Supratim Sarkar (Sarkar), head of Corporate Strategy and Operations at TechVision Pvt. Ltd. (TechVision) an Indian multinational technology company, was a busy man. As head of the Corporate Strategy and Operations function, Sarkar had to manage various tasks with both short-term and long-term implications. He had to juggle between different activities, including heading a committee to formulate a 5-year plan for TechVision to become a $1 billion company by 2025; preparing an annual plan for 2020-21; reviewing the sales performance dashboard that went out to the CEO every fortnight; identifying sales opportunities on a quarterly basis; managing multiple stakeholders, planning and prioritizing the proposals and bid documentation for large deals; creating a robust tool that captured the sales representatives performance, and ensuring sales incentive pay-out happened every quarter; ensuring compliance to sales pipeline management; identifying opportunities for account penetration; identifying organizations where TechVision could be a partner in digital transformation; designing training programs to reskill/upskill employees on digital technologies; ensuring resource fulfilment for critical projects; and identifying offshore locations where TechVision could expand its operations.

The complexity of managing ongoing tasks had increased manifold with the outbreak of COVID-19 which made it necessary for employees to work from home. As if that was not enough, Sarkar had to prepare for the Board of Management (BoM) meeting that was coming up soon. To Sarkar, everything seemed important. Mastering prioritization could change the way Sarkar works, reduce stress, and improve productivity and time management.

1) Identify the problems faced by Sarkar in the above case.

2) How can Sarkar set the priority? Suggest from your own point of view.

3) What are the tasks that contribute to the medium and long-term goals of TechVision, and if ignored, can lead to a crisis?