How can you prioritize problems for maximum organizational impact?

1 Assess the problem situation

The first step is to understand the problem situation and its context. What is the root cause of the problem? How does it affect the organization's goals, processes, customers, or stakeholders? How urgent is the problem? How complex is the problem? How much information do you have about the problem? Analyzing these aspects will help you define the problem clearly and scope its boundaries.

2 Identify the criteria for prioritization

The next step is to identify the criteria for prioritizing problems. These criteria should consider the organization's strategy, vision, values, and resources. When evaluating a problem, you should consider the impact it will have on the organization, the effort required to solve it, the risk associated with not solving it, and how well it aligns with the organization's mission, vision, and values. Impact looks at how much value solving the problem will create or preserve and how many people or functions will benefit from it. Effort considers how much time, money, and resources are required to solve the problem and how feasible it is given available resources and constraints. Risk looks at how likely the problem is to worsen or cause more problems if not solved and how uncertain or volatile the situation or solution is. Alignment looks at how consistent solving the problem is with the organization's culture and norms.

3 Evaluate and rank problems

The third step is to evaluate and rank problems based on the criteria you have identified. To do this, you can use different methods or tools such as a matrix, scorecard, or ranking. A matrix compares problems based on two criteria, while a scorecard compares them based on multiple criteria. A ranking orders problems based on your intuition or judgment. The goal is to prioritize problems that have high impact and low effort, and deprioritize those that have low impact and high effort. You can assign weights to each criterion, calculate the total score for each problem, rate each problem on a scale, or sort them from highest to lowest rating to achieve this. Doing so will help you make informed decisions about which problems should be addressed first.

4 Communicate and justify your prioritization

The final step is to communicate and justify your prioritization to your team, manager, or stakeholders. You should explain the rationale behind your criteria, method, and ranking, and provide evidence or data to support your decision. You should also anticipate and address any questions, concerns, or objections that might arise from your prioritization. By communicating and justifying your prioritization, you will increase the buy-in and trust of your audience and facilitate the implementation of the solution.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?