What Is It?
A prioritisation matrix is a technique used to achieve consensus within a specific group of participants about an issue (in this case about the selection of critical actions). The matrix helps to rank the actions by particular criteria, as defined by the participants, which are considered important to the project. This allows participants to see clearly which actions should be tackled first.

Objective
Produce a democratic and participatory view of priorities in relation to the identification of critical actions for which capacities must be considered.

Outcome
A measurable and logical basis for determining the most important actions to the success of the project, and so for considering the capacities needed to implement these actions.

Special Considerations/Weaknesses

  • Identifying criteria can be problematic if the brainstorming process raises a large number of issues.
  • Some issues may be overlooked simply because they are not raised by participants.

Resources Required
Flip chart paper, marker pens, space and dot stickers.

Steps

  1. List all identified actions arising from the force field analysis or conduct a brainstorming session on actions that participants believe are required to achieve the desired outcomes for reform.
  2. Create the prioritisation matrix chart with five headings: Actions, Frequency, Importance, Feasibility and Total Points.
  3. In the first column, under Actions, list all of the identified actions.
  4. In the second to fourth columns, define your criteria. Examples of some typical criteria are:
  • Frequency: how frequently does/will this issue affect the participants? Does it occur often or only on rare occasions?
  • Importance: from the point of view of participants, what are the most important issues?
  • Feasibility: how easily will you be able to find a way to address this issue? Will it be easy or difficult?
  • Other criteria can be selected if they better fit the situation you are discussing.
  1. Provide each participant with 10 dot stickers and ask them to allocate these as they wish to indicate the perceived relevance of each action to the criteria. There are no restrictions on allocating points; participants can give all their points to one criterion for one action or spread them evenly across the actions.
  2. The tally of dots allows priorities to be evaluated and actions identified which participants consider "critical" for success.

Source
The Community Engagement Network (2005) Effective Engagement: Strengthening Relationships With Community and Other Stakeholders – Book 3, The Engagement Toolkit. Resource and Regional Services Divisions, Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.