In most cases, I don’t care what type of prioritization framework or methodology my teams use. As long as they use one and are able to defend their prioritization decisions with it, I’m good. I recognize that there isn’t necessarily a single perfect prioritization tool for all situations.
MoSCoW, Value-for-Effort, Kano Model….there are circumstances when each works really well.
But as I work through prioritization with my teams for 2024 planning, I keep coming back to one:
RICE
We’ve written about different prioritization methodologies at PM Pros before - it’s a critical skill for product managers. I used to go over multiple methods of prioritization with my teams as a way of building up our tool kits together - I still do but have seen my teams gravitate towards flavors of the RICE framework!
Its beauty is in its flexibility - you can define Reach and Impact in as many ways as you want, as long as it captures both value and cost.
You want multiple inputs for Reach? Go for it!
Struggling to quantify impact at a user level, but you have a rough estimate of the associated business value? Swap it out!
As long as you ultimately get to a return on investment that you can compare across projects or opportunities, your RICE framework has served its purpose.
What prioritization methodology are you using these days?
Comments