1
Problem Statement
A large number of recommendations (e.g., in
a consultancy report) can immediately appear overwhelming. Ranking
recommendations by impact and importance, as well as grouping by area to which
the recommendation applies (e.g., validation function, finance function),
allows for focus on the “quick wins”; recommendations that have maximum impact
for minimum effort.
2
Suggested Approach
We suggest a hybrid of the following
techniques – see example overleaf:
A.
An overall heatmap plotting
numbered recommendations by impact and importance, split into High/Medium/Low
sections
B.
A coloured background to ease
identification of relative importance, particularly enabling a user to rapidly
identify “quick wins” – recommendations that are low effort and high impact
C.
Pre-requisites plotted
graphically to identify dependencies between recommendations
D.
Separately, a collection of bar
charts show the number of recommendations corresponding to High/Medium/Low
impact and effort, and grouped by area to which the recommendation applies, to
enable a high level view on where to focus resources
3
Rationale and Commentary
The first chart
is self-explanatory, and can be included up-front in a report with limited
explanation. Key advantages of presenting information in this way are:
·
From an overwhelming 100
recommendations in a report, there is now clarity on which recommendations to
prioritise
·
There is clarity, in this
example, for why recommendations 8 and 9 have been included despite being
relatively lower impact for higher effort. As pre-requisites they are essential
pieces of the puzzle for implementing more valuable recommendations
·
The background shading creates
uniformity across recommendations that are equally balanced in terms of impact
and effort
The second chart
requires more explanation. Here, the same recommendations have been grouped to
show the number of recommendations, in each portion of the grid, which is
assigned to one of six areas in the business – reserving, pricing, reporting, finance,
validation, and project management. This allows a focus by area – in the
example shown most project management recommendations are grouped in relatively
high impact, low effort portions, suggesting prioritising the implementation of
these.
Several other points can be made, as
discussed in the following table:
Criticism
|
Possible remedy
|
The heatmap is
visually cluttered
|
This is fairly
inevitable for 100 recommendations – in practice fewer recommendations can be
shown in this way, with larger numbers being grouped into multiple heatmaps
|
Ranking of impact
and effort is subjective
|
This is inevitably
the case, and it is recognised that graphically showing a subjective ranking
gives the appearance of objectivity. However the value is in identifying
initial “quick wins” – candidates for early implementation rather than
rigorously prescribing an order in which recommendations should be addressed
|
4
Applicability and Alternatives
The motivating example is based on a
consultant’s report detailing recommendations to be made, but the technique
applies to any data which can be ranked by 2 variables.
·
A possible extension would be
to colour the recommendation numbers on the heatmap, in line with the colours
showing recommendations by area.
5
Implementation
The case study was produced using Excel and
an example workbook is at available from the Working Party.
For each recommendation, a user is required
to enter a value for impact and effort ranging from 1 to 100, and list any
pre-requisites.
The heatmap is produced as follows:
·
A 100x100 cell grid is
conditionally formatted to provide the background colours
·
VBA is used to create a textbox
containing the number of each recommendation, and place it in the appropriate
location on the grid
·
VBA then adds arrows
representing dependencies
The collected bar charts are basic Excel
charts arranged on a worksheet, however VBA is used to ensure all charts have
the same scale and are coloured consistently.
6
Context
A common result of a consultancy project is
a report detailing recommendations for implementation. Listing such
recommendations can quickly become overwhelming, and too much time is required
up front digesting all recommendations before choosing which to implement.
These graphs were produced to add to the
Executive Summary of a report with 100 recommendations, allowing senior
management to absorb the broad context (how much effort is needed overall, what
areas require the most focus) without necessarily reading every single
recommendation.
7
Tags
Hybrid
|
The approach is a
hybrid of several different elements, attuned to the context
|
Heatmap
|
The recommendations
are plotted geographically on a heatmap depending on their relative impact
and effort
|
Bar chart
|
Bar charts are used
to show the number of recommendations by area
|
8
Document Control
Version
|
Effective Date
|
Author
|
Comments
|
0.1
|
29/05/2018
|
Lloyd Richards
|
First draft
|
0.2
|
28/08/2018
|
Lloyd Richards
|
Initial Upload to Blog
|
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