1.5 - About University

10.11 P RIORITY S ETTINGIN A W ORKGROUP OR T EAMInspired by Todd Jick, William Dyer, Peter Senge, and numerous other sources.It’s easy and all too common to become bogged down in details or attend to urgent work whilemore important or strategic work is left undone. The methods presented here will help you setwork priorities within a workgroup or team.Each of the methods assumes that the workgroup will be using a visible list of distinctitems (e.g., a list on a flip chart), and that this list will be relatively complete. That is, it willcover the full range of action items that the workgroup or team is currently facing. In addition,the first step in each of the approaches is to read through the list of items within the workgroupand clarify the meaning of each item as you go. If new items are generated, add them tothe list. If two or more items are found to be similar, rewrite them into one item. The goal isto have an accurate list of distinct items with as few gaps and overlaps as possible before youbegin to determine priorities.The next steps common to each of the methods is to explain why you are proposing a particularmethod for setting priorities, and to get agreement that only the top few items will be consideredas priorities for action planning. Finally, don’t get bogged down in attempting to rankevery item. More often than not, the workgroup only needs to agree to clusters of priorities (e.g.,the top four priorities, the next six, and so on). The goal, regardless of which method is used, isa small number of high-priority items that will focus the workgroup or team’s energy.M ETHODS OF PRIORITYSETTINGMethod Best used when How toQuick &DirtyPointsMethod• The group has a good trackrecord of quickly coalescingaround work priorities.• There is little risk associated withpicking the wrong priority.• The situation is relatively conflict-free(e.g., no one has a vestedinterest).• The workgroup is relatively small(e.g., up to 12 members).• The workgroup will coalescearound a set of priorities if astraw vote is taken.• Commitment to follow throughis at least as important as a technicallycorrect solution.1. Ask each member of the workgroup or team to take turnsputting checkmarks beside their top 2 or 3 priority items.2. Typically, a short list of 4 to 8 priority items is generated.3. If necessary, the group can use this same approach to reprioritizethe newly generated short list of items.(Note: If 2 or 3 items do not receive clear priority, use one of theother methods.)1. Give each member of the workgroup or team a number of points(e.g., 25) that he or she can distribute among the items listed.2. Tally the votes to determine the top few (e.g., 5 to 7) priorities.(Note: Instead of allotting a number of points, allot each member anumber of self-sticking dots to place alongside the items listed.)SECTION 10 TOOLS FOR LEADING TEAMS AND GROUPS 329