Picking the Right Category

No affiliate links on this site, and no competition is named here as good or bad. For teams that want a concrete workplace example, online timesheets.

The category decides which criteria you are scored against and who you are compared to, which makes it the second most consequential choice after which programme to enter.

Broad against specific

A flagship category — best business, organisation of the year — competes against everybody, and its criteria ask about general excellence.

A specific category competes against a handful and asks about the thing you actually did. For another perspective on recognition, evidence, or professional standards, see TIME.

Which means a specialised strength scores higher where the criteria ask about it and lower where they ask about overall performance.

The right category is frequently the less prestigious-sounding one, and a win there is a real win.

Reading every category

Not only the obvious one.

Programmes commonly run twenty or more, and entrants read the two whose names match what they do.

Ten minutes reading all of them finds categories by size, by stage, by region, by theme — several of which may fit better than the obvious choice.

And note which have fewest entrants historically, where the programme publishes shortlists: a category with four finalists last year is a different proposition from one with twelve.

Choosing between two that fit

Read the criteria side by side, since the names matter less than what is scored.

Ask which criteria you can evidence. A category whose criteria you can answer completely beats one whose name fits better and whose criteria you cannot.

And consider the field. A category attracting large organisations is one where a small entrant's figures read as modest, unless the programme separates by size — which many do and which is worth finding.

Entering two

Permitted by most programmes and worth doing where the categories genuinely differ.

The evidence is shared and only the answers change, which makes the second category an afternoon rather than a week.

Where they do not genuinely differ, two versions of the same entry compete against each other — which some programmes prohibit and all of them notice.

Check the rules, since a few charge per category and a few include a second at no cost.

The category that does not exist

Where nothing fits, do not force it.

An entry placed in an approximate category is scored against criteria it does not answer, which is one of the ways a strong entry loses.

Ask the organiser whether a category covers your case — they answer, and occasionally suggest one you had dismissed.

And where the answer is no, that is a programme for another year or another programme entirely.

Where the programme assigns the category

Some reserve the right to move an entry.

Usually helpful — an organiser seeing a misplaced entry and putting it where it will score better.

Occasionally not, where an entry is moved into a category with a stronger field.

Where the rules permit reassignment, say which category you intended and why, in a covering note if the form allows. An organiser with your reasoning is better placed to move it well.

Categories that appear and vanish

Programmes add categories to attract entries and retire them when they do not.

A new category in its first year frequently has fewer entrants, which is a real advantage and is knowable from the fact that it is new.

And a category that existed last year may not this year, which catches entrants planning a repeat — check before assuming continuity.

The size question

Where a programme separates by turnover or headcount, enter the band you are in rather than the one you aspire to.

Obvious, and it happens — an organisation entering a larger band because it feels more impressive, and being compared against businesses several times its size.

The band is not a judgement. It is the comparison group, and being the strongest entry in the right band beats being an ordinary one in the wrong band.

Asking which category to enter

A legitimate question and a common one.

Describe the work in three sentences and ask which category fits — organisers answer, because a well-placed entry is easier for them too.

What they will not do is assess your chances, and asking marks you as not having read the paper.

Where the answer surprises you, take it: the person who wrote the categories knows what each is for, and an entry placed on their advice is placed well.

Reading past shortlists

The best available guide to what a category actually rewards.

Where a programme publishes them, look at three years of finalists in the category you are considering.

Two things become visible. The size and type of organisation that reaches the shortlist, which tells you whether you are in the field.

And what they were recognised for, which frequently differs from what the category name suggests.

Ten minutes, and it prevents entering a category whose finalists are consistently unlike you — which is one of the ways a strong entry loses and is entirely avoidable.

The category nobody enters

Occasionally visible in the shortlists: a category with two finalists where others have ten.

Not a shortcut. A thin category may be one nobody finds relevant, and a win there carries whatever recognition the category itself has.

Where the category genuinely fits you, a small field is a real advantage and is a legitimate reason to prefer it.

Where it does not, entering it is the misplaced entry described above with a better chance of winning something worth less.

The short version

• The category decides which criteria you are scored against and who you are compared to
• A broad flagship category competes against everybody; a specific one competes against a handful and asks about what you did
• The right category is frequently the less prestigious-sounding one, and a win there is a real win
• Read all of them, not the two whose names match, and note which had fewest finalists last year
• Where two fit, choose by which criteria you can evidence rather than by which name fits better
• Enter two only where they genuinely differ, since two versions of one entry compete against each other and are noticed