Removing Bias From Project Prioritization With 10 Scoring Factors

Your vision is that you've determined which major projects should move forward, but now you just need a list of what order of importance they are.

There are several projects and requests on the table at any given time whether it is a manufacturing or development environment. It can be a constant battle to determine capacity, resources, people, and impact. Additionally, depending on resources and company strategy, 'no' is often needed which can be a challenge in itself. If you have a tool, however, you have more ground to stand on.

Defining a case to score projects:

The case is a development environment where projects and ideas come in daily.

You have the people to develop just about anything, and a team to support it but where do you start? Where do you say no? How do you begin to weed out the projects that may not make sense to move forward?

I've worked in the luxury consumer goods market and currently in software development where ideas for styles and features come in daily. The problem in both industries is that bias would creep in heavily in the suggestions and projects. In luxury goods, for example, people in Sales, Merchandising, Engineering, and Planning all felt they had the latest and greatest style idea, materials, and price point idea to really succeed well in the next season's launch. What was really happening was each person wanted to see a piece of their own style and preference in the line-up and that bias was attempting to heavily influence the Design team vs. staying true to who the customer is, and their problem to be solved or job to be done. It's not to say there weren't good ideas, but staying focused is key to ensure ideas are creating the highest value for the business. Often these smaller items would find their way into the line, which would back up other production, and many times they were not successful in sales for many reasons.

As first steps, you have to have company goals, strategy, you have to know your customer, but after all of that, you then have to apply some sort of logic to determine which projects and ideas are worthy of the time that will be required. No matter what your business is, time is limited and precious. So what are you going to do with that time? Which projects will best align with the company mission and values? Which will provide impact?

One solution is to develop an internal project scoring method.

This allows higher impact ideas to shine through, and it assists in eliminating bias.

How does project scoring work?

In the scoring methods I've developed, I try to limit the areas of focus to 5 and I use a scale of 0 to 3 for each. After you score each area, you add the numbers and the total will fall between 0 and 15 for each project or idea. That would mean that the highest priority, highest-impact items score 15 and 15 almost always has to move forward. The others that score less can then be arranged by month or quarter, or however you have it set up so that you end up with a roadmap. The result is not only something that you can publish but a tool that communicates the reasoning behind why these are the 'chosen ones.' As we all know, things change and priorities are always moving, but this gives you a way to look at the requests coming in and to turn them into an actionable (or not) plan without listening to the loudest, pushiest voice.

The topics to score will vary widely depending on your industry but the ones I have considered across industries are below and should assist in getting you thinking along this track. It's important to include various elements in the scoring ensuring you are looking at a score that is well-rounded and not excluding any key areas.

Are there any drawbacks to consider in project scoring?

I would also caution that this is a useful tool, however, it should be used along with the expertise you've developed over the years. Additionally, if you have a team available, it is best to brainstorm and work on this to include diverse ideas in the considerations. Going back to team motivation, people are more likely to adopt this type of format if they are present in the development of it.

Top items to consider in the project scoring process.

1. Financial benefit/return. Considering costs, quantity, where does this idea fall on the scale for revenue compared to others?

2. Legal/privacy/compliance-related issues. Does this idea or feature of your product assist with any of these for your business or your customer?

3. Number of customers impacted and whether those customers are existing or new.

4. How likely is the item to lessen the burden on other teams such as customer service?

5. Consider competition and how likely is this style or feature going to keep you relevant and innovative? How time-sensitive is this?

6. Consider the reasons customers buy from you or use your service. What are the problems to be solved or jobs to be done? When you incorporate those and score based on that, you will find the products that are best aligned with why your customer is keeping you in business.

7. How likely is the product to increase the user experience?

8. Does your product or service provide the need for accuracy? How likely is this item to affect that?

9. Where does this project rank at reaching your business goals or assisting with your team learning or efficiencies so that they can best serve your customer?

10. Where does this idea score when it comes to having the people and resources to be able to complete? How likely is it to be completed?

Take a stab at scoring some sample projects and tweak as you go. Leave a comment as to how it went!

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Written by Nicole Hullihen on June 5th, 2021