2.7 KiB
Prioritization
Duration: 30--40 minutes
Definition
Prioritization is the deliberate decision about which work receives scarce capacity first. A priority is meaningful only if it changes what the team does.
Simple Mental Model
Priority means what wins when two important things compete for the same capacity.
How It Works
If ten projects are all High, you have not prioritized them.
Useful factors include business value, urgency, risk reduction, fixed deadlines, strategic alignment, dependencies, effort, and cost of delay.
Priority is relative:
1. Production incident
2. Supabase migration
3. Umami
4. QA automation
5. RAG POC
A new top priority should force the question:
What is no longer the top priority?
Strategic vs Urgent
Urgent work can consume all capacity while important strategic work never progresses. Some capacity may need protection from recurring urgency.
Example
Product requests an urgent website enhancement while an integrator is committed to an Umami milestone. Do not silently add it. Decide whether it outranks Umami and, if so, record which milestone moves.
My Company / Real-World Context
Your team receives work from your roadmap, Product, operational incidents, Jira requests, IT/security needs, vendors, and leadership. Without explicit prioritization, the loudest request can become the real priority.
CTO Perspective
The leadership question is not merely "Is this valuable?" Most portfolio items are valuable. Ask:
Is this more valuable now than the work it will displace?
Questions to Ask
- What happens if we do not do this now?
- Is there a fixed deadline?
- What business outcome does it support?
- What does it unblock?
- What will move if this becomes priority?
- Who can change the priority?
Key Takeaways
- Prioritization allocates scarce capacity.
- Everything cannot be High.
- Priority must resolve conflicts between work.
- New urgent work should expose what it displaces.
- Constant reprioritization damages predictability.
- Managers should resolve cross-project priority conflicts rather than leaving contributors to choose.
How It Fits Into the Bigger Picture
This lesson builds on Projects vs Operations, [[Outcomes and Definition of Done]], Scope and Scope Creep, and Milestones vs Tasks. It prepares the project system to become more predictable and scalable.
Related Concepts
- Milestones vs Tasks
- Dependencies
- Estimation and Forecasting
- [Prioritization]
- Capacity and WIP
- Risk Management
- Project Health
- Portfolio Management