100-Metodos-de-Qualidade-Total

MANAGEMENT METHODS 35
Method 8
Criteria testing
Purpose
To evaluate and compare alternative solutions to a problem by rating them
against a list of criteria.
When to use
When you need to decide which ideas to choose from a shortlist. The
technique allows ideas or solutions to be ranked so that comparisons can be
made.
How to use
There are five steps involved.
1 State the criteria requirements of a good solution.
2 List the criteria in order of importance, then place them across the top
of a flip chart.
3 List the alternative solutions or ideas down the left-hand side of the flip
chart. When this is complete, form a matrix.
4 For each option in turn, estimate how well it meets each criterion. A
scale of 1-10 can be used: 1 relates to the best, lowest cost, fastest
solution etc. If a group of people is involved, ask each person to
estimate individually and take the average score of the group.
S For each option, add together the scores. The preferred solution is the
one with the lowest total score.
If, during step 4, the scores are very different, stop and check that
everyone in the group has the same understanding of the criteria. It might
emerge that someone has a hidden agenda and is rating accordingly.
Alternatively, new information might arise at this stage.
An alternative to using a lO-point scale is to rank the options on each
criterion, the best choice scoring 1 etc. The selected option is again the one
with the lowest total score.
Benefits
Simply voting on ideas or forcing a weighting system can be very divisive.
Criteria testing allows a group to make a decision with a common set of