The process Business Navigators uses for issue prioritization is “Prioritization by Horse Race.”
We work with storyboards. Participants print their issues on 3”X5” cards. All the issues are pinned to the bottom of a 4’X4’ storyboard. Every issue is open to discussion. The person who created the issue card can choose to lobby the group about why he or she thinks the issue is important. After the discussion is completed, we begin the ’Horse Race’. Each member votes for the issue they think is the most important. Often, we way “Vote for the issue you believe, if we worked on it, would have the most positive benefit to our company.
A card is advanced 3 inches up the board each time someone votes for a card. It’s like looking down at a racetrack for directly above and the cards are horses racing to the top of the board.
We select the three issues that receive the most votes for further activity. We table the remaining issues until the next meeting.
A team member volunteers to own a card and become the captain of a team. The team meets, contributing ideas for solutions, submitting their suggestions to management, and reporting on the status of the card at the next monthly meetings’.
The status information is recorded on a task card, which included start date card owner, group, issues description and next review date. Review of reverse-flow cards, including status and action, occurs monthly in between meetings, task cards are posted on the ‘Course Corrections Board’ where all employees can read and review them. If they have any questions or input, they can talk to the “Owner of the card”.
There are four elements to offering suggestions for improvement. When these elements are included in each submission, it allows the decision-maker to do his or her job. To decide!
