Prioritization. The word alone strikes fear into the hearts of Engineers, Customer Support/Success Agents, Project Managers, Scrum Masters, Program Managers, and some leaders alike. Why? Because everyone wants everything done yesterday, and somehow, it’s your job to make that happen—without a time machine or fairy godmother. Lucky for you, I’ve compiled some best practices and a handy table to make your life easier (and maybe a little less soul-crushing), covering everything from personal task lists to portfolio-wide strategies.
Five Best Practices for Prioritization:
1. The “Not Now” List: Your Secret Weapon
- Translation: Not everything can be P1, Karen.
- At every level, there are tasks, projects, or ideas that seem urgent but aren’t. Teach your teams to love the “Not Now” bucket. It’s where dreams go to marinate until they’re either irrelevant or actually important.
Real-Life Example: A Scrum Master’s team at a gaming company wanted to build a “fun Easter egg” feature into their flagship product. It wasn’t tied to business goals and wouldn’t move the needle. Solution? “Not now, team. Focus on features that align with customer feedback first.” It wasn’t tied to business goals and wouldn’t move the needle. Solution? “Not now, team. Focus on features that align with customer feedback first.”
2. Ruthlessly Align with Goals
- If it doesn’t ladder up to a strategic goal, it’s not a priority. Period. At all levels, you need to ask: “How does this contribute to our OKRs?”
Pro Tip: Program Managers, I’m looking at you. Before approving cross-functional projects, make stakeholders map them to measurable outcomes.
3. Rank and Re-Rank
- Prioritization is not set-it-and-forget-it. Your world changes weekly, if not daily. Revisit your priorities regularly.
Real-Life Example: A Portfolio Manager overseeing 12 initiatives realized a “high-priority” project no longer aligned with market trends. Cue immediate course correction.
4. Use the Eisenhower Matrix Across Levels
Break out the classics:
| Urgency → \ Importance ↓ | High Urgency | Low Urgency |
|---|---|---|
| High Importance | Do it now : Tasks with deadlines or high cost of delay | Schedule it : Tasks with unclear deadlines that contribute to long term success |
| Low Importance | Delegate it : Tasks that must get done but don’t require your specific skillset | Delete it: Distractions and unnecessary tasks |
5. Communicate, Then Over-Communicate
- Guess what? People don’t remember emails. They remember conversations. Share the “why” behind priorities—over Slack, in retros, in town halls. And when in doubt? Send that fourth reminder email.
Real-Life Example: A Chief PMO I worked with started publishing biweekly priority lists. Result? Fewer questions and more focused teams.
The Magical Matrix of Prioritization & Levels
Here’s a breakdown of responsibilities across levels:
This matrix helps you see who does what and which tools to leverage at each level:
| Level | Responsibilities | Tools/Templates |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Daily task prioritization | Eisenhower Matrix, To-Do App |
| Team | Sprint backlog ranking | Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF), Priority Poker |
| Project | Feature prioritization | MoSCoW, RICE Scoring |
| Program | Cross-project alignment | Dependency Matrix, Roadmaps |
| Portfolio | Initiative ranking | Balanced Scorecard |
Templates for Prioritization:
- Team Sprint Prioritization Template:
- Columns: Task Name | WSJF Score | Business Value | Urgency | Assigned To | CoD
- Program-Level Dependency Matrix:
- Rows: Projects | Dependencies | Onwer/Team | Due date | Risks | Status
- Portfolio Initiative Scorecard:
- Criteria: Strategic Fit | ROI | WSJF Score|Impact | Urgency | CoD