By Karen Walker-Tunoa

If you were born in the early 1960’s or before, you’ll probably remember the hit TV series called M*A*S*H that aired from 1972 to 1983. It was about the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital staff that were placed on the front-lines during the Korean war. They found laughter was the best way to deal with their situation, although much of their time was spent in triage. Triage is the determination of priorities for action based on the likely benefit of immediate medical treatment. It literally can mean the difference between life and death of a patient. Although controversial, it’s proven to be so effective it’s been used on battlefields and when necessary, even during local disasters in emergency departments throughout the world.

Triage patients are divided into three groups according to the severity of their injuries: 1) Those who will survive only with immediate treatment; 2) Those who will survive without treatment; 3) Those who will not survive with or without treatment. This process is controversial, however many believe it maximizes the number of lives saved.

Suppose, just for a moment, triage was taken into the world of business. What if the process of triage was used to determine priority for projects and activities? What affect might this have on productivity? What would this look like?

Using Results Triage will give businesses the ability to quickly and accurately identify issues of a situation that are in need of immediate improvement as a way to stop the bleeding of non-performance and get better results by focusing resources on the most beneficial projects. Here’s how Results Triage can be applied:

Result Group 1:

The accurate completion of this project will significantly advance the company’s bottom-line, reputation, and exposure to new business by improving effectiveness.  

Result Group 2:

The completion of this project will not impact the company; status quo remains.  

Result Group 3:

The completion of this project may actually cost the company in wasted work-hours due to lack of efficiencies within the project; it’s like throwing good money after bad, it only feeds a few egos with little, if any, contribution to the bottom-line.

To obtain outstanding results, focus on the Result Group 1 projects. This means little time is allotted for Result Group 2 and there may be a need to cut the losses of Result Group 3. This may be a tough call when emotions fuel the projects, however necessary.

I also recommend individuals Result Triage their own professional activities. Ask questions such as, is the item you spent the last two hours working on classified as a Result Group 1, 2, or 3? Is the outcome impactful, beneficial, or just “busy” work which offers no true value?

Take for example a sales force concentrating on the merits of a Result Group 1 project. Goals are being met, deliverables are on time, and profits are made. However, that same sales force can spend the same concentrated effort on a Result Group 3 project and not have success. Why? The Result Group 3 project, might at one time have been a good idea, but no longer offers the same benefits.

Many times organizations don’t analyze projects frequently enough to determine if they are worth pursuing. Results Triage can improve a company’s effectiveness and accelerate productivity, just as medical triage saves more lives in the emergency room and on the battlefield.

For your next project, include triage competency in the job description for the manager. Establish the rules for engagement from the start. Make sure result groups are identified on a regular basis and have the courage to say “no” to a project that has turned into a Result Group 3. If you have the courage and discipline to apply triage to your business as I’ve described, your teams will be laughing along with Radar, Hawkeye, and Klinger as they deliver outstanding results.

Have a comment? I’m waiting to hear from you!