Everyone is enthusiastic since their ideas were heard and they are now ready to run full steam ahead with implementation of their tactics: making their idea a reality as a solution for the organization. But, maybe you are thinking: should I devote resources to it? And, if you were so fortunate as to have 10 people in that meeting with ten ideas…can you do all those tactics?

I agree, that it is never fun, since the last thing we want to do is to diminish any creative drive by our staff. But you can facilitate their continued involvement and commitment while managing resources to meet the priorities at hand. This can be accomplished by having them participate in the rating process to “weight” which tactics might have a better payoff.

What you find is that it actually structures the decision making process while successfully generating more discussion as people begin to think through their ideas. Here are the steps:

1) Title a spreadsheet or flip chart with the name of the initiative

2) Create 6 column heads on the spreadsheet:

> Idea/Tactic: action to meet the initiative

> Value/Relevancy: tactic’s relevancy to initiative?

> Ease of Implementation: easily execute the tactic?

> Resource Availability: have people, money, time?

> Cost Benefit: tactic’s impact worth the effort?

> Total Rating: total of weightings

3) List all the ideas under the Idea/Tactic column

4) Provide each team member with the spreadsheet

5) Each member weights each idea vs. the criteria on a scale1 to 4, with four as highest or best adding-up the weights for a Total Rating.

6) Highest weighted become the direction pursued.

7) Two or three complimentary tactics can be clustered into one grouping to be  executed by a sub-team.