Management

Prioritising a Product Backlog When Everything Is Equally Important

Roman Pichler
Roman Pichler•Jun 1, 2026

Why It Matters

Clear strategy, a focused short-term goal, and risk-first prioritization turn a bloated backlog into a tool for faster learning and lower-cost course correction, improving the odds of building a valuable product.

Summary

Product management expert Roman Pisla outlines a four-step method to prioritize a product backlog when everything seems urgent. Start by defining who the product serves and its core value through a clear product strategy, then set a specific three-month product goal aligned to that strategy. Remove backlog items that don’t support the goal (or demote them) to reduce noise, and finally prioritize remaining items by risk—user, technical, and business—to surface the riskiest assumptions early. Engaging stakeholders and the development team throughout ensures alignment and faster learning.

Original Description

#productmanagement #productbacklog #prioritise #productstrategy
Have you ever looked at your product backlog and thought, “Everything here is high priority… so where do I even start?” If this sounds familiar, this video is for you. I'll show you a practical, tested way to prioritise a backlog in four clear steps, even if all items seem to be equally important.
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Step 1: Understand the Product Strategy
1:40 Step 2: Choose a Product Goal
2:25 Step 3: Clear out the Backlog
3:35 Step 4: Prioritise the Remaining Items
4:15 Conclusion
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