Standard : Backlogs are prioritised based on measurable business value

Purpose and Strategic Importance

This standard ensures that teams prioritise their work based on outcomes that matter to the business and its customers. Rather than focusing on volume of output or subjective preferences, teams must use evidence and metrics to sequence work that delivers the greatest impact.

It supports the policies “Prioritise the Highest Value Work” and “Align Work to Clear Value Streams” by shifting backlog conversations from tasks and features to business goals, customer outcomes, and clear economic trade-offs.

Strategic Impact

  • Increases return on engineering investment by focusing on what matters most
  • Aligns product and technical decisions to strategic business objectives
  • Improves transparency and stakeholder trust in delivery decisions
  • Reduces waste and opportunity cost from low-impact work
  • Encourages a culture of value-driven delivery across teams

Risks of Not Having This Standard

  • Backlogs become cluttered with low-value or outdated work
  • Delivery is driven by opinion, politics, or inertia—not evidence
  • Teams lose sight of how their work contributes to business goals
  • Stakeholder frustration increases due to lack of visible value
  • Teams fall into output over outcome traps, reducing effectiveness

CMMI Maturity Model

Level 1 – Initial

Category Description
People & Culture - Work is prioritised reactively, based on stakeholder pressure or urgency.
- Value is undefined or inconsistently understood.
Process & Governance - Backlogs are unmanaged or poorly structured.
Technology & Tools - No support for linking work to business outcomes.
Measurement & Metrics - Delivery metrics focus on volume, not value.

Level 2 – Managed

Category Description
People & Culture - Teams discuss business value but lack shared frameworks for prioritisation.
Process & Governance - Product owners use informal methods to order backlog.
Technology & Tools - Some use of tags or labels to infer value or strategic relevance.
Measurement & Metrics - Prioritisation influenced by effort rather than impact.

Level 3 – Defined

Category Description
People & Culture - Teams apply defined criteria to assess business value.
- Stakeholders are involved in value-led backlog refinement.
Process & Governance - Backlogs are groomed regularly with traceability to goals and metrics.
Technology & Tools - Tooling supports scoring or ranking by value dimensions (e.g., ROI, OKRs).
Measurement & Metrics - % of items tied to measurable business or customer outcomes.

Level 4 – Quantitatively Managed

Category Description
People & Culture - Decisions are informed by historical data, cost of delay, or benefit hypotheses.
- Value discussions are routine across delivery teams.
Process & Governance - Prioritisation models such as WSJF or ICE are consistently used.
Technology & Tools - Automated or visual tooling integrates metrics into prioritisation views.
Measurement & Metrics - Forecasted vs. actual value; % of high-value work delivered per sprint.

Level 5 – Optimising

Category Description
People & Culture - Continuous learning improves how value is identified and delivered.
- Teams pivot quickly based on validated insights.
Process & Governance - Value models evolve based on delivery feedback and market shifts.
- Backlog management feeds into adaptive portfolio-level planning.
Technology & Tools - Predictive analytics and scenario modelling enhance decision-making.
Measurement & Metrics - Time-to-value; value throughput; backlog health indicators.

Key Measures

  • % of backlog items linked to clear business objectives or KPIs
  • Average time from prioritisation to value realisation
  • Ratio of effort to impact (e.g., ROI, cost of delay)
  • % of backlog items reviewed or reprioritised each quarter
  • Stakeholder satisfaction with backlog transparency and value focus