I’ve found it extremely important to align as a team on a rubric for prioritization that is used across all planning artifacts. One of a PM’s most important responsibilities is to set clear priorities and stack rank the problems and solutions we are working on. I subscribe to many of the principles laid out in
as it accepts the chaotic nature of building product grounded in ROI.
Here’s a rubric that I’ve developed with teams over time:
P0 - critical
anything that compromises security of data or user information
blocks customer from a key value proposition in our product with no acceptable workaround
blocks a major revenue-generating deal from progressing in pipeline (e.g. >=$1M TCV)
critical market differentiator or critical feature gap with incumbent solution
Notes
P0 is not a 100% guarantee — we aim to complete >=90% of our P0 commitments.
If >= 20% of the work we’ve identified is P0, we’re probably not being honest with ourselves on the relative ROI and costs of the work.
P1 - high impact
clear demand signal from more than 1 customer from a priortized market segment
user can get job done but with some friction, e.g. takes extra steps, more time, or requires help from someone
feature doesn’t exist in incumbent solution
helps us validate a key value proposition
Notes:
If we can't connect a requirement to a paying customer or a prospect on a 12 month horizon, it's max value is P1.
In our plans, we aim to complete <=60% of our P1 commitments
P2 - nice to have
A few customers have asked for this but we get mixed signals on importance
user can live without it but would be happier / more satisfied with it
Note: With our plans, we aim to complete <= 30% of our P2 commitments
Considerations
Timing is important. Often work starts out as a P1 or P2 but as timeless compress it could manifest into a P0.
We need to give our teams time to reduce all flavors of debt, e.g. product/tech/UX.
You need to demonstrate to your stakeholders that you can make progress on non-P0 work, otherwise everything will turn into a P0 as that’s the only way things get done. That doesn’t mean you force P1s or P2s into your work — just be mindful of the precedents you set across your organization.
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