How do you set priorities when every stakeholder says their request is urgent?
Model answer
Model answerWhen everything is urgent, nothing is. The problem is usually that stakeholders don't have visibility into each other's requests or into the total capacity. My fix: make all requests visible in one place, score them against shared criteria (impact, strategic fit, effort), and review together in a monthly forum. When stakeholders see the full picture, they often reprioritize themselves. Urgency collapses when tradeoffs become explicit.
Framework · Stakeholder Alignment
- SSurface everything
One prioritized list visible to all stakeholders — visibility reduces conflict - SShared criteria
Agree on what 'high priority' means before scoring — remove subjective anchors - AAlignment forum
Monthly review where stakeholders see tradeoffs and reprioritize together - RRecord decisions
Document who agreed to what and why — prevents revisiting the same argument
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