待办事项列表 prioritization is a key component of agile product development. 然而, it can get overwhelming when there are multiple stakeholders: 的y all make requests independent of one another and asynchronously, 而产品经理要花很长时间进行一对一的会议, 与他们协商哪些项目会进入下一个sprint. 的 result is often wasted time and resources.

To bridge this division and save time, the best solution is a prioritization workshop that enables them to come to a consensus on the relative priority of their requests. In this intensive session, 所有利益相关者可以共同努力，就规划前进道路的计划达成一致.

这个问题

Let’s consider a common scenario. 一家公司的产品团队发现自己在公司的旗舰产品上遇到了问题. 的 development team and the architects had set a challenging goal to move the product to a cloud-based platform. 然而, 进度非常缓慢，因为开发人员忙于产品功能增强和错误修复. 的re was a great deal of technical debt to pay down, 是什么扼杀了团队进行改进和执行计划中的sprint的能力. At the same time, the stakeholders, 谁都是客户经理，直接与最终用户打交道, 继续要求功能增强，以满足他们所代表的客户. Although stakeholders were aware that the development team pulled items from the backlog only when they became available, stakeholders still felt abandoned and ignored. 对于任何非紧急情况的请求来说，交付时间都很长，而且消防工作太常见了. 最重要的是，利益相关者的要求经常发生冲突.

Stakeholders were unhappy and felt like their requests mostly went into a black hole. 他们的 customers were frustrated with how long it took to address simple bug reports and for their requested enhancements to be delivered. 结果是, the development team felt like it was being pulled in many directions and simply could not make the technical improvements to enable a faster cycle and lead time to keep up with stakeholder and user needs. 开发团队需要在哪里集中精力的方向, how to balance tech debt against new requests, and how to prioritize the work.

产品负责人决定让所有人都呆在一个房间里，看看会发生什么.

Selling the Workshop to Stakeholders

的 first step is to gain buy-in from the stakeholders. 在这种情况下, the product owner approached the stakeholders’ manager and explained the benefits of the proposed workshop. He communicated that the goal was to prioritize the backlog items in an order that all stakeholders could agree upon. 的se were the selling points:

• 节省时间
• Driving collaboration
• Aligning communication so that everyone hears the same information and leaves with a common understanding of what the development team will deliver next
• 为利益相关者提供一个发言和被倾听的论坛

Providing stakeholders with a structured, facilitated forum in which they can express their needs and align with one another empowers them and gives them a better understanding of the entirety of what goes into building a great product. In my own work, 我发现我的利益相关者更有可能通知我一个请求, provide details, 并在我主持了几次产品待办事项优先级研讨会后回答我的问题.

How to Run a Workshop

研讨会实现其目标的能力在很大程度上受到在场人员的影响. Make sure you invite all relevant experts:

• 产品关键利益相关者:客户经理、客户总监、客户服务经理等.
• 产品 manager (or product owner)
• Scrum master
• Subject matter experts

一定要提前发一份详细的议程，说明讨论的内容和时间. This will provide the stakeholders with an opportunity to ask questions or make suggestions beforehand and keep everyone focused during the meeting.

How to Prepare the Room

Before the participants arrive, 准备好会议室，这样参与者就可以直接投入到研讨会练习中. First, you will have to present the product backlog 墙上的项目——把待办事项打印出来或者写在索引卡上.

的se cards represent the features and improvements that your team plans to implement in the near future. Tape them on the meeting room’s wall and arrange them in the current backlog order—from highest priority at one end to the lowest priority at the other. Be prepared to display more detailed request descriptions and additional details on the projector or TV screen.

Roles of Participants

的 product manager is the main facilitator for the exercises, 通过提供来自产品远景的上下文来监控时间和指导优先级. 产品 managers should avoid getting involved in the discussions and let the stakeholders drive the priority-setting. After the stakeholders agree upon a decision, a product manager can still move backlog items as needed to accommodate other priorities that arise over time. 产品经理保留了对待办事项的决策权, 但是这个练习可以帮助他们收集信息，为未来做准备 priority decisions.

If a scrum master attends the workshop, ask them to note participants’ feedback on the exercise itself while you are facilitating the event—it will be helpful for future improvements. Subject matter experts participate in the workshop to provide context and additional information for stakeholders.

How to Facilitate Prioritization

Prioritization can be handled in two stages.

在第一个优先排序阶段，鼓励参与者决定哪些项目不重要. Putting the low-priority items aside will allow the group to spend its valuable time on higher-priority items. If there is still no consensus, 产品经理应该建议把这个问题放在一边，进行更深入的讨论.

During the second prioritizing stage, a great method for helping people reach an agreement is to utilize the Effort Impact Matrix—a simple yet powerful tool for facilitating a group conversation that clarifies priorities. 那些需要最少努力却能产生最大影响的项目将会出现在列表的顶部, 而那些需要付出更多努力但影响较低的道具则会落在底部. You can find several variations of this technique and how to improve it.

如果涉众在没有达成共识的情况下不断移动待办事项项, 产品经理应该对产品的优先级有最终决定权.

Before closing the meeting, 产品经理应该检查参与者并询问他们的最终想法. After they leave, make sure to number or code the agreed-upon requests so that you can easily transfer them to the product management product backlog tool—start with one as the highest priority.

Continuously Improve the Workshop

产品待办事项研讨会应该是Scrum周期中的定期会议, and it can fit into a Kanban team’s ceremonies. If you can conduct this exercise mid-sprint in a Scrum cycle, 您将在sprint计划之前收到涉众的优先级. For a Kanban team, the workshop could be conducted weekly or in whatever cadence is best to realign a roadmap to prioritize the Kanban list.

为了我的团队, 每三周召开一次优先级研讨会就足以刷新待办事项的优先级. Finding the right cadence is critical for the workshop’s success—make sure you find the fine line between participants’ needs and actual demand. 定期与参与者确认当前的频率是否满足他们的需求.

此外，为参与者创建一个提供研讨会反馈的渠道. Having a dedicated person to take notes about future improvements to the workshop is helpful—a scrum master can fill this role perfectly. 记录下研讨会的改进，以显示你为获得更流畅的体验所付出的努力.

Regularly employing a dedicated workshop for backlog prioritization can benefit a company on several different levels. 产品经理可以更有效地利用他们的时间和资源. 公司可以更灵活，更快地取得更好的结果. Asking stakeholders to participate early on can be an incredibly powerful tool to gain their support for product initiatives and get valuable feedback. Executives could also use this workshop to evaluate priorities on a tactical and strategic level in order to advance employees’ alignment with the company’s goals, team processes, and overall communication.