How to Prioritize when Everything is High Priority: the Data-Driven Approach

At a company where data is core to business, to help make data-driven decisions, I recommend the following 5-step prioritization approach to determine which initiative to move forward with.

Step 1: List all possible initiatives you're considering, from pie-in-the-sky to the short-term.

Step 2: Score each item in the list on the following 4 attributes, each on a low/medium/high scale:

    • Expected business impact -- in revenue/savings or towards mission

      • Note: If it solves an (internal/external) client pain point, how does that translate into business impact?

    • Timeline to deliverable

    • Data availability

    • Interconnectedness to (or dependencies on) other products/projects [Hilary Mason]? e.g. What will happen to other initiatives if this one is not done for another month? [Harvard Business Review]

Step 3: Sort according to those that score high on business impact.

Step 4: Discuss results of Step 3 based on the other attributes to determine the next initiative.

Step 5: Repeat Steps 1-4, potentially quarterly.

Keywords: Data products, prioritization, productivity

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