Multiple Project Screening Checklist
by Michael Kelly, M.A.
Owners, sponsors and project mangers are often called upon to decide which projects are more
important than others – this is especially true in enterprise or portfolio type project environments. One
simple tool1 to use is a decision matrix that uses the same criteria as the Project Screening Checklist
applied to many project possibilities.
The steps for completing the matrix are as follows:
Activity
Example
1. Set up the matrix template.
As in Illustration 1 below.
2. Use the same categories as on the
Project Screening Checklist
This ensures consistency of consideration
across all projects in the organization.
3. Decide on the overall weight to be
applied to each category.
Some resource-based organizations, for
example, might place a higher
importance on safety, productivity and
environmental issues when following
through on projects and therefore weight
their project considerations higher in
these two categories.
4. Hide the weighted values
To ensure as much objectivity as
possible.
5. Rate each project relative to each
category first.
Where 5 is the most desirable and 1 is
the least desirable.
6. Multiply each individual rating by
Say that the “meet targets” category was
the weighted factor of each category. weighted .2 times and that Project 1
received a score of 2, then .4 would be
the overall score.
7. Total the scores for each project.
The project with the highest score
represents the most important.
1 The strength of the decision is determined by how objectively the matrix decision-making process is conducted and the
overall validity of the metric used.
Multiple Project Screening Checklist
1
Sample Multiple Project Screening Matrix
Productivity Requirements that:
Health
and
Meet
Safety Targets
Weight
x
x
Lower
Costs
x
Recover
Recycle
or
Environmental
Reuse
Requirements
x
x
People
In Our Work
Community
Good
Organizational
Citizenship
Totals
x
x
1.0
Project 1
________________
_____
Project 2
________________
_____
Project 3
________________
_____
Decision Matrix
© Michael Kelly, 2007
Multiple Project Screening Checklist
2