We often work with teams that have trouble triaging requests that come in:
– Is it urgent and we have to down tools?
– Can we schedule it into this sprint?
– Can we plan for it in our next sprint?
– Could it just be added to the backlog?
This article from Thomas Oppong highlights that:
– People are more likely to prioritise unimportant tasks (i.e. those with a low payoff) when there is a sense of urgency
– Urgent tasks put us in a reactive mode
– But our brains tend to prioritise immediate satisfaction over long-term rewards
For those looking for a super simple approach to prioritisation check out the The Eisenhower Decision Matrix.