Prioritising for Value
Use prioritisation patterns based on agility not rigidity
In data work, the next most valuable thing doesn’t sit still. The questions stakeholders ask, the actions they plan to take, and the outcomes they need to deliver are constantly changing. What’s critical today might be less so next month, or even next week.
Yet, many organisations still approach prioritisation with a fixed mindset, big upfront planning, long static roadmaps, and an endless queue of ad hoc data requests. This way of working assumes all needs can be predicted upfront, that priorities won’t change, and that every request carries the same weight. In practice, it leads to wasted effort, frustrated stakeholders, and data teams stuck delivering work that no longer matters or adds value.
That’s where Pattern Storming Prioritisation Workshops come in. They replace long debates and guesswork with simple, repeatable ways to surface trade-offs and focus energy. Two of the most effective Pattern Storming workshops we use are 5 Lanes and $500 Prioritisation, patterns that help data teams and stakeholders make prioritisation decisions together, and then revisit them regularly.
Prioritising for value is about staying responsive, collaborative, and focused on delivering outcomes for the organisation, even as the organisation constantly changes.
Use prioritisation patterns based on agility not rigidity
Prioritisation can’t be a one-off event. It needs to be a continuous rhythm, checking, refining, and re-aligning priorities as the organisation changes around us. Reprioritising shouldn’t feel like disruption. It should feel normal, easy, and frictionless. The cost of changing direction should be low, because change is not the exception , it’s the rule.
The goal isn’t to build a perfect execution plan. It’s to continuously optimise and deliver the next most valuable thing. That means making prioritisation collaborative, visual, and adaptable, so stakeholders and data teams stay aligned on what matters most, next.
Four principles for prioritising for value
To prioritise for value, you need to find prioritisation patterns that follow principles that guide decision-making and delivery in fast-changing environments. For example:
Prioritising Outcomes, Not Requests
Every piece of data work should be tied to an organisational action or outcome. We don’t deliver tables, pipelines, or dashboards just because someone asked, we deliver information that helps drive decisions and measurable value.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
Stakeholders rank Information Products in clear priority order, based on the outcomes and value they will enable. This forces outcome-focused conversations and avoids working on deliverables with no clear action attached.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
With limited virtual dollars to spend, stakeholders must decide which outcomes are truly worth investing in. They naturally shift from listing requests to aligning with organisational goals.
Iterative, Not One and Done
Priorities aren’t fixed, they evolve. Prioritisation should embrace continuous reassessment, allowing the data team to pivot quickly and easily as changing business questions, actions and outcomes emerge.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
Designed to be rerun every few weeks or months, the 5 Lanes workshop allows stakeholders to regularly reshuffle priorities based on changing organisational needs. It becomes part of the prioritisation and delivery rhythm.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
The budgeting constraint can be reapplied again and again. Each time stakeholders distribute their virtual dollars, they adjust focus based on the latest organisational goals and drivers, not last quarter’s plan.
Balancing Demand and Data Debt
It’s tempting to only prioritise new features and shiny deliverables. But data delivery with agility also depends on strong foundations, data design, data quality, governance, and automation. Prioritisation needs to balances these investments with immediate organisational demands.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
While foundational work is prioritised on a separate board, the press release pattern links it directly to prioritised Information Products. Each Information Product has an associated set of “press releases” that outline what needs to be true for it to be delivered, including any foundational work required. This ensures foundational capabilities are delivered just in time, aligned to support the Information Product when it’s needed most.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
When stakeholders prioritise an Information Product using the $500 pattern, they’re inherently prioritising the data and foundations needed to deliver it. The press release outlines these dependencies, ensuring that by choosing to invest in the Information Product, the foundational work required will also be completed, just in time to support its delivery.
Clarity on Trade-Offs
Prioritising for value makes trade-offs clear and explicit. Everyone should know what’s being chosen, what’s being deferred, and why. This transparency builds trust and keeps the focus on business value.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
The board makes trade-offs visual. Each Information Product has its place in the lanes, they cannot be stacked on top of each other and only so many can fit in the top lanes. Stakeholders must agree on what moves left and right and what moves up and down.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
Spending limited dollars means leaving something behind. This constraint-driven pattern forces open conversations about priorities and alignment, making trade-offs part of the process instead of hidden under scoring formulas.
Patterns for prioritising for value
To turn our prioritisation principles into action, we need prioritisation patterns that make decisions visible, collaborative, and easily changed. For example:
Next Most Valuable Information Product
Focus the data team’s energy on delivering one Information Product at a time, based on what will deliver the highest organisational value next. Once that Information Product is delivered, pause, reassess priorities, and prioritise the next most valuable one. This keeps delivery focused, reduces context switching, and ensures the data team is always working on what support the most value.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
The 5 Lanes board makes the next most valuable Information Product visible. By ranking each Information Product in priority order, and ensuring there can never be two priority #1’s, the data team knows exactly what to deliver first. Once that product is complete, they move to the next card in Lane 1, ensuring continuous focus on delivering value, one Information Product at a time.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
The $500 pattern highlights the next most valuable Information Product by showing which product stakeholders are willing to invest in most. The Information Product with the highest total virtual funding becomes the clear next priority. Once delivered, the team revisits the allocation to identify the next most valuable item. If two Information Products have the same virtual dollar amount, then the data team get to pick which to work on first, as the Stakeholders are saying both are as valuable as each other and they don’t care which is delivered first.
Continuous Reprioritisation
Prioritisation is not a set-and-forget exercise. Organisational needs change constantly, and priorities need to keep pace. Run structured prioritisation sessions every few weeks or months to keep focus aligned with current organisational goals. Make reprioritisation part of your Information Value Stream cadence, a regular, expected rhythm, not a special occasion.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
The 5 Lanes board is designed to be revisited regularly. Every few weeks or months, stakeholders reshuffle priorities based on what has changed. It becomes a repeatable pattern that keeps delivery aligned with shifting business needs.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
The $500 pattern encourages frequent reassessment by letting stakeholders redistribute their virtual dollars each cycle. This makes continuous reprioritisation natural and expected, keeping focus on what matters most right now.
Visual Trade-Off Conversations
Use visible boards, ranking exercises, or forced-choice patterns to make trade-offs clear in real time and in a collaborative setting. Visual decision-making reduces endless debate and ensures everyone stays aligned with organisational goals. When trade-offs are made visible, stakeholders are more engaged, and tough decisions become collective, not contentious.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
The 5 Lanes board makes trade-offs unavoidable and visible. With only one top lane and limited space in each subsequent lane, stakeholders must discuss and agree on what moves up, what moves down, and what waits. These conversations happen in real time, with the board acting as the single source of truth.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
The $500 pattern turns trade-offs into a shared, visual exercise. As stakeholders place their virtual dollars on different Information Products, everyone can see where investment is going, and what is not being prioritised. It sparks focused, transparent conversations around collective priorities and what really contributes towards achieving the organisations goals.
The ‘Not Right Now’ List
Maintain a clear, visible list of Information Products that have been consciously deprioritised. This removes ambiguity and stops old, low-value requests from creeping back into the queue. A ‘Not Right Now’ list helps stakeholders see that their requests haven’t been forgotten, they’ve been intentionally deferred, freeing up focus for higher-value work.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
In 5 Lanes sessions, Information Products that end up in the lowest lanes become part of the visible ‘Not Right Now’ category. This ensures everyone agrees on what won’t be worked on yet and why, rather than leaving requests in a hidden backlog.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
The $500 pattern naturally creates a ‘Not Right Now’ list. Information Products that receive little or no virtual funding are effectively deprioritised in plain sight. Stakeholders see that lack of investment means those items won’t be delivered, unless priorities change in future cycles.
Forced Constraints
Use constraints to drive clarity, as a forcing function to help stakeholders make tough decisions, reduces wish lists, and help keep the focus on high value data work. Without constraints, everything feels important, and nothing gets done well. By limiting space, time, or resources, stakeholders are pushed to prioritise what will deliver the greatest impact.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
The structure of the 5 Lanes board is itself a constraint, only so many Information Products can fit in the top lanes. This limitation forces stakeholders to make deliberate trade-offs and prevents endless “priority #1” lists.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
The $500 pattern applies a hard constraint by giving each stakeholder a fixed virtual budget. They must choose where to invest, forcing honest conversations about value and helping the group focus on what’s truly worth delivering next.
Visual Prioritisation Boards
Use visible boards that anyone can access and understand and keep priorities out in the open on a board, dashboard, or shared workspace. Everyone should know what’s being prioritised for delivery next, what’s been deferred, and why. No hidden priorities, no guesswork. Transparency builds trust and keeps teams and stakeholders aligned on what matters most.
How 5 Lanes prioritisation supports this:
The 5 Lanes board is a simple, visual representation of priorities that’s accessible to all stakeholders. It clearly shows what’s coming next, what’s waiting, and what’s been consciously deprioritised, all in one place.
How $500 prioritisation supports this:
The $500 pattern results in a visible funding board, showing where virtual dollars have been placed and which Information Products have stakeholder backing. This makes priorities transparent, with clear signals on what will be worked on next and why.