Who This Helps
This is for Team Leads who feel stuck in endless backlogs. If your team is juggling ten 'good' ideas but can't decide which one to run, the Product Portfolio Strategy course gives you the framework to choose. It turns debate into a clear decision.
Mini Case
Your team has 4 potential experiments: a new onboarding flow, a pricing page tweak, a referral program, and a feature add-on. You score each on potential impact (1-10) and effort (1-10). The new flow scores 8 for impact but 9 for effort. The pricing tweak scores 7 for impact and only 3 for effort. That's your winner. You launch it in 2 weeks and see a 5% lift in conversions. High-five time.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- List your contenders. Grab your top 3-5 experiment ideas. Write each one on a sticky note or in a doc.
- Define your two scores. For your team, 'Impact' might mean revenue, user growth, or engagement. 'Effort' is total person-weeks.
- Score them fast. Don't overthink it. Have your team vote or give a quick 1-10 rating for each idea on both scales. No decimals needed.
- Do the simple math. Divide the Impact score by the Effort score. The highest result is your priority. The numbers don't lie.
- Commit and communicate. Announce the winning experiment and the runner-up. Explain the 'why' using your scores to build alignment.
Avoid These Traps
- Chasing shiny objects. That cool new tech might be fun, but if its impact score is low, it's a distraction. Park it for later.
- Analysis paralysis. Scoring should take 30 minutes, not 3 days. Use gut checks and move on.
- Ignoring team input. You might be surprised which idea the group thinks is high-impact. Listen.
- Forgetting the runner-up. The #2 priority is your backup plan if the first experiment fails or gets blocked.
Your Win by Friday
By this Friday, you will have one clearly prioritized experiment ready for your next sprint planning. Your team will know exactly what they're building and why it matters most. You'll swap 'What should we do?' for 'Let's go build that.'