Weighted Shortest Job First
Score items with your team.
A simple way to give your backlog items a WSJF score and prioritize together, the SAFe way.
Start a session
Create a session and share the link with your team. Participants open the link to join.
Want to look around first? See the demo
What is WSJF?
WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) is a prioritization method from the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). You rank work by economic value: items that deliver a lot of value for little effort get done first. That way your team works on what matters most, instead of on whoever shouts loudest.
The WSJF formula
Cost of Delay = User Business Value + Time Criticality + RR/OE
WSJF = Cost of Delay / Job Size
Your team scores each item on four components, in a fixed order, always relative to the other items on a Fibonacci scale (0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20):
- User Business Value (UBV)
- How much value does this deliver to the end user or the business? Estimate relative to the other items.
- Time Criticality (TC)
- How urgent is it? Does the value drop quickly if you wait? Are there hard deadlines or market windows that expire, or does delay have no consequences?
- Risk Reduction / Opportunity Enablement (RR/OE)
- Does this reduce risk or enable future opportunities? Does it remove blocking risks or open up strategic options?
- Job Size (Job Size)
- How big is the effort? Estimate relative to the other items.
How a session works
- The facilitator creates a session and shares the link with the team.
- Participants join anonymously and vote per component on the Fibonacci scale.
- Scores are revealed at the same time; outliers (spread > 3) are flagged.
- The team agrees on a consensus and the WSJF score comes out automatically.
Frequently asked questions
What is WSJF?+
WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) is a prioritization method from SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework). You rank work by economic value by dividing the Cost of Delay by the Job Size. Items with the highest WSJF score are tackled first.
How do you calculate WSJF?+
The formula is WSJF = Cost of Delay / Job Size. Cost of Delay is the sum of User Business Value, Time Criticality and Risk Reduction / Opportunity Enablement. Each component is estimated relatively on a Fibonacci scale (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20).
What is Cost of Delay?+
Cost of Delay (CoD) expresses how much value you lose by postponing work. In WSJF, CoD = User Business Value + Time Criticality + Risk Reduction / Opportunity Enablement.
Why a Fibonacci scale?+
The Fibonacci scale (0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20) widens the gaps between higher values. This forces a clear choice and avoids false precision in relative estimation.
How many people should join a WSJF session?+
WSJF works best with the team delivering the work plus the Product Owner, usually 3 to 9 participants. Everyone votes anonymously per component; outliers are discussed before the consensus is recorded.
Is the WSJF Assistant free and do I need an account?+
The WSJF Assistant is free to use and needs no account or installation. The facilitator creates a session and shares the link; participants join anonymously. Item names are encrypted in the browser and sessions are deleted automatically.