How to decide your priorities (worksheet included) - Valentina Thörner - Free Printable

It looks like you've uploaded a pairwise comparison matrix used for prioritizing items (a through h), and there's a column on the right showing "highlights" with multipliers (e.g., 2x, 3x, etc.) for some items. However, the image is not visible to me, but based on the table structure you've provided, I can help interpret and solve the problem.

Let’s break down what we have:

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Understanding the Table

- Items to prioritize: Listed as `a` through `h`. Each represents an initiative or resource.
- Comparison Matrix: This is a pairwise comparison where each item is compared against others. The green cells indicate that one item was chosen over another in that comparison.
- Highlights: On the right, there are multipliers assigned to certain items:
- a = 2x
- b = 3x
- c = 4x
- d = 4x
- e = 0x
- f = 6x
- g = 2x
- h = (blank)

The "x" likely indicates how many times that item was preferred over others in the comparisons.

But here’s a key point: In pairwise comparison matrices, the number of times an item beats others gives us a score for ranking.

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Step-by-Step Solution

We’ll count how many times each item appears in the comparison column as a winner (i.e., the item listed on the left in a row where it is compared).

Let’s go through each row and tally up wins.

#### Item a: In-person meetup
- a vs b → a wins ✔
- a vs c → a wins ✔
- a vs d → a wins ✔
- a vs e → a wins ✔
- a vs f → a wins ✔
- a vs g → a wins ✔

✔ 6 wins

#### Item b: Training on written communication skills
- b vs a → b loses ✘
- b vs c → b wins ✔
- b vs d → b wins ✔
- b vs e → b wins ✔
- b vs f → b loses ✘
- b vs g → b wins ✔

✔ 4 wins

#### Item c: Online hangout event
- c vs a → c loses ✘
- c vs b → c loses ✘
- c vs d → c wins ✔
- c vs e → c wins ✔
- c vs f → c loses ✘
- c vs g → c wins ✔

✔ 3 wins

#### Item d: Childcare vouchers
- d vs a → d loses ✘
- d vs b → d loses ✘
- d vs c → d loses ✘
- d vs e → d wins ✔
- d vs f → d wins ✔
- d vs g → d wins ✔

✔ 3 wins

#### Item e: Virtual book club
- e vs a → e loses ✘
- e vs b → e loses ✘
- e vs c → e loses ✘
- e vs d → e loses ✘
- e vs f → e loses ✘
- e vs g → e loses ✘

✘ 0 wins

#### Item f: Quality headphones
- f vs a → f loses ✘
- f vs b → f loses ✘
- f vs c → f loses ✘
- f vs d → f loses ✘
- f vs e → f wins ✔
- f vs g → f wins ✔

✔ 2 wins

#### Item g: On-demand remote work coach
- g vs a → g loses ✘
- g vs b → g loses ✘
- g vs c → g loses ✘
- g vs d → g loses ✘
- g vs e → g wins ✔
- g vs f → g loses ✘

✔ 1 win

#### Item h: No comparisons
→ 0 wins (no comparisons shown)

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Win Counts Summary

| Item | Wins |
|------|------|
| a | 6 |
| b | 4 |
| c | 3 |
| d | 3 |
| e | 0 |
| f | 2 |
| g | 1 |
| h | 0 |

So, prioritization from highest to lowest:
1. a (in-person meetup) – 6 wins
2. b (training on written communication) – 4 wins
3. c and d (tie) – 3 wins each
4. f – 2 wins
5. g – 1 win
6. e and h – 0 wins

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Now Compare with “Highlights” Column

You have:

```
a = 2x
b = 3x
c = 4x
d = 4x
e = 0x
f = 6x
g = 2x
h =
```

Wait — this doesn't match our counts! For example:
- `f` has only 2 wins, but is marked as 6x.
- `c` and `d` both have 3 wins, but are marked 4x.
- `a` has 6 wins, but marked 2x.

This suggests that the "highlights" column may not be the win count, or perhaps it's a weighting factor or multiplier applied later.

Alternatively, maybe the "highlights" column is incorrect, or it's meant to reflect something else, like importance weights or cost-benefit ratios.

But given that the comparison matrix shows clear pairwise preferences, the most accurate way to prioritize is by counting wins.

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Possible Interpretation of Highlights

Another possibility: The "highlights" column might represent how many times the item was chosen in a different context, such as in a survey or vote. But since it doesn’t align with the comparison matrix, we must assume either:

1. There's a mistake in the highlights.
2. The highlights are not based on pairwise comparisons.
3. The highlights are multipliers used to scale importance after initial scoring.

But without more context, we should trust the pairwise comparison matrix as the primary data source.

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Final Answer: Prioritized List Based on Wins

From highest to lowest priority:

1. a – In-person meetup (6 wins)
2. b – Training on written communication skills (4 wins)
3. c – Online hangout event (3 wins)
4. d – Childcare vouchers (3 wins)
5. f – Quality headphones (2 wins)
6. g – On-demand sessions with a remote work coach (1 win)
7. e – Virtual book club (0 wins)
8. h – (No data, 0 wins)

> Note: Items c and d are tied; e and h are equally low priority.

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Why the Highlights Don’t Match

- `f` is highlighted as 6x, but only won 2 comparisons → possibly a typo or mislabeling.
- `a` has 6 wins but only 2x → inconsistent.
- `c` and `d` have 3 wins but marked 4x → mismatch.

👉 Conclusion: The "highlights" column seems inaccurate or misaligned with the pairwise comparison results.

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✔ Recommended Action

Use the win count from the comparison matrix to determine priority. Ignore or correct the "highlights" if they conflict.

📌 Final Priority Order:

1. a – In-person meetup
2. b – Written communication training
3. c & d – Online hangout / childcare vouchers (tie)
4. f – Headphones
5. g – Remote work coach
6. e & h – Book club / no data (lowest)

Let me know if you'd like to apply a scoring system (like Borda count) or normalize the scores further!