Play of the month: How to make a more flexible work schedule a reality

Kristen Roth
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
September 27, 2021

Flexible work has been a hot topic for a while now, and it’s not going to cool down anytime soon. Detractors may say it can’t be done, but the truth is, with the right planning and prioritization, you can deliver all your work on a schedule that you’re happy about.

Our team prioritization Play will help get your team focused on the right things (in the right order!) and empower everyone to say no to low priority requests. By the end, you’ll have agreed on the mission-critical stuff that should be tackled first, and have a plan for working outward from there. Now go ahead and take that Friday off.

                                     Screen Shot 2021-09-27 at 1.08.42 PM.png

How are you when it comes to prioritization? Are you a ruthless prioritizer? Or do you often feel overwhelmed and unsure about what to work on next?

14 comments

Comment

Log in or Sign up to comment
Bill Sheboy
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
September 27, 2021

Thanks @Kristen Roth 

When discussing priority and sequencing, I find it helps to practice methods which are:

  • simple
  • low cost
  • repeatable
  • team-owned
  • explainable to stakeholders

For an example from Kanban, try classes of service with work in progress limits.

Kind regards,
Bill

Like # people like this
Alexander Bondarev
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
October 14, 2021

Nice point, thanks!

Like Craig Nodwell likes this
Heydi Menéndez January 2, 2023

I liked this !

meghna_singh
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
October 5, 2021

Always struggling with prioritisation
Thanks for sharing!✨

Like # people like this
Kristen Roth
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
October 6, 2021

You and me both, @meghna_singh! Thanks for reading!

Like meghna_singh likes this
Walter Buggenhout
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
October 10, 2021

I am wondering if the play would also work at a higher level; I mean not to prioritise project tasks, but prioritise projects against one another.

Like # people like this
Bill Sheboy
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
October 14, 2021

Yes, and...perhaps matching the tool for the correct domain/scale/scope.  What process-effort, accuracy, and precision levels are needed for an ordering request?

For example:

  • goal level: comps (comparable goals based on history)
  • problem level: impact to customers represented by personas versus relative cost
  • initiative/epic level: some form of WSJF (as it was originally defined by Reinertsen and not how SAFe altered it  :^)
  • team level: classes of service
Like Kristen Roth likes this
Kristen Roth
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
October 14, 2021

@Walter Buggenhout we happen to have another prioritization Play for exactly that!  

https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook/plays/prioritization-matrix

Like # people like this
Alexander Bondarev
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
October 14, 2021

@Kristen Roth , thanks for sharing! 

The play looks simple and interesting. I will remember it!

Like Kristen Roth likes this
Kristen Roth
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
October 14, 2021

Let us know if you give it a go, @Alexander Bondarev !

Tina Behers
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
October 19, 2021

Great write up!  Well done!

Like Kristen Roth likes this
Sedera Randria
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
October 30, 2021

Probably interesting to also consider the Cost of Delay (cf.Allthethings Prioritization Matrix ) and the Eisenhower decision matrix :-)

Like Hakeem Olasupo likes this
Hakeem Olasupo
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
November 19, 2021

I always struggle with prioritizing things.

Pramodh M
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
December 15, 2021

Hi @Kristen Roth 

Great Content on how to factors that come into play when we to improve as a team.

Thanks for sharing the content.

I have just enrolled in Atlassian Team Playbook facilitation and getting to know about the Team Playbook.

Hope to see more discussions in the future on Team playbook from my side as well.

Thanks,
Pramodh

Like Kristen Roth likes this
Kristen Roth
Community Manager
Community Managers are Atlassian Team members who specifically run and moderate Atlassian communities. Feel free to say hello!
December 15, 2021

Thanks for reading, @Pramodh M !

Gaurav
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
December 23, 2021

@Kristen Roth this definitely would help in the upcoming prioritization discussions :)

Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
March 13, 2022

It always takes me a bit of time to determine the priority of the tickets.

Like Kristen Roth likes this
James Richards
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
April 4, 2022

This is a good topic, we should all try and think about the issue raised.

Like Kristen Roth likes this
Craig Nodwell
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
July 21, 2022

Thanks for sharing that

Omar Mohamed Fathi
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
February 26, 2023

thanks for sharing the topic

Dan Breyen
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
March 8, 2023

I refer back to Steven Covey.  First Things First.  That book helped me to prioritize projects based on size & urgency.

TAGS
AUG Leaders

Atlassian Community Events