9 Prioritization Frameworks + Tools to Help You Use Them

Trying to choose the right prioritization tool or framework for your team is not easy. There are so many to choose from. If you’re feeling stuck or don’t know where to start, this guide is written to help you decide which prioritization system is best for your team and situation. 

We’ve rounded up several kinds of prioritization frameworks and then recommended software to prioritize projects, tools to prioritize tasks, tools to perform strategy prioritization, apps to prioritize the product roadmap, productivity tools, and more.

We hope this article helps you hit the ground running and start using these prioritization methods in your work.

A prioritization framework is a structured method or system teams or individuals use to evaluate and rank tasks, projects, or goals based on predefined criteria. It helps individuals and teams make informed decisions about what to tackle next by assigning priorities to items. Great prioritization frameworks allow us to feel good about what we choose to concentrate our efforts on the most important tasks and what work we’ve decided to delay or leave behind.

Whenever we have a list of things to do longer than our ability to execute we must prioritize. Prioritization is the act of making decisions on what to do and what to not do. There are numerous ways to prioritize. However, Deciding how to decide on a priority tool or prioritization framework can be just as difficult as making the decisions itself. 

📌 We want to keep this guide up to date. If you have a prioritization framework or prioritization tool you think we should add to this list, please write to us and we’ll consider adding your contribution to this article.

The simplest prioritization techniques are:

They are simple methods of evaluating and ordering a set of items in a list from best to worst. This can be based on value, impact, or any other metric that is important to the task at hand.

Stack Ranking is a simple prioritization method in which you rank items according to a scale (for example 1-10). You think about the importance of each item relative to every other item and form a prioritized list in this manner. Imagine your prioritized list as a “stack” of cards, with the most important item on the top and the least important item on the bottom.  

Stack ranking involves comparing the relative importance of ideas or tasks to one another to prioritize them. That is why stack ranking is often referred to as relative prioritization.

If you’ve run out of items on the prioritized list to compare, put your new item at the bottom of the list.

The Top-n method is a more refined version of stack ranking, which involves selecting the top items from a list. This method can be useful when you’re trying to narrow down a long list to a shorter list that can be executed on. For example, you can use Top-n Ranking to narrow down to 5 goals. Or, if your team has a history of being able to work on 12-15 tasks over a given period of time you would take your top 15 tasks from a prioritized task list.

You should consider using Top-n Ranking when you’d consider using Stack Ranking, but your list of items gets too long.

When a single prioritization metric (such as revenue potential, customer satisfaction, importance, etc.) or intuition won’t do, tasks can be prioritized by scoring them on two dimensions. You can score them by dragging them around a graphical canvas or using a spreadsheet to form a prioritization matrix.

The most common prioritization matrices are the::

These methods are particularly popular for project prioritization.

An Impact vs. Effort matrix (also known as a Value vs. Effort matrix or Effort vs. Value matrix) is a simple two-by-two chart that helps folks figure out which tasks to tackle first. Picture a square divided into four smaller squares. The x-axis (horizontal line) represents a scale for “effort,” and the y-axis (vertical line) represents “impact.”

Impact vs. Effort matrices are helpful for cutting through the noise and bias that may result from stack ranking. They are particularly helpful when you have multiple projects or tasks competing for resources and need to decide which ones to focus on. This matrix helps you identify high-impact, low-effort tasks that should be prioritized, so whatever you prioritize should help you make the biggest impact with the lowest amount of effort.

This prioritization matrix works well for both individuals and teams. It’s super handy for figuring out where to start when everything seems important. It can also show a team where their energy is best spent, ensuring everyone is pulling in the same direction.

The Eisenhower Matrix helps teams focus on prioritizing according to urgency and importance. It’s named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States who was known for his effective management and decision-making skills, which were crucial both in military operations and later in his political career.

The concept is rooted in a principle he is often credited with formulating, goes something like:

This idea helps separate tasks based on their urgency and their importance, leading to the four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix.

It’s worth noting that while the concept is attributed to Eisenhower, the “Eisenhower Matrix” as a popular tool came about later and was developed by productivity experts and business thinkers who expanded on his principles. So while he didn’t invent the “matrix” per se, the fundamental idea behind it comes from his approach to decision-making and prioritization.

Here’s how the Eisenhower Matrix works: Imagine another square divided into four smaller squares. The x-axis represents “urgency,” and the y-axis represents “importance.”

Use an Eisenhower Matrix when time management is an important component of your prioritization approach. For example, if you’re running up against a deadline and it will be impossible to finish all the tasks, use an Eisenhower Matrix to distinguish between what’s urgent and important to complete vs what’s non-urgent and unimportant.

For individuals, the Eisenhower Matrix helps separate the urgent from the important, so you’re not just putting out fires all day. It helps you make time for tasks that will benefit you in the long run.

For teams, this matrix can help clarify priorities for everyone. Team members can see which tasks are crucial and time-sensitive, and which can be scheduled or delegated. This way, everyone knows what they should be working on and why.How to Understand an Eisenhower Matrix

Prioritization systems like the RICE Method, MoSCoW Analysis, and Kano Analysis model are used to prioritize items based on a variety of factors, such as reach, impact, confidence, and effort by calculating and comparing prioritization scores. These methods are particularly useful for product teams performing product prioritization or prioritizing features or bug fixes on the product backlog.

The RICE method is a system used to prioritize tasks or projects by considering four key factors: 

The acronym RICE stands for these four elements. Here’s what each term means:

The RICE method is useful when you have various tasks or projects you could work on but aren’t sure where to start. For teams, the RICE method offers a structured approach to making decisions. It adds some quantitative reasoning to decision-making, which can help individuals and teams be more objective in their reasoning on the best course of action.

4. Rank and Prioritize: Once you have the RICE scores, rank the tasks from highest to lowest score. The higher the RICE score, the higher the priority.

5. Take Action: Start with the task that has the highest RICE score and work your way down the list.

The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique used to sort tasks or requirements into four categories: 

The capital letters in “MoSCoW” stand for these categories:

The MoSCoW method is a versatile prioritization tool. For personal tasks or everyday to-do lists, it helps individuals zero in on what’s essential, ensuring they don’t waste time on low-priority activities. In a team setting, such as in project management or software development, it provides a framework for stakeholders and team members to align on what tasks are crucial, especially when resources are tight. The MoSCoW method is adaptable to various timeframes – from daily planning to year-long projects.

The Kano Model is a theory for product development and customer satisfaction developed by Japanese professor and customer satisfaction consultant Noriaki Kano. The Kano Model focuses on understanding customer needs and expectations to prioritize features or improvements. It’s particularly popular in the realms of product management, marketing, and customer experience design.. The model categorizes customer preferences into five groups:

The Kano Model is helpful for understanding how to match customer expectations to product features. Try using this model when you want to make informed decisions about resource allocation, product development, and customer satisfaction. Note that the Kano Model can only be used successfully when you deeply understand the needs of your customers, so it only works in teams that have done extensive customer or user research. With that in mind the Kano Model is a helpful approach to take after polling users on their experience with your product or service.

Opportunity Scoring is a prioritization method often used in product management to evaluate the potential value of different features, improvements, or initiatives. Opportunity Scoring excels specifically in performing gap analysis – prioritizing efforts that are underserved by the marketplace. 

The idea is to assess opportunities based on two main factors: the importance of a particular problem to customers and how satisfied customers are with current solutions to that problem. The basic premise is that the bigger the problem and the less satisfied customers are with existing solutions, the wider the gap in the marketplace and the higher the opportunity score will be.

Opportunity Scoring is best used when companies are at a crossroads and looking at bigger features they could build. In that sense, it is a market exploration prioritization method. It can help teams prioritize what problems to tackle first for users, especially when resources are limited. It brings in a more structured, data-informed approach to decision-making.

5. Prioritize: The higher the Opportunity Score, the more valuable that feature or improvement is likely to be. You would generally prioritize the features or improvements with the highest Opportunity Scores.

Weighted Scoring Prioritization also known as the Weighted Scoring Model is a prioritization method that helps teams decide which projects or tasks to focus on by assigning weights and scores to various criteria that are important for the project’s success. 

Weighted scoring provides a structured, custom, and quantitative approach to decision-making. It is particularly helpful for teams that want to prioritize items according to some custom indicators. In this sense teams can design their own weighted scoring method. By assigning weights to each criterion, organizations can align priorities with their own strategic goals and objectives, leading to more informed and consistent decision-making.

The weighted scoring method allows teams to take multiple factors into account and make more nuanced, data-driven decisions. It’s especially useful when there are conflicting viewpoints or when you’re dealing with complex projects that have multiple variables to consider. By giving everyone a clear, shared framework for decision-making, Weighted Scoring Prioritization can help align team members and keep everyone focused on the most impactful tasks.

Here’s a simple way to do weighted scoring prioritization:

6. Rank and Prioritize: The tasks or projects with the highest total weighted scores should be your top priorities.

7. Review and Adjust: After you’ve executed the top-priority tasks, or if circumstances change (like a sudden drop in budget), revisit your weighted scores to see if the priorities still hold.

It might take a little experimentation to find the right prioritization technique for your particular scenario. So feel free to experiment with a few and see what feels right. Check out the prioritization frameworks and templates available in Parabol if you need further inspiration.