How can you prioritize tasks in a program with confidence?

As program managers, we often skip the step of aligning tasks with vision when issues come up, as it can be overwhelming to prioritize and execute due to schedules and constraints. We have to ask ourselves what the most important outcomes that the program is working towards are. Once we have a clear understanding of these objectives, we can prioritize tasks based on their level of impact on these goals. This also helps to communicate with stakeholders and team members to ensure everyone is aligned with the program vision and priorities. This will enable them to identify any potential roadblocks or issues early on so proactive steps can be taken to address them, keeping this on track and maintaining alignment towards the vision.

Array tasks by criticality (to performance, schedule, risk) and prioritize on those with the highest potential impact to the program. That should tell you where to focus. While that's an objective/analytical way of looking at things, you still need to apply common sense. Otherwise, we wouldn't need program managers.

In my experience following things will help - Explaining why will give urgency to stakeholders and program manager and developers - what and how of the program can help in identifying right set of people required for the program if you have choice to select people. If that is not the choice, then training/skill set upgrade required for the people should be carried out first. - Incremental deliveries and milestone should planned first - considering capacity or working backward from the deadline - Small teams will help as they can become self managed to break up tasks to reach to milestone in time. - Developers generally are not good at reporting risks, and they will be optimistic till last day. PM should analyse risk on regular basis.

Task priority has to be aligned with program vision to ensure it contributes to overall program success and demonstrates the progress to stakeholders.

Assuming that the task is defined based on Project : Objective, schedule and cost Priority of task is dependent on three factors : 1. Impact - What it impacts further in the chain for schedule, cost, quality ? 2. Dependencies (Predecessor & successor) - do we have the input to execute, Is the team next is ready to sample ? 3. Complexity - Is the effort or skill needed needs to start now or pilots ? Though its not an easy answer ever, but a detailed plan done earlier with critical paths and dependencies defined makes it easy to call out.

Program managers need to identify dependencies at the beginning of the program, add contingency to the overall program plan to take care of those dependencies.

As a program manager, I want to prioritize tasks based on their alignment with the overall organizational strategy, program vision, program objectives and goals as these will determine resource(time, energy, money, manpower, machinery etc) allocation.

In my experience, to prioritize tasks in a program, assess task dependencies. Task dependencies are relationships between tasks that affect their order, duration, and resource requirements. Use tools like work breakdown structures, network diagrams, Gantt charts, and critical path analysis to assess task dependencies. These tools help identify logical sequences, critical paths, slack time, and resource constraints. Assessing task dependencies optimizes the program schedule and resource allocation.

Before assessing the task dependencies, it is important to spend time to identify and drill down tasks into "bite-sized" tasks, with a measurable outcome. Each task should have a definitive outcome either qualifying qualitatively or quantitatively. This clarity of thought helps align all the tasks required for a larger step. Then assessing dependencies between tasks is the next logical step.

A qualified and an experienced program manager should be able to handle this task well. Critical path method for multiple tasks should be identified and captured in a document and watched closely during execution stage.

Channel your inner critic to evaluate task importance. Weed out the extraneous, focusing on tasks that hold the utmost relevance to the overarching program goals. It's about quality, not quantity.

A priority matrix can help with determining priority and difficult. Create a 2 by 2 matrix with difficulty and time as the two axis. Next, separate tasks into one of the 4 quadrants. Finally, you select on which quadrant to focus.

Success of a program is in delivery of benefits to the stakeholders or customers, hence, tasks which provides benefits in a faster time frame (as we say low hanging fruits) should organically be considered higher priority. Early delivery of benefits encourages enthusiastic stakeholder participation.

o Identify tasks that are time-sensitive or have strict deadlines. o Evaluate the tasks based on their overall contribution to the project's goals. o Assess the potential risks associated with each task. o Consider the technical complexity of each task. o Tasks that are simpler or have well-defined solutions may be prioritized to ensure a smoother development process. o Identify tasks that are crucial for key stakeholders or clients. o Prioritize tasks that align with the expectations and needs of influential stakeholders to maintain a positive relationship. Once you have assessed tasks based on these criteria, you can assign priority levels.

It's important to group the tasks and align to a Business objective. Once this is done, the Business owners can give planned value to this objective. Depending upon the capacity, resources availability prioritization can be done and important task can be focused that brings value to customer

Embrace uncertainty with a strategic approach. Utilize risk and change management tools to navigate unforeseen challenges, ensuring your program remains flexible and resilient in the face of change.

Risk management and change control are essential elements of program management. By identifying risks, one can ensure appropriate mitigation measures are in place to reduce the threat impact or maximize the opportunities. Change control helps to ensure any changes to baselined scope, schedule, cost, resources and benefits are impact assessment and managed effectively to ensure that the programme meets its intended outcomes.

Change management must be tailored to the specific phase of a program, especially in complex initiatives like AI implementation. During the early stages, the approach to managing change will differ markedly from the methods used post-launch when disseminating information across the organization. For instance, an AI program might initially target a specific business issue, but its broader goal could involve overhauling the entire end-to-end process. Successful change management should therefore adapt to these evolving phases. This aspect is frequently neglected, leading to the failure of many digital transformation efforts. #ai #operationalizingAI #appliedai

Adaptive management is key here to keep monitoring the progress of the tasks in the program. Helpful is to develop a RASCI (Responsible, Accountable, Support, Consult, Inform) tool at the start of the program implementation to manage and mitigate risks in order to achieve the objectives.

When managing change, it is important to evaluate each action with a list of positives and negatives. You are essentially evaluating the level of risk. Once you have slimed down the list to the most appropriate choices, choose the option with the least amount of risk or the level of risk your manager is willing to take.

Stakeholder communication and collaboration plays a major role in ironing out problems well in advance ..it’s better to keep all updated about delays , pitfalls but at same time also celebrating wins and milestone achievement’s with stakeholders is a key . Communication also helps for early alignment of program vision milestones etc .

Always define and give clear instructions to your team. We can use a collaborative project management tool. Everyone, from entry-level employees to team leads, should be able to see their assigned tasks and know which take priority. This can usually be done in a project management platform by assigning a visual aid like a red flag (🚩) to any task that takes precedence over others. The accessibility of an online task list allows us to update the whole team in real-time, making for more seamless collaboration. This helps everyone stay on the same page when something new drops into our workflow or data pipeline, and allows us to prioritize the task appropriately.

Adapt daily huddles / standups from Agile and Lean Management approaches. Focus on work completed, work planned, milestones / metric status, and challenges. Ask for engagement on common themes and sharing resources to overcome hurdles. Leverage and empower the team of teams and watch awesome things happen (I have learned this through positive experience with my teams over the past 6 months).

Charters are an important part of program management governance & communication structure. They enable us to have a standard communication, at a fixed point in time, aligning all stakeholders. The program charter clearly defines the program's purpose, objectives, and scope, providing a North Star for decision-making (PMBOK, 6th ed.). Program governance ensures team alignment on tasks and accountability, ensuring strategic priorities are met and effective prioritization of competing interests. A good communication strategy with a program team is characterized by a solid, well updated charter in a clear and university understood government structure for informed decision-making, conflict resolution, and alignment with strategic goals.

Communication is the key to success. Collaboration is a tool to be used to support communication. And, the right question will bring perspective across teams and supporting members, for many projects may have layers of uncertainty amongst members who do not look outside of the given tasks. There needs to be the ability to have an open floor with teams and stakeholders, and the ability to learn member's styles of communication can bring clarity and value to projects. Sometimes it may take members to be proactive or be aware of common trends that teams may not be aware of, but with communication amongst teams, these issues can be brought up and mitigated before they become a problem.

Eisenhower Matrix: This method involves dividing tasks into four categories based on their urgency and importance: do first, schedule, delegate, and don't do. ABC Method: Each task is assigned a letter based on its priority level, with A being the most important. Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule): This principle suggests that 20% of your efforts produce 80% of the results. Identifying and focusing on these tasks can improve productivity. Time Blocking: Allocating specific blocks of time for each task or type of task. MIT (Most Important Task): Identifying 1-3 most critical tasks each day and ensuring they are completed.

I appreciate simple, color coded visuals that show the time spent on each project (by each contributor) and allows the team to cross reference with the deliverables- color coding each person’s time allocation in the project calendar provides a great reflection and tracking tool to measure and track change! Let me know if you have questions!

Cultivate the mindset of a vigilant gardener, regularly reviewing and updating task priorities. Ensure they align with the evolving landscape of your program, adapting to the changing needs and circumstances. Priorities, like a garden, demand ongoing attention to flourish.

One of the most helpful things I did as a Program Manager was to create a simple 2-page Program Goals and Progress Tracker that I updated annually. This way I could sit down with Executives and quickly show what my Team is working towards for the upcoming year and our past years' progress. It also provided a means to work with my staff and identify work ahead and any training or professional development opportunities that could advance the Program. I got my requested budget every time!

I do not clearly see how the contractual inputs are captured in the priorities. I feel that a step is missing between steps 1 and 2. To clearly identify the contractual milestones, payment plans and associated penalty scheme. For each of them we should have deliverables associated to tasks, and LDs scheme is an input for priorities. Opportunities can also be put in the schedule as for risks mitigations.

There are differences between programs and projects. The program should be focused on alignment with strategic objectives that yield benefits. It should be less of a focus on the task level. The task level should be driven by the project managers who are leading the projects within the program.

✅Ask the team members to number the remaining items based on priority – not size. Sometimes the smallest tasks can be the most important. ✅Review them with team to assess the task dependencies. If it doesn’t need to be done today, put a date 📅 on it. ✅This point is for resources who are overloaded based on resource load data. Consider what you can delegate. Delegation is one of your most powerful tools. If you are concerned that the output might not meet expectations, you should flag the task for later investigation ✅Ask the team to start working on them in order – highest priority to lowest. ✅Have weekly meeting to review on the progress

I am not keen on the idea of task prioritisation. The question should be optimal program design. Most programs are made up of constituent projects each of which are selected to achieve the overall program goal. Some are core, perhaps technical projects, while others are equally important support projects. Another category to consider are higher risk-higher return projects that could augment outcomes but would not undermine the program goal if they fail. In terms of design, each project must be appropriately sequenced whilst complementing other projects to maximise progress towards the outcome.

Here's how you can prioritise your program task list with confidence. - Figure out the critical path task items in collaboration with your teams. - Assess the critical path items for any dependencies on any other tasks/teams/departments. - Once you have the inputs from the above two, you can order your task list for execution. Simple and effective!

Identifying the Four "S" possibly makes it a lot easier in terms of overall effort, T&M during the set project timeline: - Scope (Defines clear project scope for periodic evaluation) - Schedules (includes major timelines) - Strategy (Defines appropriate approach, methods and tools) - Stakeholders