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Matrix Management Wiki

4C. Prioritization

  • 4C1. Prioritization is the process of ranking the different parts of a system (e.g., goals, vectors, sectors, portfolios, etc.) to enable optimization of the whole.
  • 4C2. MM 2.0 Prioritization principles:
    • 4C2i. Everyone in the organization should be working off the same set of priorities.
      • 4C2ia. When everyone has the same set of priorities, the organization is aligned around a common set of goals.
      • 4C2ib. Alignment of priorities eliminates competition between leaders.
      • 4C2ic. Alignment of priorities mitigates bottlenecks within processes. (Top priority processes will have shorter cycle times than lower priority processes.)
  • 4C3. MM2.0 Prioritization rules:
    • 4C3i. Prioritize from the top down through horizontal segments.
    • 4C3ii. Prioritize all sectors and then prioritize within sectors.
      • 4C3iia. Prioritizing sectors usually involve prioritizing portfolios.
      • 4C3iib. This enables the organization to run its current business and to achieve its externally focused top priority strategic goals.
    • 4C3iii. Prioritize initiatives, programs, and projects within vectors.
      • 4C3iiia. This enables the organization to achieve its internally focused top priority strategic goals.
    • 4C3iv. Resource leaders must align their priorities with horizontal (organizational) priorities in order to fulfill their organizational accountability.
      • 4C3iva. This ensures that the horizontal dimension is optimized, not the vertical.
      • 4C3ivb. This positions the vertical dimension to support the horizontal.
  • 4C4. For areas that serve multiple customers, there are two ways to prioritize:
    • 4C4i. Get the customers to collaboratively prioritize their collective requirements.
      • 4C4ia. This typically requires a Steering Council on which all customers participate.
      • 4C4ib. If there is an external customer, use customer reps that can speak for the outside customer.
    • 4C4ii. Define the percentage of resources that will be devoted to each customer:
      • 4C4iia. For example: 40% for Customer A, 30% for Customer B, 30% for Customer C, etc. These percentages need to be set by a higher level Steering Council which has a span of accountability that covers Customers A through C.
      • 4C4iib. This approach requires tracking of resources to make sure they stay within the allotted percentages.
  • 4C5. Match resources to priorities
    • 4C5i. After priorities are set, match resources to the priorities until a bottleneck is reached. All priorities below this point are prioritized to get started when resources become available.