nobody will feel excited if the work environment is stale and repetitive.
What is a sense of urgency at work?
A team that has a sense of urgency works efficiently and understands their collective end goal. The team is united with a common purpose that pushes everyone to do their best and most productive work. Each person knows where they fit in the larger picture.
How can a leader create a sense of urgency?
It has to be created and recreated.” A leader’s role is to demonstrate and communicate the need for urgency – through action, behaviors and words. Try eliminating your team’s non-urgent tasks, delegate more work, speak with passion – even walk faster, to show a sense of purpose.
How do you create a ‘urgency’ in a team?
In conversations, get to the point succinctly and insist that others do the same. If the current plan of action is not moving you toward your desired outcome, be quick to change tactics and do something else. Approach the job of creating “urgency” in your team as one of lighting a spark of energy that motivates your team and is sustainable.
