Picture this. You and your team are at the end of (or, let's face it: in the middle of) a long and tumultuous planning cycle. You've assessed the relative impact of all the work you could take on, made some tough choices, and emerged with a prioritized set of projects you will take on. You're exhausted, but filled with purpose and hope nonetheless.
Then it happens.
A request comes in from another team. They've just been through the same process, and it turns out, they'll need a contribution from you to achieve their goals. But your own projects already max out your capacity! You want to be a team player, but how?
If this sounds familiar, then our newest play is for you.
Welcome to the matrix – the project prioritization matrix, that is. It's a simple technique for prioritizing requests from other teams against your team's own work. Heck: it'll help you prioritize your own work, too.
Coach Bernie says: "The more your team can focus, the bigger impact you'll make. During planning, be real about your capacity and resources, then stay strong when considering the trade-offs. It's easier to make the hard calls up front than to explain that you delivered sub-par work because you tried to cover too much ground."
The new quarter is already underway... run this play with your team right away!
Cheers,
-the Team Playbook team
P.s. Get a head start by learning from our mistakes. Here are 5 lessons we learned the hard way.
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