Previously we have discussed various ideas which can be considered for a Continual Improvement Project. Once all the ideas are identified, you need to rank these ideas. A total value for each project is calculated and plotted against an ease of completion number to decide which projects have the most value for the effort expended. The tool used to complete this technique is called as project prioritization matrix

Why Prioritization

• Prioritization will keep your focus on the high impact improvements. it is always advisable to keep the focus while attempting the improvements. Additional benefits include greater visibility and acceptance from the stakeholders. A carefully selected project can be a game changer with respect to the perception on the Continual Improvement in any organization.
• Prioritization helps you to rank potential projects by both their weighted benefits and their relative ease of completion.
• It also helps in reorder the ranking of projects if the weighting of the company’s strategic goals changes (such as, the last Quarter there will be very high focus on the Revenue and targets.)

How to prioritize ideas 

• Identify a list of project selection criteria (For example Revenue, Cost, inventory customer satisfaction, etc)
• Develop a list of potential projects and enter in the left column of the table
• Assign weightage to the criteria on top of the list. A weightage can be given based on the impact like 0- No Impact, 1- Low Impact, 3- Medium Impact and 5 – High Impact).
• Using a team, develop a score for the criteria.
• You will get the Priority Number based on Multiplication of these two.
• You can order them according to the priority Number
• After a project prioritization matrix is created, you can easily update it by adding new potential projects and changing the weighting of the project values to reflect changes in organizational priorities.