Setting Priorities
Because time and resources are always limited, people must choose what work to do. When everyone knows, agrees and understands the criteria of choice, people can set clear priorities. Then, people concentrate their efforts and reduce wasteful conflict.
Everybody has a personal priority-setting system. Some people will primarily do things that please their superiors, some things they enjoy, and some things that reduce stress. Most of us are unaware of these. Being clear on your priorities is a great help with managing your job. It is also important that there are clear group priorities in a team or project, or there will be duplication, and you will miss things.
A practical tool for setting priorities
You can use this individually or as a team.
Step 0. Write down your objectives for yourself (and the team)
Step 1. List the jobs you have now and the jobs you anticipate in the next period.
Step 2. List the questions you ask to decide whether a job is worth doing or not worth doing.
Step 3. List your ideal answers to the questions. For example, a criterion might be the extent of management commitment. The ideal answer would be “High”.
Step 4. Display answers to steps one, two, and three on a chart below.
Step 5. Score each job so that each ideal answer scores one and the other answers score nothing.
Step 6. Think about the results. Are the conclusions sensible? Do you need to negotiate with others? Do you need to change or weight any of the criteria?
You can weight criteria that are particularly important if you wish. I have never found this necessary.
If you are doing this exercise with a team, share your thoughts on objectives first and establish that you want to go in the same direction. Then, share your priority systems similarly and explore and resolve any differences. Where there are differences, look for win/win solutions.
A hypothetical priority-setting chart
| List of Jobs | Criterion 1 | Criterion 2 | Criterion 3 | Score |
| (Examples of criteria) | Positive impact on individuals | Management commitment | Personally satisfying | |
| Job 1 | No | High | No | 1 |
| Job 2 | Yes | Moderate | Yes | 2 |
| Job 3 | No | No | No | 0 |
| Job 4 | Yes | High | No | 2 |
| Job 5 | No | No | Yes | 1 |
| Job 6 | Yes | High | Yes | 3 |
| Job 7 | Yes | No | Yes | 2 |
| Ideal answer | Yes | High | Yes | 3 |
Do the highest-priority tasks, which have the highest scores. Low-score tasks may not need doing at all.
The value of this approach
This simple tool helps people manage their time and clarify values in a very acceptable way. It makes priorities more evident to the individual and provides a simple way to discuss otherwise tricky things in a group.