We are developing a prioritization process to better utilize our limited resources. What are some good criteria for ranking projects? Saving Changes...
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Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
I once developed a priority optimizer. Some of its factors included: Urgency, Return on investment, Stakeholder benefits, time to deployment, resources impact, cash flow impact, etc. Hope this helps Saving Changes...
STEVE ROLLINSChief Project Strategist| ALLPMO Network Inc Fort Mill, Sc, United States
Locate the strategic objectives of your organization. Measure your project importance against these using a silo-matrix of common scoring and weights. Typical Strat Obj., might include increase profitability, improve market share, enhance infrastructure, etc. You may also choose to use weights on each silo within the project prioritization scorecard. The overall key to using this process, is to be able to apply it across the organization to help rank projects. Contact me if you have more questions. I hope this helps you. Saving Changes...
Are you in the IT department or a business / operating unit? It kind of matters. I have played the role of Program Director and Portfolio Manager in both business units and IT departments. My approach to prioritization is sometimes successful, other times is a real challenge due to competing officer agendas. I have used a combination of: (a) Business Strategy Elements (same as stated by Steve Rollins' ) in which I articulate what are the criteria which would support the business strategy specifically if possible, such as "increase net revenue by xx%", (b) Infrastructure Elements, which are sometimes missing from the Business Strategy, these would be criteria which support the corporate infrastructure, (c) Legal Elements, this is a set of criteria to ensure legal mandates are met. From an IT perspective, I have found that some IT infrastructure projects do not necessarily need to be placed on the business project portfolio listing for prioritization, as there may be the risk that they are "cut" thus to the detriment of the corporation's infrastructure. Projects that do not have positive NPV should not even make it to the prioritization stage UNLESS they are strategically a must . Finally, as the prioritization takes place (which is ongoing or periodic) it is important to consider the project mix. Thus, you would select at any given time, from the queue, a mix of projects that bring both long & short term return, with high and low risks associated, and delivery that is staged througout the year, so as to balance the portfolio. At times I have collected project business cases, developed an "abstract" from the business case, and lined up the projects side by side, comparing the components from the abstract (such as NPV, estimate to complete,risks, etc.). The most difficult task I have found is to align the leadership on what are the CRITERIA for prioritization. I usually do this in a series of one-on-one's, with a joint meeting to agree upon. Then I complete the prioritization outside of a meeting, and publish the results for review by leadership. Projects that do not make the cut are cancelled. Additionally, centralizing the single point of entry for new projects is imperative to success. The Portfolio manager is often that single point of entry. Sorry to be so long in my reply, but this topic is near and dear to me! Saving Changes...
I generally recommend starting with the objectives of the business. What is the organization trying to achieve, in business terms? If you are just getting started, I recommend initially mapping all your organizations improvement projects (not just the IT projects) to some framework that makes sense to you and your business (you might consider a framework of processes, strategic objectives, products or functions). Use a highly visual display of this information and include whatever information you can obtain about the cost and expected benefits of each improvement project. I find that with this information alone, managers can often take action to begin prioritizing their projects themselves. Once your management sees the value of managing their projects as a system and using a prioritizing framework, you can then introduce more sophisticated prioritization schemes as yoiu need them over time. Saving Changes...
Your question of project prioritization is an excellent starting point for justifying a PPM practice. That being said, the heart and sole of a PPM practice is the Investment Committee that approves and funds proposed projects. The method of prioritization that you ultimately build MUST satisfy their needs for information and comparison requirements. While alignment to corporate objectives, ROI, risk, etc. are all great items to assist in the decision making process the final set of criteria has to come from your investment committee. If your company doesn't have such a body in place - I recommend you start there - organize one (preferably composed of the highest ranking executives in the company) and let them direct you. Saving Changes...
Just wondering what sort of process you have seen working in terms of rolling out a project prioritisation. I am a consultnat and have set up a Project Decision Board for approving projects and was wondering how prioritisation could fit with this. For instance is it best to have a seperate meeting for prioritisation or should the Project Office prioritise projects before the Project Board meetings and basically show what the portfolio will look like if the approve say project x. I'm really trying to see what people and governance process to put in place. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks Saving Changes...
Generally speaking projects fall into a few categories: tactical, strategic, emergency, or compliance. You can of course break those categories down further but these categories should suffice for this discussion.
Tactical- short term solution to take advantage of a situation/opportunity that has presented itself.
Strategic - more of a foundation building or project that may not have much immediate ROI but will benefit the organization in the long term.
Emergency - fire fighting project. A problem has arisen and the company needs to resolve it quickly.
Compliance - This type of project is needed for the company to remain or be brought into compliance with rules, regulations or new laws. Either internal or external. And can be a requirement put forth by a customer.
How you prioritize a project will depend on which category a project falls into. While emergency and compliance projects are usually prioritized by outside forces, tactical and strategic projects are two categories you can prioritize and control your resources.
How you prioritize a project will depend on your corporate environment. Politics aside in an ideal world (because senior executives never have an agenda they want to push) projects would be priortized, first, based on revenue and growth potential for their company. Presuming that company is in business to make a profit.
The next scaling down of potential projects would be time frames in which a project can be completed and "how hot" the environment is. Meaning, is there an expiration date on the opportunity that will be missed if this project is not completed within a certain timeframe.
Resource and capability would be the next thinning strategy I would employ. Do we CURRENTLY have the resources and skill sets necessary to take on and SUCCESSFULLY complete this project. Please note I emphasize SUCCESSFULLY. I have seen many companies take on projects either without resources or without the proper skill sets to successfully complete the project. These usually result in failure, lost revenue, missed opportunties, etc, etc. I'm sure we've all seen that scenario played out many times.
The one factor that many companies fail in is making sure that the strategic plans are set and communicated. Most take for granted that all memembers of the project approval board/goverance committee are aware of those and are aware of all iniatives that either on going or comming up for review. Saving Changes...
