Mastering Prioritization: Techniques for Aspiring Product Managers

Prioritization is crucial for product managers as it helps them focus on the most important tasks that align with the company’s goals and objectives given limited resources. Effective prioritization ensures that the right thing for the customer and the most impactful thing for the business get built. Most product managers find prioritization to be quite challenging, so it's not a surprise that there are a ton of frameworks out there.

Frameworks are quite beneficial when communicating why some ideas aren’t being pursued, especially to senior stakeholders. In this article, we will discuss the different frameworks available for prioritization. You can apply the ones that are most relevant to your situation.

Opportunity Scoring Model is a prioritization technique that helps product managers evaluate the potential of each opportunity. The model uses a scoring system to evaluate each opportunity based on factors like market size, growth potential, competition, and profitability. Each factor is assigned a weight, and each opportunity is scored based on how well it meets each factor. The scores are then multiplied by the weights to calculate the overall score for each opportunity, and the opportunity with the highest score is chosen. This model is useful when there are several opportunities available, and each opportunity has its own potential advantages and disadvantages.

Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) technique helps product managers prioritize tasks based on several factors like business value, time criticality, risk reduction, and opportunity enablement. Each factor is assigned a weight, reflecting its importance in the decision-making process. The tasks or features are then scored on each factor, and the scores are multiplied by the corresponding weights. The weighted scores for each factor are summed up to calculate a total score for each item. The items with the highest total scores are considered the highest priority and should be addressed first, while those with lower scores can be deferred or deprioritized.

Value vs. Effort Matrix is a visual prioritization technique that helps product managers to prioritize tasks based on their value and the effort required to complete them. Tasks are categorized into four categories: Quick wins, Big bets, Time sinks, and Fill-ins.

• - High Value, Low Effort: These are the "quick wins" that can deliver significant value with minimal effort.
• - High Value, High Effort: These tasks or features may require substantial resources but can yield considerable benefits.
• - Low Value, Low Effort: These items may not deliver significant value but can be implemented with minimal effort.
• - Low Value, High Effort: These tasks or features should be deprioritized or reconsidered, as they require substantial effort with little return on investment.

By plotting items on a two-dimensional grid, you can quickly identify high-value, low-effort tasks that should be prioritized and low-value, high-effort tasks that should be deprioritized.

The Cost of Delay model helps product managers prioritize tasks based on their impact on revenue. The model takes into account the time value of money and calculates the cost of delaying a task based on its potential impact on revenue. This model is useful when the product manager needs to prioritize tasks that have a direct impact on revenue.

• - Estimate the financial impact: For each task or feature, estimate the potential financial benefits, such as increased revenue, cost savings, or market share gains, that could be realized if it were implemented.
• - Determine the time sensitivity: Assess the time sensitivity of each task or feature, considering factors such as market dynamics, the competitive landscape, and customer expectations. Determine how the financial impact might change if the implementation is delayed by a specific time period (e.g., one month, one quarter, or one year).
• - Calculate the Cost of Delay: For each task or feature, calculate the Cost of Delay by multiplying the financial impact by the time sensitivity. This will give you a monetary value representing the potential financial loss or delay in benefits if the task or feature is not implemented within the specified time frame.
• - Rank and prioritize: Rank the tasks or features based on their Cost of Delay, with the highest CoD items being the highest priority. Prioritize the implementation of tasks or features with the highest Cost of Delay to minimize the potential financial impact of delays.
  

MoSCoW Model: MoSCoW stands for Must-haves, Should-haves, Could-haves, and Won't-haves. It is one of the most popular models that categorizes the requirements based on their importance and urgency. Must-haves are non-negotiable; Should-haves are important but not critical and could be pushed back if necessary. Could-haves are nice to have but not essential, and won't-haves are features that are not required at the moment.

Kano Model prioritizes tasks based on their impact on customer satisfaction. This model categorizes features into three groups: Must-haves, Performance enhancers, and Delighters. Must-haves are table stakes. Performance enhancers are features that users expect the product to have and provide additional value. Delighters are unexpected features that exceed customer expectations and create a wow factor. Once the features are categorized into the above three buckets, the ones that have the most impact on customer satisfaction should be prioritized.

RICE Model is the most well-known prioritization technique that stands for Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. This model takes into account the potential reach of the task, the impact it will have on the product, the confidence level of the team, and the effort required to complete it. Tasks with high reach, impact, and confidence levels are prioritized. For impact, you can reference how similar projects performed in the past, how many users will see the feature in a day or week, and come up with an expected range of impact.

Conclusion:

By familiarizing yourself with these prioritization techniques, you'll be better equipped to make data-driven decisions and deliver a product that meets the needs of your customers and your business. Remember, the key to successful prioritization is to remain flexible and adapt your approach as new information becomes available and priorities shift.

While there are several popular prioritization models like MoSCoW, Value vs. Effort, Kano, and RICE, there are several other models that are not as common but can be equally effective. However, it's important to remember that no one model fits all products. The right model depends on the product, the team, and the goals.

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