Postulates for Backlog Prioritization

Today, I am continuing my discussion of backlog management. A good backlog follows Roman Pitchler’s DEEP model. Sticking with three simple building blocks inside your backlog will streamline work, and placing all work that drives value in the backlog will make you more successful than half of the other product owners currently working. This week, I want to discuss something that many organizations struggle with – prioritization.  

As a software developer and agile professional, I spend plenty of time around entrepreneurs and business executives. Many of these individuals are insulated from the hard knocks of life by the success in their careers. Because business leaders are accustomed to getting everything they want every time, they need help when asked to set priorities. People unaccustomed to hearing no are notoriously tricky to work with. 

The cold reality in the global economy is limited time, people, and money to get things done. Bosses who create a climate of terror destroy their organizations. Therefore, priority setting is necessary sooner or later. Confronting this reality requires a few postulates for business people to understand. 

The first postulate of prioritization is if you do not set priorities for work, someone else will. When you give a software developer a list of things to do without priorities, they will work on the most straightforward task or the one that interests them personally. It means employees often spend their time on tasks that are optional to the business. It may not be a big problem at first, but it will create situations where a developer will build something, and it will be radically different from what the person paying the bills asked for. 

The following postulate is that when everything is a top priority, nothing is. In business, there are important things and things which are urgent. Rarely do the two overlap, but business leaders want to create a false sense of urgency to get work done. It is a recipe for failure because if items are all urgent and essential, they are just like they should have been prioritized. The easy or enjoyable tasks will go first, generating conflict between the employees and management who commissioned the work. 

Finally, we should prioritize work based on the needs of customers and stakeholders rather than the highest-paid people in the room. I have spoken at length about egoware and other types of waste in organizations. The top priority for any business is the customers who pay for the solutions and products the business manufactures. So, when confronting a situation where a customer conflicts with an Executive Vice President of Application development, you must side with the customer. Improved revenue and better profit margins have a way of silencing critics. 

So, for a backlog to be successful, follow these three postulates of prioritization. First, set priorities; otherwise, others will set them for you. Next, priorities need variation because if everything is a top priority, nothing is. Finally, prioritize based on customer needs instead of management desires. These postulates are the foundation of a successful backlog. A successful backlog is the beginning of a successful agile implementation. 

Until next time.