Introducing Priority Builder

Setting priorities on a team is often challenging. Let’s say we have ten mission critical initiatives. Most times the team cannot do everything, and certainly not at once. So how do we set the priorities on a team?

We make use of a methodology, process and technology we call Priority Builder. Here is how it works. We identify the initiatives from all of the team members, every single one. Once we have these we do what we call a quick ranking using the Hive. Our goal is to narrow the ten initiatives down to seven. The forced ranking via the hive takes about 10 minutes. We ask the leaders of the Three initiatives who didn’t make the cut to explain to the team the reasons why their cut initiative should be part of the seven. Afterwards we see if there is a group consensus to change out any of the initiatives. In our experience this rarely happens.

Next we take the seven remaining initiatives and put through a “Win Tunnel”  exercise to determine value, causation, sequencing, and disruption. Here is how it works.

The concept of a BCL - A BCL is a Business Case Lite. Each executive takes the time to prepare a business case for their particular initiative. They place their answers in The Hive. The business case must identify:

What - What is AIM of this initiative?
Rationale - Why must we ACT on it?
The presenter must also rate the initiative along three scales using the Multi-Scale tool in the Hive.
    •    Assess VALUE in terms of Mission Critical Returns / Cost
    •    What COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE can we expect?
    •    How DIFFICULT Is this to do?

The HIVE's Discussion Tool is used and attached to each initiative. All team members have access to the Discussion Tool. We set the discussion to be a signed discussion and allow team members to comment on each others comments. Team members are told that this discussion will be open for three days prior to the face to face Priority Setting Meeting.

At the meeting we open up the BCLs, the Multi-Scales and the Discussion. Priorities can easily set after a short discussion. These can become a road map for achieving the initiatives. In our experience we often find ways to change, fund and sequence those initiatives  not initially accepted.

Using Priority Builder saves tremendous time by sharpening the debate, and disciplining the team to make decisions based on real information.

Why Do Fighters Clinch?

I was watching a debate last night - so many to watch at this time of year. And instead of listening to the content. I decided to watch the body language. I turned off the sound and watched. As Yogi Berra once quipped, "You can observe a lot, by just watching." As the two debated, the distance between them increased. They looked away, down, and not at each other. It was clear that neither was listening and each was only interested in speaking faster and in over speaking the other.  It was quite funny to watch and also a bit disturbing.

In conflict situations, we can learn a lot from professional fighters. The safest place is close - so close in fact that you hold on to your opponent. It's called a clinch. So close that the referee has to separate you. Fighters do this to rest before taking their aggressive natural stance, where they can do the most damage.
The clinch is a good metaphor for our conflicts. How close can we really get to our opponent. Can we get close enough that we can see the world from her eyes, feel her angst, frustration or pain? Do we really have the desire to be so close that we actually can empathize? It's worth thinking about. Better yet it's worth trying. Try restating what your opponent actually says. Try saying, "So what I understand you to mean is…and you see it that way because… In the conflict situations that we face as facilitators, rarely is the situation resolved by one side winning at the expense of the other.

Healthy conflict can result in heating up our team membership. Passion is a good thing. It leads to more energy while forcing team members to sharpen their thinking and speaking. A good team clinch is worth pursuing. In Aikido, we have a saying, "The way out is through the way in."