Prioritisation of projects or work packages

If you want to prioritize your projects or work packages, it is essential to measure the Cost of Delay associated with the realisation of the benefits of each task or work package. To do this, you can make a list of tasks or projects and estimate their benefit and the cost or effort required to complete them. For consistency it is important compare initiatives of a similar scale, such as a list of tasks, work packages, or projects, and not a mix of these.  Large initiatives should be proken down into smaller deliverables, work packesges or projects for easier comparisson.

For example, let's say you want to reduce heat loss in a home by N%, where N can be achieved by three possible projects. Suppose you assume that these projects should not be done in parallel, and funding is available for all three projects. In that case, you can divide the cost or effort for each and then sort them by the resulting factor from highest to lowest.

Suppose the three projects to reduce heat loss are:

A: Replace windows 30% / €10k = 3

B: Insulate attic 30% / €2k = 15

C: Upgrade heating system 10% / €15k = 0.67

By prioritizing based on the Cost of Delay (i.e. heat lost), the order should be B, A, C, with the highest priority given to Insulate Attic (factor of 15) as this will help reduce the heat loss most significantly. Replacing the windows (factor of 3) should be done next, followed by upgrading the heating system (factor of 0.67).

The optimal project sequence for heat loss reduction can be illustrated using a diagram that prioritizes the projects to achieve the maximum benefit as early as possible, i.e., minimising the heat lost over the time available for all of the projects.