CleanRanking
Prioritise work

WSJF

Prioritise by Cost of Delay (User & Business Value, Time Criticality, Risk Reduction & Opportunity) against Job Size. The criteria can be changed, added to and weighted.

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01

What the framework is

Weighted Shortest Job First orders work by its cost of delay divided by its job size. You do first whatever loses most by waiting and takes least time. It's the prioritisation method of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). There, cost of delay combines business value, time criticality, and risk reduction or opportunity enablement.

02

What the result looks like

WSJF example Which features should we sequence first this increment?
Top ranked
Checkout redesign
User & Business Value 92% · 1st
Time Criticality 63% · 1st
Risk Reduction & Opportunity 38% · 3rd
Job Size 75% · 1st
67%
Weighted win rate

Overall

Options
Weighted win rate
01
Checkout redesign
User & Business Value 1st · Time Criticality 1st · Risk Reduction & Opportunity 3rd · Job Size 1st
67%
02
Audit logging
User & Business Value 2nd · Time Criticality 2nd · Risk Reduction & Opportunity 1st · Job Size 3rd
51%
03
Partner API
User & Business Value 3rd · Time Criticality 3rd · Risk Reduction & Opportunity 2nd · Job Size 2nd
32%

Overall with the criteria

Rank
Options
 User & Business Value
25%
 Time Criticality
25%
 Risk Reduction & Opportunity
25%
 Job Size
25%
 Overall
Weighted win rate
01 Checkout redesign
92%
1st
63%
1st
38%
3rd
75%
1st
67%
02 Audit logging
42%
2nd
58%
2nd
71%
1st
33%
3rd
51%
03 Partner API
17%
3rd
29%
3rd
42%
2nd
42%
2nd
32%

By the options

01 · Checkout redesign
67% weighted win rate
–
User & Business Value
92%
1st of 3 · 22 Wins · 2 Losses
–
Time Criticality
63%
1st of 3 · 15 Wins · 9 Losses
–
Risk Reduction & Opportunity
38%
3rd of 3 · 9 Wins · 15 Losses
–
Job Size
75%
1st of 3 · 18 Wins · 6 Losses
02 · Audit logging
51% weighted win rate
–
User & Business Value
42%
2nd of 3 · 10 Wins · 14 Losses
–
Time Criticality
58%
2nd of 3 · 14 Wins · 10 Losses
–
Risk Reduction & Opportunity
71%
1st of 3 · 17 Wins · 7 Losses
–
Job Size
33%
3rd of 3 · 8 Wins · 16 Losses
03 · Partner API
32% weighted win rate
–
User & Business Value
17%
3rd of 3 · 4 Wins · 20 Losses
–
Time Criticality
29%
3rd of 3 · 7 Wins · 17 Losses
–
Risk Reduction & Opportunity
42%
2nd of 3 · 10 Wins · 14 Losses
–
Job Size
42%
2nd of 3 · 10 Wins · 14 Losses
Scoring Explanations
CRITERIA WEIGHTINGS — The % weighting for each criterion is shown in the table header. Unless this was entered in the setup, the weighting is equal across criteria.
WEIGHTED WIN RATE — Each criterion's result, in the measure they share, averaged using the assigned weightings.
03

When it earns its place

Use it in PI planning, on portfolio backlogs, or whenever several teams must sequence many features or epics. The trap is estimating in absolute numbers nobody can defend. SAFe itself recommends relative estimation, comparing items with each other, which is exactly what comparing two at a time does.

04

How to run it with a group

  1. List six to ten features or epics.
  2. Participants compare them two at a time on each part of cost of delay, and on job size. Participants do not need an account to respond. A smaller job ranks higher.
  3. Invite business owners to judge value and time criticality, and the teams who'll do the work to judge job size.
  4. Sequence from the top of the ranking, and run it again each planning cycle.

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