What does generate alternatives mean?

Project management is important in getting things done regardless of what the objectives may be. There is a range of alternatives that are created to address the different objectives developed for different projects. Alternatives generation is basically the creation of alternative solutions to respond to different events that may arise as the project progresses.

It is important to take note that exceptional solutions are never possible with the absence of good alternatives. There is no single solution to problems and objectives may require different types of tasks or solutions in order to become complete.

Alternatives generation refers to sets of actions, strategies or portfolio of different individual elements that exhaust all possible approaches to a particular situation. Developing good alternatives is iterative and it must be evaluated technically at all times. It is crucial for good alternatives to be value-focused, clear, high quality, comprehensive,  technically sound, mutually exclusive and has the ability to expose trade-offs.

They are necessary to provide alternative solutions to the decision-makers when it comes to dealing with the problem at hand. Good alternatives allow the team to meet the objectives of the project with fewer risks.

This project management term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.

A range of creative policy or management alternatives designed to address the objectives is developed. Alternatives should reflect substantially different approaches to the problem or different priorities across objectives, and should present decision makers with real options and choices.

Good solutions are not possible without good alternatives. Yet we often move to a single solution, without truly exploring distinct and creative alternatives. Technical teams take on the task of delivering “recommendations” to decision makers. But often these recommendations encompass value judgments that are better made by decision makers. Usually, what decision makers need is good information about a small, carefully thought out set of alternatives – their consequences, key differences (trade-offs) in their consequences, and the response of key stakeholders with respect to these trade-offs. Generating good alternatives is a source of important insights both from a technical perspective and a values perspective.

Most often, an alternative is not a single action, but a set of actions – a ‘portfolio’ , “strategy”, or ‘package’ of individual elements that together provide a comprehensive approach to the decision situation.

In this section we explore:

• The characteristics of good alternatives
• Generating alternatives from objectives and criteria
• Screening
• Developing strategies or portfolios
• Refining

Characteristics of good alternatives

Developing good alternatives is an iterative task. Initially, the task is to generate a range of creative alternatives. These alternatives are carefully evaluated technically, in terms of their estimated consequences. They are also evaluated deliberatively, in terms of their relative desirability. New alternatives are generated, joint gains are found and the key trade-offs and uncertainties are highlighted. By the time alternatives are presented to decision makers, they should be:

• Value-Focused, meaning that they are explicitly designed to address the fundamental values or ends of the decision – the “things that matter” or “felt needs”, as defined by the objectives and the evaluation criteria;
• Technically Sound, meaning that in developing alternatives for achieving the objectives, the project team has drawn on the best available information about cause and effect relationships and has designed creative and diverse alternatives based on sound analysis;
• Clearly and Consistently Defined, meaning that all alternatives are defined to a sufficient and consistent level of detail using logically consistent assumptions, and that a base case against which all alternatives can be compared has been clearly established;
• Small in number and high in quality, meaning that poor (dominated) alternatives have been eliminated and those remaining have been iteratively refined to incorporate new ideas and joint gains;
• Comprehensive and mutually exclusive, meaning that individual elements or components of a strategy are combined into complete packages, and that the packages are directly comparable;
• Able to expose fundamental trade-offs, meaning that they emphasize rather than hide difficult but unavoidable value-based trade-offs and present real choices for decision makers;
• Developed collaboratively with the people most affected, because difficult trade-offs are easier to make and to accept when people believe that a thorough search for good alternatives has been conducted and that the best alternatives are on the table.

Key Ideas

• First, you must orient your group to the problem
• Second, your group must specify what matters in the decision
• Third, your group must decide how to evaluate whether or not potential solutions can achieve the objectives
• Fourth, your group will create a variety of alternatives for decision makers to consider
• An alternative is a set of actions providing a comprehensive approach to the decision problem
• Good alternatives share a number of characteristics

It is important that multiple alternatives be considered. Potential solutions (decision alternatives) should be adequately described to make them understandable to everyone involved in the decision making process.

Innovating possible new decision options enables you to consider new opportunities and look at a broad range of alternatives, some of which may be outside of your comfort zone. Here are the key pieces of the Innovate step.

Generating decision alternatives - Identifying known solutions

We call this the Innovate step, but it should not be confused with invention. Innovation includes applying known solutions in a new situation, or in some cases, a similar context. Recognize that a number of solutions used in previous decisions may be an innovation for the choice you are trying to make now.

Here are three categories to consider when looking for known decision alternatives:

• Solutions for the same decision made previously - Solutions that have worked in the past may be a good answer for the current decision, particularly if there is no new need or desire motivating change.
• Decision options not pursued for the same decision made previously - Decision alternatives that were considered previously often continue to evolve and improve. When making a decision, previously discarded options may provide the solution needed/desired now. Saving work from the decision making process can make it easier to find these options in the future.
• Solution alternatives for the same decision made for a different situation or context - This category requires considering different situations or environments where a similar decision might be made. For example, finding a parallel decision made in a different industry could provide some innovative solutions for meeting your success criteria.

Generating decision options - Brainstorming innovative alternatives

There are some decisions where a small number of alternative solutions are appropriate, but it is important in the Innovate step to avoid tunnel vision or jumping to a premature conclusion. You can innovate to create new options for most high value decisions. We recommend having 5 to 9 decision alternatives for evaluation during the Decide step.

A number of brainstorming approaches can be used, but here are three that can be used with the known solutions identified above.

1. Create hybrids - Identify component parts of known solutions and mix and match parts to create viable new alternatives.
2. Gap filling - If known solutions are at opposite ends of a range for satisfying success factors, see if a new option can be created in the gap.
3. SWOT analysis - Look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for known solutions and create innovative alternatives that enhance strengths/opportunities or reduce weaknesses/threats.

How to address having too many decision alternatives

In general, with the overpowering amount of information that is available, in most choices you will find that you are confronted with too many alternative solutions.

For the decision making process to be effective it is important to avoid analysis paralysis that results from having too many options. Everything will slow down as the number of alternatives starts to exceed our ability to mentally keep track of them. More than nine solutions should start raising a warning flag.

Here are some ways to decrease the set of decision alternatives to our suggested number (5 to 9).

• Use key success criteria to quickly remove decision options that are not feasible.
• Identify a higher level choice that can be used to get rid of large blocks of options. Setting a budget is a great example.
• Reframe your decision to narrow its scope. You may need to make a strategy decision to eliminate large numbers of alternative solutions.
• Combine options that have minor differences. You can use decision criteria to find solutions that do not have differences that will be important in the final selection. Combine those options to reduce the analysis in the Decide step.

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