ABB Basic Quality Tools Series

Prioritisation Matrix
Weighted method for option reduction

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15 July 2010, Slide1
 Prioritization matrix

Overview

What is it for?
To prioritize tasks, issues or possible options based on known,
weighted criteria.

Example
Where could I use it?
Use it in such as choosing opportunities to follow, problems to
resolve, causes to address or solutions to implement.
It can also be used to demonstrate rigour in your selection process.
Scoring: Criteria

being approved
1 = meets criteria poorly

implementation

High chance of
High chance of

Unweighted total
5 = meets criteria very well

Low running

Weighted total
Low cost of
How do I use it? Weighting:

success
1 = unimportant,

costs
5 = very important

List items to prioritize. Weight: 2 5 3 4

Full supplier review system 1 3 5 2 11 40
Identify prioritization criteria. New supplier managers 5 4 3 1 13 43
Short education program 3 1 3 4 11 36
Identify weights for criteria. Reselection of suppliers 2 1 2 3 8 27

Score items.
Total scores.
Interpret the results.
Take action.

Risks and how to avoid them

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 Prioritisation Matrix

What is it for?

Uses of this tool:

The Prioritisation Matrix is used to sort a list of items into order of relative importance.
It can be used anywhere where a (usually short) list of items needs to be prioritised.
The rigorous approach can be helpful in gaining agreement within a group of people.

Expected Benefits:
Wrong decisions can be very expensive.

The Prioritisation Matrix helps to present the right decision to lead to a more successful outcome.

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 Prioritisation Matrix

Where could I use it?

Background:
Throughout business situations and
especially within improvement projects, it is
necessary to remain focused by selecting
from a list of alternative actions or items.
The Prioritisation Matrix provides a rigorous
method of doing this.
Uses:
Use it to choose between alternative
opportunities for improvement.
Use it to choose specific sub-problems and
causes to address.
Use it to choose the final solution that will be
implemented.

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 Prioritisation Matrix

How do I use it? - Procedure and Guidance Notes:

List the items which are to be prioritised. Keep the list reasonably short unless you have
List items to Put them in a column in a table (a spreadsheet is useful for this). a specific reason for doing otherwise. A typical
prioritise list less than ten items and often less than
seven.

Identify the decision criteria which will be used for prioritisation
Identify
Phrase these in a way such that the meaning is clear and a high score
Prioritisation against them means a high priority.
criteria Put the criteria in a row at the top of the table.
Choose a scale of values for weighting the criteria.
Identify weights Identify score values for each criterion that will be used to weight the
for criteria scores.
Show these in the prioritisation matrix table.
Choose a scoring system for scoring the items in the list against the
criteria.
Score items Apply the system to score all list items against all criteria.
Show these in the prioritisation matrix table.
For example use low cost of implementation
rather than cost of implementation.
Keep the criteria list short about three to
five criteria is recommended.
A typical scale is 1 to 5, with 5 meaning high
priority. You can also exaggerate the effect by
using the three-part scale 1, 3 and 9.
A typical scale is 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, with higher
numbers indicating items that meet the criteria.
Again, you can use the three-part scale 1, 3 and
9.

Total the scores for each item. You can show non-weighted scores, weighted
Show these in the column at the right of the matrix table. scores and/or both.
Total scores

Examine the total scores, understand what contributed to each total. You can do what if experiments by going back
Interpret the and changing scores and weights to see what
results difference this makes.

Decide which items should be taken forward for further action. For example the top one item in a solution list is
next taken to the detailed design phase.
Take action

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 Prioritisation Matrix

Risks and how to avoid them:

Risks : Steps to avoid them :

Using inappropriate criteria, missing important
criteria or using inappropriate weightings,
resulting in scores that are inappropriate.
Assuming the results are an absolute truth and
not examining these to ensure they make sense.
Check with others that the criteria and
weightings used are necessary and sufficient.
Always check the results to ensure they make
sense. If necessary go back and examine how
the scores turned out as they did.

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 Prioritisation Matrix
Example

3. Identify weights
2. Identify criteria 4. Score items

Scoring: Criteria

being approved
1 = meets criteria poorly

implementation

High chance of

High chance of

Unweighted total
5 = meets criteria very well

Low running

Weighted total
Low cost of
5. Total scores
Weighting:

success
1 = unimportant,

costs
5 = very important

1. List items to prioritise Weight: 2 5 3 4

Full supplier review system 1 3 5 2 11 40
New supplier managers 5 4 3 1 13 43 43 = 5x2 + 4x5
Short education program 3 1 3 4 11 36 + 3x3 + 1x4
Reselection of suppliers 2 1 2 3 8 27

6. Interpret
7. Take action New suppliers managers
Work on getting would need work to get
sponsorship. Support with approved.
short education program.

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