The Scaled Agile Framework includes what it calls the Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) method of prioritizing jobs. I like the method itself, because it is deterministic and seems to mathematically prioritize into an order that makes sense.

However, I do think they blew it on the name. Instead of Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF), I would have called it Shortest Weighted Item First (SWIFt) because it spells a name that is easier to remember, it ends with an extra, lower case letter that mimics the extra letter in SAFe, the word order flows better (we want the shortest weighted job, not the weighted shortest job) and the word, SWIFt, actually kind of makes sense because it implies we will get faster results using it.

Regardless of what you call it, I do like how it works, so I have created a template that can be used to calculate item priority using the WSJF formula.

The Scaled Agile Framework looks very promising. If you decide to try it, I hope you find my template helpful.

See you next time…