Hello, I am reading the 5 edition of PMBOK and I found, in the collect requirements process of the project escope management, a technique called "Multicriteria decision analysis". The problem is that I can't find information of this, like: concepts, methods, examples, etc. Please help me with this.
Deepesh RammoorthyICT Project Manager ( PMP®AgilePM®Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®))| Australian Red Cross Blood ServiceTarneit, Vic, Australia
Hi Carlos
Simple Multicriteria Decision Analysis has 1) Goal 2) Criteria 3) Sub Criteria 4) Alternatives to address Sub Criteria 5) Decision
A step by Step approach to Multi criteria Decision Analysis is as under . (I take the example of a Business Problem )
High Level Business Problem (GOAL) :- Current revenue generated from Sales is not enough to remain competitive in the market
CRITERIA to address the Problem :- Improve Marketing Strategy Overhaul Marketing Strategy
SUB CRITERIA for the CRITERIA :- ( Improve Marketing Strategy ) Develop a stronger web presence Make advertising brochures more attractive Increase number of salesmen Provide more training to existing work force
ALTERNATIVES for the SUB CRITERIA :- (Develop a stronger web presence) Put a company page up on LinkedIn Put a company page up on Facebook Leverage google Search engine optimization Reword service offerings on web pages Improve web page design/layouts
ALTERNATIVES for The SUB CRITERIA :- (Make advertising brochures more attractive) Redesign company logo Re-frame mission /vision statement Re-word service offerings
Now you will find that there are similarities in the ALTERNATIVES for the SUB CRITERIA 1) Make advertising brochures more attractive 2) Develop a more stronger web presence
The similarities in the ALTERNATIVES are :- You need Consistency in Mission/vision statements between web and advertising material You need Consistency in layout/font/highlights between web and advertising material Consistency in images between web and advertising material
The final answers to both these could be recruiting a new Graphic Designer . Which is the DECISION
Similarly you will reach decisions to each of the alternatives by further decomposition . this is similar to a work breakdown structure.
Then you can provide a numerical weight to each of the decisions and select the order of execution of the decisions or select what decisions to include in your scope for the next phase of the project or the entire project
Note :- this is just one of the tools to collect requirements. Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
I might not be able to be of great help on your specific requirement but check the 6th edition, they might have added something. Saving Changes...
Anish AbrahamPrivacy Program Manager| University of WashingtonAuburn, Wa, United States
My understanding is that this helps you to evaluate multiple conflicting criteria to arrive at a decision. This also involves representing problem in decision space, generating non-dominated solutions and selecting the suitable solution. Saving Changes...
This method is used when putting together your teams for the project. Instead of filling the team with anyone that comes along, or those who just seem like they have great experience, you instead take a more measured approach selecting multiple criteria when deciding who joins the team, by ranking/weighting these criteria. Criteria could be the resource (human) cost, availability, skill, experience, attitude etc. This approach can help sort through and decide who is most suitable, especially on large teams. Saving Changes...
MCDA is also Called as Prioritization Materix.
It can be used to identify the key issues and suitable alternative to be prioritized as a set of decision for implementation. Criteria are prioritized and weighted before being applied to all available alternatives to obtain a mathematical score for each alternative.The alternative are then ranked by score.
Described in Section 8.1.2.4. of PMBOK Guide 6th Edition as Multicriteria decision analysis tools (e.g., prioritization matrix) can be used to identify the key issues and suitable alternatives to be prioritized as a set of decisions for implementation. Criteria are prioritized and weighted before being applied to all available alternatives to obtain a mathematical score for each alternative. The alternatives are then ranked by score. As used in this process, it can help prioritize quality metrics. Saving Changes...
Mansoor MustafaSenior PM| Government DepartmentRawalpindi Punjab, Pakistan
From my point of view, Multi Criterica Decision Making (MCDM) is concerned with structuring and solving decision and planning problems involving multiple criteria. The purpose is to support decision-makers facing such problems. Typically, there does not exist a unique optimal solution for such problems and it is necessary to use decision-maker's preferences to differentiate between solutions.
"Solving" can be interpreted in different ways. It could correspond to choosing the "best" alternative from a set of available alternatives (where "best" can be interpreted as "the most preferred alternative" of a decision-maker). Another interpretation of "solving" could be choosing a small set of good alternatives, or grouping alternatives into different preference sets. An extreme interpretation could be to find all "efficient" or "nondominated" alternatives (which we will define shortly). Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
In the context of collecting requirements, one example of multicriteria decision analysis would be a scoring model such as a Pugh Matrix.
Stakeholders would provide a set of criteria (e.g. usability, cost to deliver) and then individual requirements or features would be assessed against those criteria. The purpose of doing so is to narrow the list of requirements in an objective manner to a manageable number which will still meet the expected business outcomes for the project.
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