Administering Ranking Fields

This article explains how to define project ranking criteria and values in the Administration area. These criteria are used as an aid in setting project portfolio priorities.

Read the article Ranking and KPI Overview before reading this article.

Overview

Rank fields are criteria by which the value of projects can be measured.

Rank field values are the measurements that define the degree to which the project meets, of fails to meet, the field criterion.

Rank field values can be input as a number or as a list choice selection which has a defined numeric value.

The overall rank score of a project is calculated by a formula which takes into account all the ranking criteria (fields) used for projects of a particular type. (Infrastructure projects may have some very different criteria from New Product Development projects.)

Ranking administration has three elements/pages:

Rank field creation/definition
Rank list creation/definition
Rank formula creation/definition

KPI Fields

A field with a check in the ‘Is KPI” checkbox on the Rank Fields page is a KPI field by definition. KPI fields appear only on the Analysis>KPI page.

Administrators can create and rename KPI fields on the Rank Fields page. Rank lists and rank formulas are relevant only to Rank fields (“Is KPI” unchecked).

KPI fields have associated stored procedures or Pulse scripts tha calculate a result displayed on the Analysis>KPI page.

See the article Project KPIs for detail about the default KPI fields and their calculation methods.

Custom KPI fields and calculations can be created to replace or augment the standard default KPI fields. See your PDWare representative or your ResourceFirst administrator for more information about KPI fields.

Adding Ranking Fields

Step 1: Click on the Administration icon on the Main Menu and then select the Ranking Lists menu.

Step 2: Click the Rank Fields menu.

TIP: If you are working on Rank field value definition and want to hide the KPI fields, filter the “Is KPI” field for unchecked.

Step 3: Click the “+” icon on the upper left of the page.

A new row is added at the top of the table with a text ID rather than a numeric ID and name “New Rank Field”.

Step 4: Populate field attributes on the new rank field row.

Enter a field name.

If the new field is a KPI field, check the “Is KPI” checkbox and go to Step 6.

If the field is a Rank field, continue to the next step.

Step 5: Define scoring for the new rank field.

See the section below “Defining Rank Field Scoring“.

Step 6: Click the Save icon.

Defining Rank Field Scoring

Each rank field included in project ranking will be given a score by an authorized user. The method for setting a score for each rank field is defined on the Rank Fields page.

Numeric Value Rank Fields

The simplest method for defining field scoring is to set a range for score values, e.g. 0 to 3 where a higher number is better. Optionally each number can have a color associated with it; 0 – no color, 1 – Red, 2 – Yellow, 3 – Green. A user scoring a project simply enters a numeric value from 1 to 3.

The range can be of any size, say -10 to +10. If colors are needed, then a minimum and a maximum must be defined for each color; -10 to -5, Red, etc.

The meaning and range of the scoring numbers are defined in your scoring process and must be consistent.

List Value Rank Fields

The score can be set by selecting an item from a list where each item in the list has a score value.

See the section below “Defining Ranking Lists“.

Defining Ranking Lists

Step 1: Click the Rank Lists option to display the Rank Lists page.

Step 2: Click the “+” icon on the upper left of the page, enter a list name and click the dialog Add button.

Step 3: Select any cell in the new rank list row.

Step 4: Click the “+” at the upper left of the right pane to enter list choices and their scores.

New items are automatically marked Active.

The Id gets a numeric value when the user clicks the Save icon.

Step 5: Click the Save icon at the border between the left and right panes of the page.

Multiple List Items Per Color

You are not constrained to one list item per color.

Here is an example of a list with seven items, L1 – 7.

Defining Ranking Formulas

Step 1: Click the Rank Formulas menu to display the Rank Formulas page.

Notice: The formula “Average” is checked as the default; the formula Custom is unchecked in the Active field so is unavailable to apply to projects.

Step 2: Click the “+” icon on the upper left of the page.

Step 3: Enter a formula name and a formula.

Rank Formula Syntax

Field identifier: “Ranking” with rank field ID appended.
Use standard arithmetic operators.
Example of a weighted average formula:

        (Ranking31*2 + Ranking16*5 + Ranking12) / 3 – where 31, 16, and 12 are rank field IDs.

Step 4: Click the Save icon.