Business Category: Operations / Industrial Category: Risk Management & Compliance

Project Prioritization Matrix Checklist Template

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Use this template to set prioritization levels for your projects. This comes with guide questions to help you every step of the way from setting a group of criteria to follow, identifying what to score, and organizing your results.

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Project Prioritization Matrix Checklist Template
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How to Use This Checklist

  • **Determine your criteria and rating scale.** Name the factors you will use to assess the importance of each project, and choose factors that clearly differentiate important from unimportant projects so the exercise produces a real spread. Set the rating scale you will use to judge how well a project satisfies each criterion, and write down enough detail to define how each criterion should be applied so the scale is used consistently.
  • **Establish criteria weight.** Place your criteria in descending order of importance and assign a weight to each one. The weights are what let a project that performs strongly on what matters most rise above a project that only performs strongly on secondary factors.
  • **Create the matrix.** List your criteria, their weight, scoring values, and the names of potential projects so every project is judged against the same frame.
  • **Score the projects in teams.** Review each project, rate it on each criterion, multiply the rating by that criterion's weight, and record the weighted value. Add the weighted values to get each project's total score, and arrange for every project to be evaluated by two different teams.
  • **Discuss results and prioritize your list.** Compare notes on the results, build a master list of prioritized projects everyone agrees upon, and decide where a project needs to move up or down despite the score it received.
  • **Group and vet.** Establish groupings based on natural breaks in scoring, such as high, medium, and low priority, and vet the results with others in the organization as well as customers and stakeholders.

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Why it matters

A prioritization matrix replaces debate with a shared frame. When everyone can see the criteria and their weights, discussions move from opinion to evidence, and decisions become easier to explain and to revisit.

What a good matrix covers

A working matrix is built from a small set of factors that genuinely separate important projects from unimportant ones, a rating scale with enough definition that different people apply it the same way, and weights that reflect the order of importance your organization assigns to each criterion. The scoring itself is mechanical: rate each project on each criterion, multiply by the weight, and add the weighted values for a total score.

From scores to decisions

Scores inform the conversation; they do not replace it. Comparing the evaluations of two different teams surfaces the assumptions behind each rating. Natural breaks in the totals suggest groupings such as high, medium, and low priority. And it is entirely legitimate to decide that a project should move up or down despite the score it received.

Vetting the result

Treat the matrix as a draft until it has been tested outside the room where it was built. Vetting the results with others in the organization, as well as customers and stakeholders, is what turns a scoring exercise into an agreed list of priorities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before you can score anything, decide what you are scoring against. Establish the factors you will use to assess the importance of each project, and choose factors that clearly separate important from unimportant projects so your results are not flat. Then set a rating scale for judging how well a project satisfies each criterion, and write down enough detail to define how each criterion should be applied so the scale is used consistently by everyone.

Weighting is what turns a list of criteria into a prioritization. Place your criteria in descending order of importance and assign each one a weight. That way, a project that scores well on the criteria that matter most to your organization rises above a project that scores well only on minor criteria.

List your criteria, their weight, scoring values, and the names of potential projects. Then review each project and rate it on each criterion, multiply each rating by that criterion's weight, and record the weighted value. Add the weighted values together to get the project's total score.

Arrange for each project to be evaluated by two different teams, and provide resources and links such as your strategic plan and project goals so each team can make an informed evaluation. Then have a general discussion to compare notes on the results before you settle on a final order.

Discuss the results and build a master list of prioritized projects that everyone agrees upon. From there you can decide that a project needs to move up or down in priority despite the score it received, establish groupings based on natural breaks in scoring such as high, medium, and low priority, and vet the results with others in the organization as well as customers and stakeholders.

Yes. The matrix is a scoring aid and a starting point for discussion, not a final verdict. Test the final order against what you know about the business, and remember that a score only reflects the criteria and weights you chose to put into it.
Arne Reis
Written by
Arne Reis
Founder

Process optimizer with 25 years of expertise, focused on operational excellence in quality, maintenance, EHS, and commissioning. Emphasizes innovative solutions and top-quality standards.

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