Having a list of future projects to work on is exciting. This means that there are lots of changes coming up and plenty of upcoming opportunities to improve the business.
Having said that, trying to decide which projects should be your biggest priority can be a real challenge. How will you know which ones need to get started right away and which ones should be left a bit longer?
Is There an Urgent Business Motive?
The first question to ask is whether there is an urgent business reason for any particular project. Maybe you need to sort out a process that is losing your money or adapt to a new piece of legislation that has just come out?
There are many different reasons for choosing one project over another on this basis. The key is in being able to assess them effectively in order to make a smart decision on which one to carry out first.
It may be necessary to get the stakeholder and business experts together to work this out. After all, everyone is likely to see the areas that directly affect them as being most urgent.
How Much Training Is Needed?
Some projects can start pretty much right away, without the need for a lot of preparation time. In other cases, you might need to get a lot of training arranged for the team members who are going to work on it.
This can be a deciding factor, as projects that bring a lot of training needs are going to be slower in kicking off. If everyone is confident with the tasks and tools involved then it is going to be much easier to get started and begin to produce some results.
Of course, it is a sensible move to get basic project training sorted out for the team as early on as possible. The likes of PRINCE2 Foundation Course is always going to come in handy, while advanced Word and Excel skills are other things that they will all need at some point.
Is the Budget There?
Is the amount of budget that you have available going to be a factor in your decision? Maybe you only have a limited amount of money to spend on a project right now and need to make sure that it goes on the right piece of work.
Or perhaps there is a good reason for you to spend more on a project now. At times it can make sense to spend more in order to complete a big or complex project that you have on your list.
The most important point is to make sure that the budget is in place to carry out the piece of work all the way through to the conclusion. The last thing that you want is to realise that you are going to run out of money before the project can be completed.
Do You Need Results Fast?
There may be a pressing reason or two why you need to produce impressive results as quickly as you can. Are you under pressure to show that your project team can deliver or does the company need the morale boost of a successful delivery right now?
In situations like this, it is worth looking at the options for getting a fast delivery. Is there a fairly simple project that you can work on just now in order to see results soon?
Making the right choice for your next project will go a long way to making sure it is a success. By putting some time into the process you can make a choice that makes sense.
https://unsplash.com/photos/rYH2uVsYsS4