There are always more projects that you want to do than you have the capacity, funds and energy to do. You therefore have to prioritize - decide which projects will  be done and which, however seemly desirable and well supported they are, will not be done.

Frequent research has found that most organizations do not think they prioritize well and that there is really no logic or solid basis for their project approval decisions. Some approve viable (ie positive ROI) projects until they run out of money; others use the annual planning process to allocate the funds and then re-approve them as they start, while many organizations still have no real process at all.

Project prioritization is not difficult, it just requires the correct focus supported by effective processes and information flows. And this is where the problems usually arise — few organizations have the processes and information flows in place to prioritize effectively.

There’s the ‘evaluation - prioritization - approval process’ through which business cases and other project submissions should be processed; and there’s the six dimensions of evaluation - strategic alignment, financial return, risk profile, delivery capability, capacity to do and portfolio fit. Not all steps and dimensions need to be in place immediately, but each gap allows value to be diminished, good projects to be lost and bad ones to be approved.

Prioritization asks the questions

1. Why should we do it (where’s the value)?
2. Can we do it (is it too risky, do we have the capability)?
3. Should we do it now (do we have the resources)?
4. And, Is this the best use of our resources now (with everything in our portfolio and everything that’s planned)?

To answer these questions you need to be able to identify and assess your project’s value proposition, risks, capability requirements, capacity and portfolio constraints- a mix of key processes.

“Doing the right projects” is accepted as a key determinant in value delivery management - prioritization makes sure your organization is doing the right projects. Our collection of Prioritization Guides enables you to implement this important process successfully.

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