Automated user story prioritization across 15 squads reduced backlog grooming by 65%

ALM Siemens Polarion ALM
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1

I want to share our implementation of automated user story prioritization that transformed our backlog management across 15 development squads. Before automation, we spent 4-5 hours per week per squad on manual grooming sessions, constantly re-prioritizing stories based on changing business value, technical dependencies, and squad capacity.

We built a workflow automation solution in Polarion’s user-story-mgmt module that automatically calculates priority scores using a custom algorithm, manages cross-squad dependencies, integrates with capacity planning data, and sends automated notifications when priorities shift. The result: 65% reduction in manual grooming time and significantly improved alignment across squads.

2

How do you handle cross-squad dependencies? That’s our biggest challenge - stories in one squad’s backlog often depend on work in another squad, and we constantly have prioritization conflicts.

3

This sounds exactly like what we need. We have 8 squads and similar grooming overhead. Can you share more details about your priority scoring algorithm? How do you balance business value against technical complexity?

4

What about capacity integration? How does your automation account for squad velocity and available capacity when prioritizing stories?