Getting the Most Value from Your Backlog

There is a form of Scrum that is scaled up for large organizations. It’s call SAFe, or Scaled Agile Framework. One concept that comes from SAFe is WSFJ, or Weighted Shortest Job First. This concept uses a formula to decide what should be done next, taking into account what will give the most business value in the shortest amount of time. The most business value considers the cost of delaying the work and the reduction in risk to the product.

We don’t need to get that complicated when considering Scrum for Your Life, but the applying the principle will help you choose what to bring into your next Sprint. When you look at your Master Backlog, can you find something really valuable to your vision that you could complete that wouldn’t take a lot of time? What is on your list that could add substantial value that you could complete in an hour or two, or even less?

Examples include booking a trip you’ve thought about for a long time, calling a contractor to make a house repair, or signing up for that course that you promised yourself that you would take. It could be something as simple as committing to getting up earlier each day, which could pay you huge dividends over the long term.

Don’t confuse this process with cherry picking the easiest goals to accomplish on your Backlog. The criteria is that they don’t take a lot of time, but they add a lot of value. Sometimes they will lead to bigger commitments in later Sprints, and that’s okay. Sometimes it takes completing something small to get something big in motion.