Pareto Analysis
By: Ray Myers, Jr., PMP
Pareto Analysis is a statistical technique that is used to focus attention to the vital few factors that are responsible for producing most of the problems in a project. You’ve heard it said that 20% of the causes are responsible for 80% of the effort to resolve the problems. What if we could identify the 20% of the issues that cause the most problems? How would that benefit your project? Well, the Pareto Analysis will help you do just that.
The Pareto Analysis is a methodology that enables the project manger to focus and correct those problems that will increase the probability of delivering a successful project. The project manager should do the Pareto Analysis when problems arise to help focus the project team’s efforts on the key cause(s) of a problem.
The Pareto Analysis is best performed after conduction a cause-and-effect analysis to count the frequency of different causal factors and to identify problems. The result will be identification of the 20% of the factors that when resolved, will generate 80% of the advantage. The goal is to identify which 20% of the factors will provide the greatest advantage when addressed.
How to Conduct Pareto Analysis
- Brainstorm and list possible issues, concerns or problems
- Group items, if possible
- Score the items. Use a scoring system of 1-10 for each item on the list
- Sort items—highest score first
- Address highest scored items first
Analysis
- High score items indicates most benefit when resolved
- Highest scored items indicate greatest return
- Lowest score items may cost more than potential return
About the Author: Ray Myers, Jr. is a PMP certified project manager with over 2o years experience planning and managing technology projects. Contact Ray at wwwpmservicesnw.com
Article source: www.pmservicesnw.com
