Running a Prioritization Process

Building a prioritization process for your organization can help you eliminate distractions and focus your efforts on the most meaningful projects.

A consistent and regularly-scheduled prioritization process helps eliminate distractions and focus your efforts on the most meaningful projects. Some processes are formal while others are simply frequent conversations about priorities.

Choose a process that’s appropriate for the size of your organization. I’ve worked for two very different organizations. One was large and one was a small business unit. In the large one, we had a very formal prioritization process. All departments were involved and you had to have a very rigorous business case to get your idea on the list. In the small business unit, it was an informal process. We achieved prioritization by allocating budget to different budget owners. We then gave them discretion to choose their own priorities.

In the large organization, it was very rigorous, but sometimes we lacked agility. It kept us focused, but at the cost of innovating every once in a while. In the small organization, it enabled a lot of distractions to happen. People pursued some pet projects, but it was an environment where people could try things pretty easily.

When you’re running a prioritization process, it’s important to ensure resources are allocated only to high-priority projects. Pet projects and distractions should not be worked on if they haven’t been prioritized.

In my large organization, we got big projects done. They had a huge impact. In the small business unit I was in, we got a lot of small things done, but a lot of times they were disjointed, they lacked impact, and some of them weren’t even on strategy.

Build a prioritization process that is appropriate for the size and complexity of your organization, and make sure that process is in charge of of allocating resources accordingly.

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