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Writer's pictureJerryton surya

Project Prioritization: The Ultimate Guide

Even project managers with a decade of experience often struggle to prioritize projects. This is due to stakeholders interests, limited resources, project risks, emotional attachment, interdependencies and organizational politics.


In this article, we will help you learn scientifically proven project prioritization methods to make your projects move smoother with high efficiency and accuracy.


Project prioritization: High, Medium, Low

Table of contents


What is Project Prioritization

Project prioritization is a critical process in ‘project portfolio management’ where project managers determine the priority of selected projects based on their strategic importance, potential value and resource requirements. 


As a project manager, prioritization is the most important step for you as it directly impacts which projects you will lead and how resources will be allocated. 



Why Project Prioritization is Crucial for Business Success

Project prioritization helps organizations to strategically allocate their limited resources that provide greater value. Especially in startups  where every project feels like a high priority. As a project manager, you have to identify which one will be worth it to take first. 


Most of the time project prioritizations are driven by stakeholder expectations, but as a project manager, you have to utilize scientifically proven methods such as the Eisenhower matrix, MoSCoW prioritization, the ABCDE prioritization method, the weighted scoring model, Bubble sort method to prioritize projects. 


It is an uncommon opinion but your organization's growth rate depends upon the projects you prioritize.


Project prioritization method for Project managers


How to Prioritize Projects

There are many methods to prioritize projects. Here we will show the top 5 scientifically proven methods to determine which project to tackle first with scenarios. 


  • Eisenhower matrix

  • MoSCoW prioritization

  • ABCDE prioritization method

  • Weighted scoring model

  • Bubble sort method


Scenario

You are a project manager at a fast growing tech startup. You have two upcoming pressing projects but you only have the resources and bandwidth to work on one project. Which one will you choose? 


Project 1- Bug Fixes: The customer support team reports several non critical but frustrating bugs in the app. These bugs don't crash the app or cause data loss, but they are bringing more customer complaints and potentially affecting retention. Fixing these bugs will take about 3 weeks with your current team.


Project 2- New Feature Launch: Your biggest competitor just announced a game changing feature. Your CEO wants to launch a similar feature within 30 days to stay competitive. This feature could potentially double your user acquisition rate and is seen as crucial for the company's growth and upcoming funding round. 


Prioritizing projects

Additional context:

  • Your development team is already stretched thin.

  • The upcoming funding round is critical for your company's growth.

  • Customer churn rate has increased slightly in the past month.

  • The new feature would require postponing the bug fixes by at least a month.

  • Your product App Store rating has dropped from 4.5 to 4.2 stars due to the bugs.

  • The marketing team has already started teasing the new feature to users.


Most of the project managers will take emotion based decisions or lean towards stakeholders expectations but let’s see how we can determine project priority using scientific proven matrix.


Eisenhower Matrix 

Eisenhower Matrix is also called an urgent important matrix , it is simple and easy to use to calculate time management and project prioritization. It was developed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States. The matrix divides tasks into four quadrants 


First Quadrant: Urgent and Important (Do First)These are critical tasks that require immediate attention.


Second Quadrant: Important but Not Urgent (Schedule)These tasks are important for long-term success but don’t require immediate action. 


Third Quadrant: Urgent but Not Important (Delegate)These tasks require immediate attention but do not significantly contribute to long-term goals.


Fourth Quadrant: Neither Urgent nor Important (Eliminate)These tasks are distractions and time-wasters that don't contribute to your goals. 


Let’s see how to use the Eisenhower matrix in prioritizing projects in our current scenario


Bug fixes could be considered important but not urgent, moving it to the "Schedule” quadrant. 


A new feature launch could be considered urgent and important, moving it to the “Do first” quadrant. 


According to the Eisenhower matrix new feature launch should be prioritized.


Eisenhower Matrix 

MoSCoW Prioritization

MoSCoW prioritization is a method used in project management, and software development to prioritize projects or tasks. The acronym MoSCoW stands for (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have) 


Must have: Critical requirements that must be done first for the project to be considered successful. 


Should have: Important but not a blocker to any projects can be done only after completing the must have projects.


Could have: Features that are not mandatory to have but will add value to your product, you can start working on this once must have and should have been done.  


Won't have: Lowest priority items that can be postponed to future releases.


Let’s see how to use the MoSCoW prioritization in our current scenario


Bug fixes: moving it to the “could have” because these bugs are not harming the app.


A new feature launch: moving it to the “should have” because it will double your user acquisition rate and it is important for company growth.


According to the MoSCoW prioritization, new feature launch should be prioritized.


MoSCoW Prioritization

ABCDE Prioritization Method

ABCDE prioritization is a project management method used to organize or prioritize projects. It divides projects into five categories based on their importance and urgency. A: High importance, high urgency 

B: Medium importance, medium urgency 

C: Low importance, high urgency 

D: Low importance, low urgency, delegate 

E: Eliminate


Let’s see how to use the ABCD prioritization method in our current scenario


Bug fixes: moving it to the B because it is of medium importance and urgency. 


New feature launch: moving it to the A because it has high importance and urgency.


According to the ABCDE prioritization, a new feature launch should be prioritized.


ABCDE Prioritization Method

Weighted Scoring Model

The weighted scoring model decision making method used to prioritize projects based on multiple criteria. It provides a clear quantitative analysis to determine the project priority. 


Steps to create a weighted scoring model


Step 1: Identify The Criteria

Based on the scenario, the below ones are the criteria:

1. Impact on Growth

2. Urgency

3. Customer Satisfaction

4. Competitive Advantage

5. Resource Availability


Step 2: Assign Weights

Let's assign weights to each criterion based on their importance:

1. Impact on Growth: 0.30 (crucial for funding and long-term success)

2. Urgency: 0.25 (time-sensitive nature of both projects)

3. Customer Satisfaction: 0.20 (important for retention)

4. Competitive Advantage: 0.15 (staying ahead in the market)

5. Resource Availability: 0.10 (considering current team capacity)


Step 3: Set Scoring System

We'll use a 1-5 scale, where:

1 = Very Low, 2 = Low, 3 = Medium, 4 = High, 5 = Very High


Step 4: Score Options

Let's score each project against each criterion:

Criteria

Bug Fixes

New Feature

Impact on Growth

2

5

Urgency

3

5

Customer Satisfaction

4

3

Competitive Advantage

1

5

Resource Availability

4

2

Step 5: Calculate Weighted Scores

  • Assigning the highest weight of 0.30 to the impact of growth

  • The weight of 0.30 means that 30% of each project's final score is determined by how it performs on this criterion.

  • This high weight reflects the critical importance of growth especially with an upcoming funding round.

Criteria

Bug Fixes

New Feature

Impact on Growth (0.30)

2*0.30 = 0.60

5*0.30 = 1.50

Urgency (0.25)

3*0.25 = 0.75

5*0.25 = 1.25

Customer Satisfaction (0.20)

4*0.20 = 0.80

3*0.20 = 0.60

Competitive Advantage (0.15)

1*0.15 = 0.15

5*0.15 = 0.75

Resource Availability (0.10)

4*0.10 = 0.40

2*0.10 = 0.20

Step 6: Sum Total Scores

Project 1 (Bug Fixes) Total Score: 2.70

Project 2 (New Feature Launch) Total Score: 4.30


Step 7: Compare and Decide

Based on the Weighted Scoring Model, (New Feature Launch) scores significantly higher (4.30) compared to (Bug Fixes) at 2.70.


Analysis

New feature launch scores higher in Impact on Growth, Urgency, and Competitive Advantage, which are weighted heavily in this scenario.


Bug fixes score better in Customer Satisfaction and Resource Availability, these factors have lower weights in the current context.


The significant difference in scores (4.30 vs 2.70) suggests a prioritization for New feature launch.


According to the weighted scoring model, new feature launch should be prioritized.


Bubble Sort Method

The bubble sort method is the simplest approach to prioritize projects. It is used to prioritize projects by a comparative approach.


Steps to create bubble sort method


Step1: Create a List

Start with a list of all projects or tasks to be prioritized.


Step 2: Define Criteria

Establish clear criteria for comparison (e.g., urgency, impact, cost, etc.)


Step 3: Pairwise Comparison

Compare the two items on the list using your criteria.


Step 4: Swap if Necessary

If the second item has higher priority, swap their positions.


Let’s apply bubble sort method to our scenario, 


Initial list of all the projects


  1. Bug fixes

  2. New feature launch


Criteria for comparison: Impact on growth, urgency, and customer satisfaction.


First pass:


  1. New feature launch

  2. Big fixes


According to the Bubble sort method, new feature launch should be prioritized.


In our scenario, it is clear that new feature launch should be prioritized after analysis using 5 scientifically proven methods. These methods will be extremely helpful if you have many projects and are unsure which one to prioritize. 


Bubble Sort Method


Best Tool for Prioritize Projects

Choosing between 2 projects is easy. But when you have 20 or more, it will make your laptop screen look messy. You need a simple project management tool to help you. Swatle is one such tool that can help organize your projects. It shows your projects in lists or boards, whichever you prefer. It lets you add and view important details like assignee, reporter, due date and number of tasks in each project with status tracker (To do, In progress, Done). This makes it easier to keep track of everything and decide what to work on first.


Best Tool for Prioritize Projects


Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Project Prioritization

By avoiding these 4 common pitfalls, you can develop a more effective and balanced approach to project prioritization. 


Ignoring Company Strategy

The most common mistake in project prioritization is not aligning projects with the overall company strategy. Project managers prioritize projects, without considering the broader organizational goals, they risk investing time and resources into projects that don't contribute to the company's long-term success. 


Failing to Consider Resource Constraints

Even experienced project managers will make this mistake more often, they green light too many projects without realistically evaluating their available resources. It results in over commitment, project delivery delays, quality issues, and team burnout.


Overemphasizing Urgent vs Important Tasks

This pitfall is also called the “urgency trap” It makes project managers constantly focus on tasks that seem urgent, which makes their eyes blind to the important tasks.


Neglecting to Re-Evaluate Priorities Regularly

A lot of project managers set priorities once and stick to them. This results in working on projects that are no longer relevant or valuable. Regular priority reviews make sure that your project portfolio remains aligned with current business needs and market conditions.


Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Project Prioritization


Conclusion

One golden rule in project prioritization is not to make decisions based on emotions or gut feelings, it may or may not work. Try Swatle for project prioritization and organizing all your projects. It is super fast and simple to onboard and use. 


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