Story Tracking Help

[Gemma4]

Hello everyone, 

Does anyone use Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with user stories? I'm looking for suggestions on how to better prioritize stories to eliminate a large backlog?

thanks in advance for any feedback you have

[Maik Skoddow]

Hi @Gemma4 

for prioritizing stories SLAs are not the right approach as they would come into place when a story is started.

Instead here are several proven strategies, directly supported by industry practices and ServiceNow community insights:

1. Prioritize by Business Value and Expected Benefit

• Estimate the potential value or benefits of each user story, both quantitatively (cost savings, time savings) and qualitatively (user satisfaction, compliance).

• Use these estimates to rank stories, ensuring the most valuable items are addressed first16.

• Document the link between each story and its expected benefit, and track actual outcomes post-implementation to refine future prioritization.

2. Regularly Review and Purge the Backlog

• Set a strict limit on the number of items in your backlog at any time, tailored to your team’s capacity (e.g., 150 items for larger teams, fewer for smaller ones).

• Continually review the backlog to remove or close requests that are outdated, irrelevant, or duplicated.

• Assign accountability for backlog hygiene to a specific role (e.g., admin or product owner) to prevent unchecked growth.

3. Triage and Categorize Incoming Requests

• Establish a triage process for new requests to quickly assess their relevance and urgency.

• Move non-actionable or out-of-scope requests to appropriate queues or departments, keeping your backlog focused on actionable work.

4. Use Structured Prioritization Frameworks

• Apply frameworks like MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have) or similar methods to categorize user stories by criticality and urgency.

• This helps teams focus on "must have" stories and defer or eliminate lower-priority items.

5. Implement an "Aging Funnel" for Ideas

• Divide your backlog into stages (e.g., new ideas, approved, ready for development).

• Set time limits for how long stories can remain in the “idea” or “unprioritized” stage; if not promoted, they are removed to prevent backlog stagnation.

6. Conduct Regular Backlog Grooming Sessions

• Hold frequent (e.g., weekly or bi-weekly) backlog grooming meetings with stakeholders to reassess priorities, clarify requirements, and adjust the backlog as business needs evolve.

• Use these sessions to break down large items, merge duplicates, and ensure alignment with current goals.

7. Integrate User Stories into Agile Workflows

• Leverage ServiceNow’s Agile Development tools to assign user stories to sprints or releases, ensuring only a manageable set of stories is visible and actionable at any one time.

• Track progress using dashboards and reports to maintain transparency and accountability.

8. Limit Work in Progress (WIP)

• Restrict the number of stories being actively worked on to avoid overloading the team and ensure focus on completing high-priority items before starting new ones

Maik