What is the formula for WSJF in SAFe?

What is the formula for WSJF in SAFe?

• A. Duration / COD
• B. COD / Duration (job size)
• C. Time criticality × Business value
• D. Value / Effort

Answer: (B)

WSJF prioritizes work by value delivered per unit of effort, so you compare items using Cost of Delay per unit of size. The Cost of Delay captures how valuable it is to do something soon and includes three factors: business value, time criticality, and risk reduction or opportunity enablement. The size or duration represents how much effort the item takes to complete. Putting it together, WSJF = Cost of Delay divided by Job Size. The larger the Cost of Delay relative to the size, the higher the priority. This is why the correct formula is Cost of Delay over Job Size. Reversing it would favor longer work, which isn’t the point. Using only time criticality times business value misses the other components and isn’t the standard numerator. Using value divided by effort ignores time sensitivity and risk/reward factors and isn’t the WSJF approach.

WSJF prioritizes work by value delivered per unit of effort, so you compare items using Cost of Delay per unit of size. The Cost of Delay captures how valuable it is to do something soon and includes three factors: business value, time criticality, and risk reduction or opportunity enablement. The size or duration represents how much effort the item takes to complete. Putting it together, WSJF = Cost of Delay divided by Job Size. The larger the Cost of Delay relative to the size, the higher the priority.

This is why the correct formula is Cost of Delay over Job Size. Reversing it would favor longer work, which isn’t the point. Using only time criticality times business value misses the other components and isn’t the standard numerator. Using value divided by effort ignores time sensitivity and risk/reward factors and isn’t the WSJF approach.