Suppose you are involved in a decision-making process. Your group has just generated a long list of ideas about how to best solve a problem. You want to efficiently and effectively evaluate those ideas and in the end choose the one (or two, etc.) best. One method to evaluate that list is to engage in a cost/benefit discussion.

This tool is a template for addressing these issues.

1. Use one copy of this form for each idea.

2. Identify the idea by name and number at the top of the form.

3. Respond to the two statements which follow. If you place a check mark next to either (or both) of them, you can immediately eliminate this particular idea.

4. If you continue, conduct a discussion among group members, listing the costs and benefits of this particular idea.

5. After making the list, conduct a discussion that determines a numeric value associated with both the cost and benefit of the idea. In this context, consider the following:

        With respect to cost:

            -2    =    Excessive cost; Something that would require a complete reassessment
                            of existing budget resources
            -1    =    Moderate cost; Something that could be accomplished, but would require
                            some budgetary adjustments
              0   =    Virtually no cost

        With respect to benefit:

            +2    =    Extraordinary benefit; Something that would dramatically change the
                            organization's ability to achieve its mission
            +1    =    Moderate benefit; Something that would certainly make a difference, but
                            not something that is by itself a "game changer"
              0    =    Virtually no benefit
       
6. In comparing results, be careful not to assume that the calculated values are by themselves dispositive of what a group should decide. For example, suppose that the result is "0" (given a +2 benefit and a -2 benefit). There might be a number of ideas that result in a +1; however, none of the latter might have resulted in a +2 benefit. The group might decide that notwithstanding the lower score, it would behoove the organization to pursue additional funding resources to implement the "0" result.