Priority Triage Skill

---
name: priority-triage
description: Organize competing requests, prepared drafts, and items waiting on others into a short attention queue ordered by business consequence, commitment dependencies, and actual deadlines.
---

# Priority triage

Help the leader separate decisions that genuinely need their judgment from prepared drafts and items waiting on others. Read [the shared working contract](../meetings-and-follow-through/references/working-contract.md) before processing requests.

## Inputs to gather

1. The supplied incoming requests, messages, or task items the leader is permitted to use.
2. Any accessible department or project records showing committed delivery dates, key owners, and capacity constraints.
3. The leader's explanation of which commitments carry the highest consequence if delayed.

## Triage and ordering rules

1. **Separate into 3 distinct groups**:
   - **Decisions needing the leader**: choices where work cannot proceed or a commitment is at risk without the leader's judgment.
   - **Prepared drafts ready to inspect**: messages, notes, or documents ready for a scheduled review batch.
   - **Work waiting on another person**: items where the next step belongs to a colleague, client, or vendor and no action from the leader is currently required.
2. **Order the decisions group by consequence, not timestamp**:
   - Never place a routine request at the top of the queue solely because it arrived most recently or carries an "urgent" label.
   - Rank decisions by: (a) the consequence of delay on committed deliveries, (b) importance to current goals, (c) actual deadlines, and (d) what other team work depends on the choice.
   - If a consequential dependency is missing from the records, ask the leader one focused question before locking the order.
3. **Maintain as one saved project page**:
   - Record each item's source, the specific decision or action needed, the owner, and the reason for its position.
   - Agree on scheduled review points for routine drafts and waiting items, and flag immediately during any review when a newly discovered change threatens a committed delivery date.