Prioritization Ceremony
1. Introduction (For Clients & Partners)
Our Prioritization Ceremony is held every two weeks, ensuring we regularly update our backlog priorities before the next round of Poker Planning. During this ceremony, the team reviews new and existing tickets, discusses urgency, and aligns items in the backlog with our quarterly goals.
This process helps you understand why some tasks get scheduled sooner than others, and ensures transparency in how we make those decisions.
2. Who Is Involved
| Role | Involvement | Benefit to You |
|---|---|---|
| Product Owner | Leads the session, presents key updates on business needs. | Ensures feature requests or critical bugs get the right level of attention. |
| Scrum Master / Facilitator | Keeps the meeting on track, manages timeboxing. | Maintains a smooth, efficient discussion, so decisions are made promptly. |
| Dev Team | Provides technical insights (complexity, dependencies). | Gives realistic expectations on how soon an item can be completed. |
| QA Engineer | Highlights testing complexity or quality concerns. | Ensures quality-related considerations are factored into prioritization. |
| Stakeholders (Client/Partner) | May attend occasionally, especially if big-impact items are under review. | Offers direct input on business criticality, clarifying urgency and scope. |
3. Process Flow / Schema
Here’s an overview of the every-two-weeks prioritization flow, with double quotes for Mermaid labels:
- Review Updated Triage List: The triaged tickets (bugs & features) are brought forward.
- Discuss Severity, Complexity, Business Value: The group weighs technical complexity (Dev Team), quality/test factors (QA), and business impact (Stakeholders).
- Product Owner Assigns Priority Levels: Items are ranked as High, Medium, or Low priority.
- Accepted for Next Sprint?: If it’s High Priority and feasible for the upcoming sprint, it goes to Poker Planning. Otherwise, it stays in the backlog for future sprints.
- Feedback & Next Steps: The team updates statuses, notifies relevant stakeholders, and prepares for the upcoming Poker Planning session.
4. Short FAQ
Q1: How do we determine which tickets get discussed?
A1: We look at newly submitted tickets since the last ceremony, as well as existing backlog items that may need re-prioritization due to changing circumstances.
Q2: Is this the same as Poker Planning?
A2: Not exactly. Prioritization sorts items based on urgency and impact; Poker Planning (which follows) focuses on estimating those items in more detail.
Q3: Can clients/partners attend?
A3: Typically, it’s an internal session. However, if there’s a major request from your side, we may invite you or collect your input beforehand.
Q4: What if a ticket is urgent but missed this ceremony?
A4: Critical issues (e.g., a severe bug) can be addressed immediately outside of the normal cycle if needed. Everything else waits for the next ceremony.
5. Next Steps & Additional Resources
- Poker Planning: After prioritization, high-priority items move into Poker Planning for detailed estimation.
- Quarterly Roadmap: View the upcoming sprints’ content once prioritization decisions are finalized.
- Triage & Ticket Categorization: Learn how items are classified before they enter this prioritization step.
- Contact Us: Need clarifications or have a pressing concern? Email us at
contact+support@aismarttalk.techor ask our chatbot on the website.
By running the Prioritization Ceremony every two weeks prior to Poker Planning, we keep our backlog relevant, ensure critical tasks are recognized, and maintain a dynamic approach to scheduling new features and bugfixes.