WSJF Calculator
Weighted Shortest Job First scores for up to two pieces of work — cost of delay divided by job size — and which to do first.
WSJF, from the Scaled Agile Framework, ranks work by how much delay costs per unit of effort.
How the wsjf calculator works
WSJF, from the Scaled Agile Framework, ranks work by how much delay costs per unit of effort. Cost of delay is the sum of three relative scores (1–10 or Fibonacci): user or business value, time criticality, and risk reduction or opportunity enablement. Divide by the job size for the score; the highest score goes first. It is the same logic as paying off the debt with the highest interest per dollar.
Formula: WSJF = (business value + time criticality + risk reduction) ÷ job size
Worked examples
| Inputs | Job A WSJF | Note |
|---|---|---|
| A: 8+5+3 over 8; B: 5+8+2 over 3 | 2 | A 2.0, B 5.0 — B first |
| A big valuable job | 2.15 | A 2.15, B 9 — the small job first |
| One job only | 3 | 3.0 |
FAQFrequently asked questions
What scale should I score on?
Relative, not absolute: pick the smallest item in the set as 1 and score the rest against it. SAFe suggests the modified Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20) so differences are meaningful.
Why divide by size rather than subtract?
Because the goal is the most value per unit of capacity. A small job with moderate cost of delay often beats a big job with a high one — that is the “shortest job first” half of the name.
What counts as time criticality?
How fast the value decays: a regulatory deadline, a seasonal window, a competitor launch. Something worth as much next year as today scores low even if it is valuable.
Is size in story points or days?
Either, as long as every job uses the same measure. Duration is a fine proxy when jobs are not parallelisable.
Where these figures come from
- ISO 8601 — Date and time — Representations for information interchange — the yyyy-mm-dd format and the week-numbering rules used here
- US Naval Observatory — Calendars — the Gregorian leap-year rule
- Australian Government — public holidays — public holidays by state (not applied here)
Last checked: September 2026. The Gregorian calendar rules do not change; working-day counts exclude Saturdays and Sundays only.