Prioritisation. The Product Managers’ pain.
From RICE to MoScoW to WSJF, there are no shortages of methods. If you google prioritisation, you’ll probably find around 30 different frameworks. But how useful are they? Are they too theoretical? How readily can they be applied?
Sometimes, it can feel like we are on a hamster wheel, constantly running in circles.
According to Phoebe Peck (Redcat), prioritisation is like running or a sport – it takes constant practice. Phoebe shared some of her real world experiences, with a few useful tips thrown in to boot.
Preparation and Training
Why do we need to prioritise? No matter how large our teams, or how infinite our resources may be, we cannot work on everything all the time. Therefore prioritisation is a critical part of the job.
What do we need to make the best decisions? Facts and information. But no matter how much time we spend prioritising, as soon as we finish, it’s outdated. So it’s important we check our compass regularly. Keep in touch with our stakeholders, high and low. To continually collect information, to understand what is important.
Truly listen, and keep our ego in check. Somebody else might have new information, or a better context.
The Event – Putting It Into Action
With all the different information we’re taking in, how do we work out what is important? Or more important? And what about the inherent biases we all have? How do we remove subjectiveness or neutralise strong opinions?
One way that Phoebe shared, was the following matrix.
Whether we use this matrix, or another tool, it can be beneficial to have some structure around the process, to create a common set of rules. Something so people can understand the method. But keep it simple. Avoid making things too complicated. We want it easy enough for anybody to understand and do. The goal is transparency.
If things are equally important, then add some heart, and humanise the decision for sequencing. Understand the business well enough, so that we can justify the decision of why something should come first.
Post Event Review
There is no perfect model. No one size fits all method. We need to understand our environment, our company, our customers and users. What’s right for one company may not be for another.
A continual balancing act between short term tactics and long term strategy. Launching new features and addressing technical debt from the past. Between what customers want and business objectives.
The decisions are not binary. They are not one or the other. But a balance between all these different aspects.
Give yourself some slack – prioritisation is hard and can be relentless. It takes a lot of practice and discipline. Keep training, it does get easier.
Thanks
Thank you to Phoebe for sharing, and to A Cloud Guru for hosting us online. A Cloud Guru’s mission is to teach the world to cloud, and they’re hiring!
Slides & Video
Thanks Phoebe – prioritization at this point in our life with so much uncertainty is critical for our survival, mental health and prosperity.
I love that prioritization is in our blood and your use of emotion as an overarching lens to make decisions. Head, heart and gut coherence in prioritization can help us just ‘know’ how best to act and navigate.
Enjoy the training, discipline and remember to feel and celebrate the rewards and learning, success along the way.