Project Prioritization for project managers

What is project prioritization?

• Project prioritization is the process of determining the best order for completing a group of projects or tasks.

• Criteria often considered: how the work impacts business or financial goals, organizational risk, staff availability, and potential for success.

• Levels of prioritization:

  • Strategic prioritization (organizational level): works at the organizational level to move the company forward to reach its mission, vision, and goals.

  • Project prioritization: typically done by a PMO that oversees a portfolio of projects, or by individuals/teams juggling multiple projects.

  • Task prioritization (within a project): zooms into the work happening in a specific project, whether for an internal team, external client, or a personal project.

• Why prioritize?

  • Gain efficiency by putting projects and tasks in the right place.

  • Use time and resources more efficiently to meet deadlines and reduce costs.

  • Realize short- and long-term goals.

• Evidence and benefits:

  • A recent study identified a lack of clear priorities as one of the top three barriers to success; about $14\%$ of strategies fall short due to this issue ($14\%$).

  • Prioritization reduces load and stress by delivering a clear plan and enabling you to drop non-essential projects/tasks.

  • Builds empathy by working together to understand each other’s needs and challenges, strengthening relationships, improving communication, and fostering empathy across the team.

  • Staying focused: a written plan that’s shared and revisited helps maintain focus and stay on track.

• How to prioritize projects effectively (overview): as a project manager/leader, you must identify when prioritization is needed, who should be involved, how to set criteria, how to guide the team through the process, and when to repeat.

• Practical note:

  • It can feel like a lot, but a good prioritization process reduces overwhelm and provides a repeatable, transparent way to make decisions.

How to prioritize projects effectively (the process and steps)

Step 1 — Determine which stakeholders to include in prioritization

• Not every stakeholder needs to be part of the prioritization process.

• Consider factors:

  • Can they prioritize the overall goals of the process for the common good?

  • Do they have the authority to make final decisions?

  • Will they be greatly impacted by the choices?

  • Do they have unique insights or contributions that no one else can provide?

• Once you've identified who to invite and they agree to participate, create and share ground rules for how the group will interact to accomplish goals.

Step 2 — Create strategic alignment around the process

• Before prioritization begins, align all stakeholders on the strategic direction of the process/project.

• Ensure clarity on:

  • Why priorities are being set

  • What you need to accomplish

  • Any constraints that must be worked within

Step 3 — Identify the scope of prioritization

• List all items to prioritize during the process.

• Scope may be limited to tasks within your own project or could include a broader list of projects.

• As the project manager, lead by creating a full list of needs from sources like sales documents, conversations, and observations.

• Share the list with stakeholders and invite additions before a workshop.

• At this stage, focus on clarity and completeness; avoid pruning the list prematurely.

• Put all prioritization items into an online tool to track, edit, organize, or assign them.

Step 4 — Determine prioritization criteria

• Establish a clear set of criteria to share with stakeholders for feedback.

• Be prepared: not everyone will agree on the criteria.

• The decision maker should finalize the criteria before starting the prioritization session to avoid a moving target.

• Example criteria to consider:

  • Return on investment (ROI)

  • User satisfaction

  • Resource availability

  • Level of effort

  • Timeline

  • Brand impact/return

  • Risk

• Criteria should align with both short- and long-term goals and be ordered by importance.

• Ensure criteria are specific enough to bring clarity to the process.

Step 5 — Choose a prioritization framework and ranking system

• A framework structures the conversation and provides a clear decision process.

• Some frameworks are simple, others are more complex; choose based on your goal and team context (internal vs. external).

• Example: a numeral scoring system may work well with internal teams; with external clients, scope considerations and alignment may suffice.

• Meet with the team and stakeholders to prioritize the work.

Step 6 — Meet and workshop the prioritization

• Schedule one or more meetings to prioritize the scope as a team.

• Start by clarifying items that still don’t make sense; most questions should be resolvable in advance, but some discussion is inevitable.

• Review the chosen framework and give stakeholders time to process the list.

• For larger scopes, allow about $10$ minutes of quiet time to map priorities before collaborating to finalize the framework.

Step 7 — Share and execute a plan

• After the meeting, share results with project stakeholders, including those who weren’t in the prioritization sessions.

• Why it matters:

  • Allows others to digest priorities and provide feedback

  • Creates transparency around how decisions were made

  • Builds understanding of what moving forward looks like

Step 8 — Revisit prioritizations regularly

• Prioritization is rarely a one-time event.

• Plans change, new products come in, and criteria evolve.

• Be prepared to revisit the process, possibly with a different framework.

• Frequency examples: monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on scope.

When should you use a prioritization framework? (Signs you need one)

• Many loud stakeholders want to drive work based on personal needs.

• You feel like you’re putting out fires every day.

• You struggle to say no.

• You’re super busy but not making progress or delivering impact.

• You procrastinate on non-deadline tasks.

• Your workload is task-heavy or complex, and you need help solving the puzzle.

• You’re always one step behind and default to must-do-now tasks.

• You’re unclear about stakeholders’ priorities and goals.

• Your team has silos and you need to move forward together toward the same outcomes.

• You don’t see value in many tasks and question the overall process (though you can still benefit from formalizing prioritization).

• Normalizing prioritization helps, and there are frameworks that consistently add value regardless of scope size or complexity.

The Moscow Method (MOSCOW)

• Created by software development expert Dia Clegg while at Oracle to help prioritize work during product releases.

• MOSCOW is an acronym (with extra o’s) for four categories:

  • Must have: absolutely critical items; nonnegotiables. Omitting them will cause project failure.

  • Should have: items that improve outcomes but are not strictly essential.

  • Could have: nice-to-have items that are not essential to project success; a bonus list.

  • Won’t have: items to exclude; provide little to no value and may even hurt.

• The Moscow maze matrix helps identify a minimal viable product and clearly distinguishes task value.

• Cautions:

  • It’s easy to overload the must-have list.

  • The method doesn’t inherently prioritize across categories; user feedback should be incorporated.

• Practical takeaway: MOSCOW provides a simple, repeatable way to create a clear minimal-value product and to distinguish essential work from optional work.

A quick perspective from Manny (Team Gantt)

• Definition: project prioritization is the process of determining the order in which projects should be executed based on their importance, urgency, and potential impact. This allows the most critical projects to receive attention and resources needed to be completed on time.

• Why it’s important: prioritization helps allocate resources, avoid bottlenecks, and ensure high-value projects are completed on time. It also aligns the team with strategic goals, reduces stress, and provides clear guidance on what to do first.

• Basic steps (summarized):

  • List all projects and tasks to prioritize.

  • Assess value and impact based on ROI, strategic alignment, and stakeholder needs.

  • Evaluate value, impact, and urgency.

  • Rank projects using a scoring system to create a clear priority order.

  • Allocate resources to the highest-priority projects first to ensure critical tasks are supported.

• Common pitfalls to avoid:

  • Lack of clear criteria leads to subjective, inconsistent decisions.

  • Ignoring dependencies can cause delays and resource conflicts.

  • Set priorities once and forget them; priorities should be revisited as goals and context change.

  • Overloading the team with too many high-priority tasks reduces productivity.

• Takeaway: a structured prioritization process helps you stay on track, allocate resources effectively, and manage stakeholder expectations.

• Tools and benefits of TeamGantt (as described):

  • Gantt charts for clear timelines, plus calendar view, list view, and Kanban-style board view to accommodate different work styles.

  • Time tracking and workload capacity features.

  • Team-wide communication within the platform.

  • Encouragement to sign up for a free account (link described in the video).

Basic steps for prioritizing projects (as described in the video)

• Start with a comprehensive list of all projects and tasks to prioritize.

• Evaluate each item for potential impact and value to the company, considering:

  • Return on investment (ROI)

  • Strategic alignment

  • Stakeholder needs

• After evaluating value, impact, and urgency, rank the projects using a scoring system to establish a clear order of priority.

• Allocate resources to the highest-priority projects first to ensure critical tasks have the support they need.

Practical implications and takeaways

• Prioritization is essential for effective resource allocation and meeting strategic goals.

• A transparent, repeatable process reduces stress and conflict among stakeholders.

• Regular revisiting of priorities helps accommodate changes in strategy, market conditions, and new opportunities.

• Balancing framework rigor with team context (internal vs external stakeholders) is key to effectiveness.

• Tools like TeamGantt can support the process by providing multiple views and collaboration features.

Quick reference checklist

• [ ] Identify and invite the right stakeholders with authority and impact.

• [ ] Establish ground rules for prioritization discussions.

• [ ] Align on strategic direction and constraints.

• [ ] Define the scope of prioritization clearly.

• [ ] Compile a complete list of items to prioritize and prepare in advance.

• [ ] Choose and document prioritization criteria (ROI, impact, risk, etc.).

• [ ] Select an appropriate prioritization framework (e.g., MOSCOW, numeric scoring).

• [ ] Schedule and run prioritization workshops with time for quiet reflection if needed.

• [ ] Publish and explain the resulting prioritization and plan.

• [ ] Revisit and adjust priorities regularly (monthly/quarterly/annually).

• [ ] Use a collaborative tool to track, edit, and assign items.