10.11
PRIORITY SETTING
IN A WORKGROUP OR TEAM
Inspired by Todd Jick, William Dyer, Peter Senge, and numerous other sources.It’s easy and all too common to become bogged down in details or attend to urgent work while
more important or strategic work is left undone. The methods presented here will help you set
work priorities within a workgroup or team.
Each of the methods assumes that the workgroup will be using a visible list of distinct
items (e.g., a list on a flip chart), and that this list will be relatively complete. That is, it will
cover the full range of action items that the workgroup or team is currently facing. In addition,
the first step in each of the approaches is to read through the list of items within the work-
group and clarify the meaning of each item as you go. If new items are generated, add them to
the list. If two or more items are found to be similar, rewrite them into one item. The goal is
to have an accurate list of distinct items with as few gaps and overlaps as possible before you
begin to determine priorities.
The next steps common to each of the methods is to explain why you are proposing a par-
ticular method for setting priorities, and to get agreement that only the top few items will be con-
sidered as priorities for action planning. Finally, don’t get bogged down in attempting to rank
every item. More often than not, the workgroup only needs to agree to clusters of priorities (e.g.,
the top four priorities, the next six, and so on). The goal, regardless of which method is used, is
a small number of high-priority items that will focus the workgroup or team’s energy.
METHODS OF PRIORIT YSETTING
SECTION 10 TOOLS FORLEADINGTEAMS ANDGROUPS 329
- The group has a good track
record of quickly coalescing
around work priorities. - There is little risk associated with
picking the wrong priority. - The situation is relatively con-
flict-free (e.g., no one has a vest-
ed interest). - The workgroup is relatively small
(e.g., up to 12 members). - The workgroup will coalesce
around a set of priorities if a
straw vote is taken. - Commitment to follow through
is at least as important as a tech-
nically correct solution.
Quick &
DirtyPoints
Method- Ask each member of the workgroup or team to take turns
putting checkmarks beside their top 2 or 3 priority items. - Typically, a short list of 4 to 8 priority items is generated.
- If necessary, the group can use this same approach to reprioritize
the newly generated short list of items.
(Note: If 2 or 3 items do not receive clear priority, use one of the
other methods.) - Give each member of the workgroup or team a number of points
(e.g., 25) that he or she can distribute among the items listed. - Tally the votes to determine the top few (e.g., 5 to 7) priorities.
(Note: Instead of allotting a number of points, allot each member a
number of self-sticking dots to place alongside the items listed.)
Method Best used when How to