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Ultimate Prioritization Templates

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Ultimate Prioritization Templates

One notion template to rule them all

Shaw Li
Dec 8, 2022
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This past week, I spent time reviewing my two prioritization templates ((Prioritizing Work and Prioritization Framework Template (RICE). Today, I’m sharing an revised version created in Notion. There isn’t anything wrong with the prior templates. Instead, my revision consolidates some thinking I’ve had about prioritization frameworks because it’s a problem we face so frequently.

The template is organized from basic to advanced. This is best read by opening the Notion template and reading along. Remember, advanced doesn’t necessarily = better.

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Beginner: The Basics

1. Basic Prioritization Framework: Value vs Effort T-shirt Size

Pro:

  • Easy to teach

  • Simple to use

  • Obtain priortized results quickly

Con

  • Problematic if you have a large number of projects (more than 7) because multiple projects can land in the same category

  • Different to rank order using t-shirt sizing, requiring additional work or visualization in a 2x2

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Intermediate: Chess

2a. Intermediate Prioritization Framework: RICE using Numbers

Pro

  • Numerical scoring makes rank ordering easy

  • Addition of Reach and Confidence can improve fidelity

Con

  • Use of 5-point scale can result in always picking the middle

  • Estimating a numerical value for Reach can be difficult or time intensive

  • No place to record must-do/mandatory projects

2b. Intermediate Prioritization Framework: RICE with Ranked Problem Statements

Pro

  • Inclusion of problem statements can encourage brainstorming multiple solutions/projects

  • Ranking of problem statements reorients team to focus on solving issues versus creating solutions.

Con

  • Project oriented organizations may lack the skills and maturity to define clear problem statements

  • Must do projects may not easily fit into any specific problem statement / area

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Advanced

3. Advanced Prioritization Framework: Mandatory vs. Optional Prioritization

Pro

  • Separates prioritization framework for mandatory (must-do) projects using hard commitment date and effort

  • After resources subtracted for mandatory projects, optional projects are considered

  • Combined view with ability to drill down

Con

  • Requires learning two different prioritization frameworks

  • People can game the prioritization framework by pushing projects into mandatory category when such projects shouldn’t have a hard commitment date

  • Requires disciplene to implement correctly

  • Requires reader of combined view to understand different prioritzation methods and drill-down


Do you use a different prioritization framework? Perhaps you do something different or have had problems with a prioritization framework?

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