Explore the concept of cost of delay and how it affects decision making in work prioritization. Learn about different types of cost of delay curves including fixed date costs, expedite costs, and intangible costs. Understand the importance of measuring delays using a monetary unit for improved decision-making. Discover strategies for balancing cost of delay curves when prioritizing work with varying values and deadlines. Explore the fluid metric of cost of delay as an opportunity cost rather than a direct financial outlay.
Different classes of service help prioritize work based on cost of delay curves, including standard linear, fixed deadline cliff-like, and expedite exponential curves.
Teams should measure cost of delay with a common unit like dollars to reduce variance, rationalize decisions, and prioritize based on actual value delivered.
Deep dives
Understanding Classes of Service and Cost of Delay Curves
Different classes of service like standard fixed date, expedite, and intangible help prioritize work based on cost of delay curves. Standard work items have linear curves, fixed date items show a cliff-like curve, and expedite tasks have an exponential curve. Intangible items have varying curves and represent unpredictable cost of delay. These classes of service aid in reevaluating how different types of work are prioritized.
Quantifying Cost of Delay and Rationalizing Prioritization
Teams should measure the cost of delay to make informed prioritization decisions. By assigning a common unit, like dollars, to the cost of delay, teams reduce variance in prioritization. Understanding the cost of delay curves helps rationalize decisions between fixed deadline work and feature work. By considering both immediate and long-term impacts, teams can prioritize based on actual value delivered for each piece of work.
Managing Intangible Risks and Prioritizing High Variance Work
Intangible work, such as technical debt, poses unpredictable risks with varying cost of delay curves. Prioritizing high-variance intangibles by likelihood and time required for resolution aids in risk management. Teams can view prioritization as investments with uncertain returns, focusing on items with the highest likelihood of high cost of delay in a short timeframe. By identifying and addressing high-risk intangibles effectively, teams mitigate potential losses and enhance prioritization strategies.
In today's episode we discuss the concept of "cost of delay", and explore the fact that cost of delay does not necessarily follow a linear path. When cost of delay has a cliff, or an exponential curve, how do you weigh one opportunity versus another?
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