Optimising Project Prioritisation: Techniques for Maximizing Business Value

Introduction

IT project prioritisation involves ranking and selecting potential projects within an IT environment. A priority matrix, with criteria tailored to IT, aids this process. IT projects encompass any initiatives involving IT department resources, such as computer systems, enterprise systems, and communication networks.

When choosing IT project prioritisation criteria, consider the potential value added to the business. Relevant criteria may include competitive advantage, cost-benefit analysis, quality improvements, risk reduction, and opportunities for business growth. The IT department's primary focus is on technology governance, hardware maintenance, and programming. While IT projects invariably involve computers and technology, the specific responsibilities and scope of the IT department can vary between organisations.

Problem Statement

When you fail to prioritise, you often end up tackling tasks that are the easiest, the most urgent, or the most enjoyable. While choosing something simple can be tempting, especially on tough days, it’s not typically the best strategy.

The main goal of project prioritisation is to develop and implement a strategic plan. This practice brings several key benefits to your team and organisation:

1. Gain Efficiency: By properly organising projects and tasks, you can utilise your team’s time and resources more effectively. This optimisation helps meet deadlines and reduces costs.
2. Achieve Goals: Prioritisation helps ensure you meet both short-term and long-term objectives. A recent Gartner study highlighted that unclear priorities are one of the top three barriers to success, with 14% of strategies failing as a result.
3. Reduce Stress: Overloading your schedule can lead to significant mental and physical stress. Prioritising tasks provides relief by offering a clear plan and reducing your workload. This allows you to let go of less important projects and tasks.
4. Build Empathy: When team members collaborate to understand each other's needs and challenges, it fosters stronger relationships and better communication. This collective understanding builds empathy within the project team.
5. Maintain Focus: A written plan that can be shared and revisited helps keep everyone on track. It ensures that the team stays focused on the right tasks and follows the intended path.

In summary, prioritising projects is crucial for ensuring efficient use of resources, achieving goals, reducing stress, fostering empathy, and maintaining focus. By creating and sticking to a strategic plan, you can significantly enhance the performance and well-being of your team and organisation.

Practical Applications

Identifying the need for prioritisation is just the beginning; you also need to know:

• Who to include in the process
• How to set prioritisation criteria
• How to guide your team through the process
• When to revisit and adjust priorities

This may seem daunting, but a robust prioritisation process can make the workload more manageable. Here’s a basic guide:

1. Select Stakeholders: Not all project stakeholders need to be part of the prioritisation process. Consider whether they can prioritise the overall goals, have decision-making authority, will be significantly impacted by the choices, or have unique insights. Once selected, establish ground rules for group interaction.
2. Create Strategic Alignment: Ensure all stakeholders agree on the strategic direction before starting. Clarify why priorities are being set, what needs to be accomplished, and any constraints.
3. Identify Scope: List all items needing prioritisation, whether tasks within a single project or a broader set of projects. As project manager, draft a comprehensive list from various sources, share it with stakeholders, and refine it together. Focus on completeness, not prioritisation, at this stage. Use an online tool like TeamGantt for tracking.
4. Set Prioritisation Criteria: Establish clear criteria and share them with stakeholders for feedback. Expect disagreements, but ensure the decision-maker finalises the criteria before the session. Criteria examples include ROI, user satisfaction, resource availability, effort level, timeline, brand return, and risk. Ensure criteria align with short- and long-term goals and are specific enough to provide clarity.
5. Choose a Framework: Select a prioritisation framework to structure the discussion and guide decisions. The complexity of the framework should match the goal. For instance, numerical scoring may work well with internal teams, while simple grouping might suffice for external clients.
6. Conduct Prioritisation Meetings: Schedule meetings to prioritise tasks as a team. Begin by clarifying any uncertainties. Review the framework, give stakeholders time to process the list, and collaboratively complete the prioritisation.
7. Share and Execute Plan: Post-meeting, share the results with all stakeholders to allow feedback, ensure transparency, and build understanding of the next steps.
8. Regularly Revisit Prioritizations: Recognise that prioritisation is ongoing. Revisit and adjust priorities as plans change, new projects arise, and criteria evolve. This might be a monthly, quarterly, or annual activity, depending on the scope.

Prioritisation Frameworks

• MoSCoW method - Best for identifying MVP
• Eisenhower matrix - Dealing with stakeholders who push for their own agendas
• Value vs effort matrix - Quick assessment of what’s feasible within budget, timeline, or resources
• Kano model - Focusing on end-user needs by creating MVP
• Scoring model - Internal prioritisation relies on stakeholder, not customer opinions.

1. The MoSCoW method, pioneered by Oracle, facilitates swift requirement gathering from stakeholders, even those lacking technical expertise. MoSCoW stands for: Must have (critical for project success and non-negotiable), Should have (important but not critical for success), Could have (nice-to-have but non-essential), and Won’t have (low-value or potentially harmful, to be excluded).

2. The Eisenhower matrix prioritises tasks based on importance and urgency. Tasks urgent and important should be done first. Important but not urgent tasks can be scheduled. Urgent but not important tasks should be delegated. Tasks neither urgent nor important should be eliminated.

3. The value vs effort matrix prioritises tasks based on their value and effort. Tasks are categorised as Quick wins (high value, low effort), Big projects (high value, high effort), Fill-ins (moderate value, low effort), and Time sinks (low value, high effort). Collaborate with stakeholders to estimate task value and effort, focusing on organisation and planning rather than final estimates.

4. The Kano model, created by Dr. Noriaki Kano, integrates customer opinions to assess satisfaction alongside product functionality. It requires user research before prioritising work, often utilising tools like focus groups or surveys. Features are categorised into Must-be, One-dimensional, Attractive, Indifferent, and Reverse based on their impact on satisfaction and purchasing decisions.

5. The scoring method simplifies project prioritisation by assigning numerical scores to criteria for each project. A range of 0-5 or 0-10 is common. This model works effectively without weighting criteria, making it suitable for quick prioritisation.

Challenges and Limitations

Frameworks provide structure for prioritisation, but executing processes involving people can be challenging. Pitfalls to watch for include:‍

1. Loud voices:

Dominant individuals can overshadow others, prioritising personal needs over collective goals. Implement a process that ensures equal participation and emphasises achieving shared objectives.‍

2. Straying off the path:

Over time, tasks may multiply, diverting attention from the plan. Regularly revisit priorities to stay focused, especially when new tasks arise unexpectedly.‍

3. New work pushes out old work:

Resist the urge to prioritise new tasks over existing ones. Assess new tasks against established criteria and, if necessary, reconvene stakeholders to reassess priorities.‍

4. Unengaged stakeholders:

Engage team members who feel sidelined, helping them understand their importance in the prioritisation process.‍

5. No final decision-maker:

Designate a final decision-maker to resolve conflicts and ensure progress.‍

6. Completed in isolation:

Involve others in the process to foster collaboration, gain new insights, and ensure buy-in.‍

7. Lack of resources:

Be realistic about human and financial constraints, considering them at every stage to set reasonable expectations.

Future Outlook

1. In IT project prioritisation, preparing for uncertainties is vital, and decision-makers can use what-if scenario modelling to anticipate potential impacts. This technique simulates hypothetical situations, allowing leaders to visualise outcomes by adjusting variables. It aids proactive IT portfolio management by identifying challenges early on.
2. Predictive scenario modelling enhances risk management, particularly with the advent of AI. Advanced algorithms analyse project data, offering predictive risk analytics, real-time monitoring, and automated reporting. Integration with IoT and Big Data enables the identification of potential risks and correlations, while ethical considerations ensure fairness and transparency.
3. As organisations embrace AI, focus shifts from risk mitigation to scheduling and forecasting in project and portfolio management.