Here’s a tool I like for helping a group prioritize a stack of ideas they’ve brainstormed and turn them into action. It’s called a PICK chart or effort / impact chart. 
The chart has two axes – payoff and difficulty – resulting in four quadrants:
- Possible idea.
- Implement idea.
- Challenge idea.
- Kill idea.
Create a PICK chart by drawing a 2 x 2 grid on a virtual or physical whiteboard. Participants place improvement ideas (written on sticky notes) in the quadrant where they feel the idea best fits.
A PICK chart is a helpful tool for deciding what to work on first. The ideas in the “implement” quadrant are likely a good place to start. The team can then start looking at some of the ideas in the “challenge” quadrant that are more difficult but have a high payoff. The ideas in the “possible” quadrant are not a priority to pursue, and the ideas in the “kill” quadrant should likely not be considered.
Here are some guidelines for using a PICK chart:
- Don’t let participants put their sticky notes between quadrants. They need to decide what quadrant they go in. The beauty of sticky notes is that they can always be moved as the team discusses each idea.
- Keep the PICK chart simple. Don’t subdivide each quadrant or allow participants to be strategic about the quadrant they place their sticky note in.
If participants have trouble putting an idea in the quadrant labeled “kill,” explain that “kill” just means that the idea is hard to do and has a low payoff.