How to prioritize, when you have different interests
Read why it can be harmful to "negotiate" about what you should prioritize and how criteria can make it easier and more pleasant to collaborate about the prioritization.
If you have been involved in prioritizing in a group, you may have experienced that it sometimes takes on the character of a negotiation - and that the participants have difficulty agreeing.
One of the reasons may be that it is the various "interests" that are at the center of the discussion. And it is of course very difficult to agree on whether marketing is more important than logistics or whether employee well-being is more important than a new machine in production.
The negotiation-based method not only makes it difficult to choose - it also has some negative consequences:
First, it removes the focus from the value of the "business" as a whole
Second, it can enhance the overall silo formation in the organization
And thirdly, the decisions do not always seem logical to those who have to perform the tasks
If you want to bring together a group that has different interests, about a priority - there are two things you need to do:
First of all, make sure that you start by agreeing on the criteria for prioritization BEFORE you start discussing the options. Here you will probably find that it is much easier for you to agree on the criteria than on the individual initiatives
The next thing you need to make sure is that the participants evaluate all the initiatives individually and independently of each other. It will give you a common and transparent picture, where everyone has been heard and where the harmful negotiation dynamics have been removed. It makes it easier and more comfortable for the group to collaborate on the prioritization and it ensures that the group focuses on what creates the most value for the company.
Benelizer's cloud solution makes it easy for you to work with criteria and individual and independent assessments. You can also learn more about the method in one of our master classes or solve a specific prioritization challenge in a workshop.