Investment Prioritisation

What the framework is

Investment prioritisation compares investment opportunities to decide where money and effort are most likely to create long-term value. The template starts with five criteria: Potential Return, Strategic Alignment, Risk Level, Scalability and Time to Value. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.

What the result looks like

When it earns its place

Use it for capital planning, innovation funds, portfolio reviews or choosing between growth initiatives, when the options compete for the same budget.

The trap is comparing returns without comparing risk. A high projected return often rests on the most optimistic assumptions. Ranking on risk separately makes that visible.

How to run it with a group

1. Describe each opportunity with its rough cost and timescale.
2. Agree the weights, including how much risk the organisation will accept.
3. Participants compare the opportunities two at a time on each criterion. Participants do not need an account to respond. Three to six options keep it manageable: with five options and five criteria, each person makes 50 comparisons.
4. Read the overall ranking, then the ranking per criterion, and check the top choices against the budget and the risk appetite.

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