Able to prioritise

What is prioritisation?

The way in which a council determines the relative importance and urgency of activities in relation to its overall transformation objectives so that resources, time, and effort can be allocated effectively.

It involves systematically organising and ranking activities based on multiple factors that are usually defined as a single prioritisation matrix linked back to organisational outcomes.

Essential for:

• All types of transformation.

Knowledge

• Understanding of the Council’s overall vision and objectives.
• Understanding of how to create and implement effective prioritisation mechanisms.
• Understanding of inter-dependencies and how to manage dependencies across a portfolio or a programme.

Skills

Able to:

• Define criteria: For evaluating the relative importance and urgency of transformation activities aligned to the achievement of strategic objectives.
• Map and manage dependencies: To ensure prioritisation takes any necessary sequencing into account.
• Negotiate effectively: With stakeholder about their relative priorities and needs within the context of the defined criteria.
• Allocate and manage time and resources: Aligned to priority areas of focus.
• Manage change: To ensure changes to requirements or scope are well managed, documented and fully traceable.
• Conduct impact assessments: To understand the impact of changes on the sequencing and delivery of overall deliverables before taking decisions.
• Manage and mitigate risk: Following a structured approach within the risk framework to ensure that prioritisation identifies, analyses, and mitigates risk.
• Communicate: Effectively at all levels, both verbally and in writing.
• Track and continually review progress: To ensure responsiveness to emerging needs and changes in the operating environment.

Behaviours

• Collaborative
• Organised
• Analytical
• Fair / objective
• Decisive 
• Authentic
• Empathetic
• Adaptable and pragmatic
• Resilient
• Committed to continual learning