COEPD – Center of Excellence for Professional Development Happy Learning
Project priorities mean deciding which tasks, features or any requirements are most important for the project and that need to be focused first. In other word we can say some task, features or requirements are consider more important than others and that need to be focused first. It helps the project team to make decisions about what work to do first and in what order to achieve the project objectives.
MOSCOW Technique I used for project priorities in my live project and its very effective method. This method classifies requirements into four level of priority. 1 Must Have, 2 Should Have, 3 Could Have 4 Won’t Have.
1 Must Have – These are requirement critical to the success of the project and must be completed to reach the project goal.
2 Should Have – These are requirement important but not critical and can be put back if necessary.
3 Could Have – These are requirement beneficial but not necessary and can be put back or drop if necessary.
4 Won’t Have – These are requirement not consider important or necessary and it will not be included in the project.
Project priorities are important because they help the project team to decide which tasks to work on first. Some reasons why project priorities are important.
- Efficient use of resources – Prioritization ensures that the project team focus on the most important task first, saving time, money and effort. This help to make the best use of resources and avoid waste.
- Reduced risk of project delays and cost overshoot – Prioritizing tasks ensures that the critical tasks are being addressed first, reducing the risk of project delays and cost overruns.
- Improved decision making – Prioritizing tasks helps the project team to make better decisions about what work to do first, making sure they work on the most important tasks that help to achieve the project goals.
- Increased efficiency – Prioritizing tasks helps the project team to work faster and better by focusing on the most important tasks first, which saves time and resources. This increases efficiency and helps to complete the project quickly and effectively.
- Ensuring alignment with project goals – By setting project priorities, the team focuses on the tasks that will help achieve the project’s goals, increasing the chances of success.
In any project to handle project priorities successfully below point need to be consider.
- Identify project goal and objectives – prior to use project priorities need to understand project goal and objectives to determine which tasks are critical.
- Identify all tasks and requirements – Make a list of all tasks and requirements needed to achieve the project goals.
- Classify tasks based on importance – use prioritization method, such as Moscow method, to classify tasks based on their importance.
- Allocate resources – Allocate resources to tasks based on their priority level to ensure that critical tasks are addressed first.
- Monitor progress – Regularly monitor progress to ensure that tasks are being completed according to their priority level and adjust if necessary.
- Communicate priorities to the team – Communicate project priorities to the team, so everyone is clear on which tasks are most critical and should be addressed first.
- Re-prioritize as needed: As the project progresses, re-prioritize tasks, if necessary, based on changes in project goals or other factors.
