To Do or Not to Do? Here’s How to Answer the Question

By Byron Headrick, CSSBB, CQE

So the question is, should you invest your time, energy and money making that idea that hit you in the shower this morning come into existence?  Can it really make a difference in your business?  There are two easy approaches to evaluating improvement ideas, the first approach is one that I find works well with small tasks or actions.  All you have to do is use this equation to evaluate the idea: Value / Effort > 1

If the overall Value of doing the tasks when divided by the amount Effort required to do it is less than one, you really should consider doing something else with your resources.

What about for larger projects?  Well here is another way of evaluating larger projects.  It is a little more complex, but causes you to really put some detailed thought into it.

Benefit  X Resources Needed X Complexity = Priority Rating

On a scale of 1 to 10 rate the Benefit that the project would bring.  10 would be the highest or greatest Benefit.  On the same scale of 1 to 10 rate the overall Resources Needed to complete the project.  This time 1 should be the most resources and 10 would be NO or FREE when it comes to resources.  Lastly rate the overall Complexity of the project (i.e. Skills needed, regulatory considerations, etc.).  This time 1 should be the most complexity a project could have and 10 would be the lowest complexity.  Now simply multiply all three together.  Projects above 500 should be considered, especially those close to 1000.  Lower rating projects should be eliminated from consideration.

A word of warning, there are always some items in business that have to be addressed no matter how they score using the above formula, especially items that are required by third parties or government regulations. This technique is based on the same type of equation that is used in Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to calculate Risk Priority Numbers to help prioritize what risk needs to be addressed in a new process or product design. When working FMEAs a failure severity rating of 9 or 10 requires immediate attention no matter how the equation ends up rating the overall risk. Failure ratings of 9 or 10 equate to extreme personal injury or loss of life. There are defiantly actions in business that must be addressed for the overall health of the business – no matter how they rate overall. Just remember to be careful that this is the exception and not the rule.

Byron Headrick is the owner of LEAN Frog, Your local small business consultant and weekly host of the Lean Machine Radio Show on WTKI 92.9 FM.