WSJF Calculator (Weighted Shortest Job First Prioritisation)
Weighted Shortest Job First score for two backlog items from their value, time criticality, risk reduction and size, showing which one to do first.
Results
What this tool does
WSJF comes from the Scaled Agile Framework and applies the idea behind cost of delay: when everything is valuable, do first what delivers the most value for the least effort, which means the highest cost of delay divided by duration. The cost of delay adds three scores — business or user value, how fast that value decays with time, and risk reduction or the opportunities it opens — and the result is divided by the job size. The scores are relative, usually picked from a Fibonacci-like scale such as 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20 across the whole backlog, so only compare items scored together.
Formula
WSJF = (value + time criticality + risk reduction) ÷ job size
Variables
| Symbol | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
a1 | Item A — user or business value | — |
a2 | Item A — time criticality | — |
a3 | Item A — risk reduction or opportunity enablement | — |
a4 | Item A — job size (effort) | — |
b1 | Item B — user or business value | — |
b2 | Item B — time criticality | — |
b3 | Item B — risk reduction or opportunity enablement | — |
b4 | Item B — job size (effort) | — |
WA | Item A — WSJF score | — |
WB | Item B — WSJF score | — |
CA | Item A — cost of delay (sum of the three scores) | — |
CB | Item B — cost of delay (sum of the three scores) | — |
OR | Which to do first | — |
Worked example
- Item A — user or business value8
- Item A — time criticality5
- Item A — risk reduction or opportunity enablement3
- Item A — job size (effort)5
- Item B — user or business value13
- Item B — time criticality2
- Item B — risk reduction or opportunity enablement5
- Item B — job size (effort)8
- Item A — WSJF score3.20
- Item B — WSJF score2.50
- Item A — cost of delay (sum of the three scores)16
- Item B — cost of delay (sum of the three scores)20
- Which to do firstItem A first
Limitations
- The result is an estimate based only on the values you type. Real situations often include factors this calculator does not know about.
- The default values are typical reference figures, not measurements of your situation. Replace them with your own data whenever you have it.