What is the best approach when two key stakeholders ask for 2 separate items and the team has room for just one item into the next sprint?
2 Answers
What can be really helpful in this situation is to have a definition of value.
For example, it could be that your definition of value includes satisfying the organisation's strategy as best as possible. Or it could be regulatory, cost savings, etc.
The more clarity you have on your organisation's defintion of value, the easier it is to make a priority call like the one you describe. It will also tend to take some of the heat out of the situation, with the stakeholder who does not get their work done understanding the reason why this is happening.
answered May 1, 2022 at 7:35
If you have room for just one item, you do one item. Now, which item that is will depend on the two stakeholders. It's like two people who want to walk through the same door; they need to somehow agree who goes in first.
Or someone else can make the decision for them or with them. You tagged your question with [product-owner] for example, so the product owner can make the decision in respect to which item goes first. They handle the backlog content, the priorities, managing stakeholder expectations, keep in balance other aspects of the product, etc. so they can decide (if they are a true product owner) or they can have the discussion with the two stakeholders.
Additionally, you can also split the items in smaller pieces and see if you can work on them like that. Your question lacks details about how large these items are. Can you split them in smaller parts? It's best to have small product backlog items taken into sprints, so you might work on both items if you can split them in smaller parts. But again, it will have to be the PO together with the stakeholders to decide on which parts you work on next.
