{
  "title": "Prioritising: is postponing a task a neutral decision?",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/prioriser-reporter-une-tache-est-il-une-decision-neutre-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2025-11-09",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Postponement often seems less consequential than intervention. Research on omission bias invites us to examine this asymmetry without treating every deferred task as a failure.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Time Management & Prioritisation",
  "place": {
    "name": "Sion",
    "region": "Valais",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Mark Spranca, Elisa Minsk and Jonathan Baron (1991, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology) show, through experimental scenarios, that harmful outcomes can be judged less severely when they result from an omission rather than an action."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The risk of acting is more visible than the risk of waiting",
      "point": "Ilana Ritov and Jonathan Baron (1990, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making) examine this asymmetry in hypothetical vaccination decisions, also investigating the role of ambiguity."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The premature conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that managers should intervene more often or accelerate preventive tasks."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What these findings cannot settle",
      "point": "These studies measure neither the prevalence of this bias in Swiss organisations nor its effect on completion times."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Sion",
      "point": "Within SHR's time management and prioritisation programme, one possible exercise in Sion is to examine the postponement of non-critical tasks: documentation upkeep in hydropower, administrative organisation in healthcare, non-urgent maintenance in viticulture or equipment preparation in Alpine tourism."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Baron",
      "year": "1991",
      "source": "Journal of Experimental Social Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Baron",
      "year": "1990",
      "source": "Journal of Behavioral Decision Making"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 407,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-Time-Management-Prioritisation-Sion-prioriser-reporter-une-tache-est-il-une-decision-neutre-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/prioriser-reporter-une-tache-est-il-une-decision-neutre",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/prioriser-reporter-une-tache-est-il-une-decision-neutre-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/prioriser-reporter-une-tache-est-il-une-decision-neutre-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/prioriser-reporter-une-tache-est-il-une-decision-neutre-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/gestion-du-temps/sion",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/sion",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}