Using Table 3-3, list several prioritization drivers that would be appropriate for your organization’s projects. For each, describe the conditions that result in ratings of 1, 3, 5, and 7.

On Table 3-4, provide relative weights for the prioritization drivers you selected from Table 3-3.

Now you need to calibrate the project prioritization model to suit the nature of how your organization makes decisions about priorities. Use one copy of Table 3-4 to rate the prioritization drivers for several completed projects. You will probably want to implement this in a spreadsheet form for convenience in performing the calculations.

Begin by downloading the Project Prioritization Spreadsheet from the Web site that accompanies this book and modify it with the information from your own Table 3-3 and Table 3-4.

Compare the calculated scores with your retrospective analysis of which projects were most valuable to implement. If the model does not do a reasonable job of matching your actual priority assessment of these completed projects, adjust the model until it does. You might need to change the weighting factors for the prioritization drivers, change the boundaries for the rating scale for certain drivers, and/or choose a different set of prioritization drivers.

Using another copy of Table 3-4 that contains your final set of prioritization drivers and weights from the previous practice activity, rate the prioritization drivers for two or more proposed projects and calculate a total score for each project. Do the scores correspond with your sense of which project would be most valuable to implement and which the least valuable?