Prioritizing Projects at D. D. Williamson

[Name of the Author]

Prioritizing Projects at D. D. Williamson

Introduction

D. D. Williamson created a list of 78 projects which needed to be prioritized, organized, and selected. The company used a four step method to rate each project: 1) Establish criteria for prioritizing projects. 2) Weigh each criterion. 3) Refine the list of projects. 4) Rate each project on each criterion and total ratings.

To give team members control over the ranking of projects, each member was asked to write three different criteria on three Post-it Notes. These Post-it Notes were divided into similar item groups and each group was named. This process established the important criteria for selection. The criteria were used to determine how well each project would fit into the strategy of the company (Le Blanc, 2008).

To weigh each criteria group, the team members assigned each group a score. More important groups were given a score of 10, less important groups a score of 6 to 9, the least important groups a score of 5 or less. Criteria that were scored at 6 or higher were used to assess each project and criteria of 5 or lower were reserved for further ranking later in the process. Criteria are weighted in order to help place the projects in order of importance as they are aligned with the goals of the company.

After the criteria were established and weighted, the list of projects was refined. Projects that were listed out as individual projects but were really one project happening concurrently in different locations were discovered and the list was changed to reflect this, reducing the number of projects on the list. There were also projects added to the list that had not been formally identified as projects earlier. The criteria helped to determine which projects could initially be considered projects and which projects could be removed from the list.

Critical Analysis

Most of the focus of this study is on prioritizing the project according to D.D. Williamson approach.

Human Resource department struggle to balance a growing list of new and pending human projects while the need for core services continues, often with less funding. Deciding how to prioritize and separate the high priority human projects from lower priority projects can be daunting (Elwood, 1996). Since emotions often run high when making these kinds of decisions, a structured and objective approach can be helpful in achieving consensus and balancing the needs of the department and its customers and stakeholders. Using a prioritization matrix is a proven technique for making tough decisions in an objective way.

What is a prioritization matrix?

A prioritization matrix is a simple tool that provides a way to sort a diverse set of items into an order of importance. It also identifies their relative importance by deriving a numerical value for the priority of each item. D.D Williamson has utilized these matrices to solve issues relating to human resources (Allen, 2001).

The matrix provides a means for ranking projects (or project requests) based on criteria that are determined to be ...