What is the SAFe calculation for Weighted Shortest Job First?

Question

Options

• A(User/Business Value + Time Criticality + Opportunity Enablement/Risk Reduction)/Job Size.
• B(Risk Reduction/Opportunity Enablement + Time Criticality + Size)/Business Value.
• C(User/Business Value + Size + Risk Reduction/Opportunity Enablement)/Job Size.
• D(User/Business Value + Size + Risk Reduction/Opportunity Enablement)/Time.

• A
  94% (29)
• B
  3% (1)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Option A correctly represents the SAFe WSJF formula: Cost of Delay divided by Job Size, where Cost of Delay is the sum of three components - User/Business Value, Time Criticality, and Risk Reduction/Opportunity Enablement. These three factors capture why delay is costly, and dividing by Job Size (duration/effort) prioritizes the highest-value, shortest work first.

Why the distractors fail:

• B is wrong because it places Business Value in the denominator - the opposite of its role - and shuffles the Cost of Delay components incorrectly.
• C is wrong because it swaps Time Criticality out of the numerator and replaces it with Size, which belongs in the denominator.
• D is wrong because it divides by Time rather than Job Size (effort/duration); time is already captured within the Time Criticality component of Cost of Delay.

Memory tip: Think of WSJF as a fraction where the top (numerator) answers "Why is waiting costly?" - Value + Urgency + Risk - and the bottom answers "How big is the job?". The acronym VUR/S (Value, Urgency, Risk over Size) can help you reconstruct the formula under pressure.

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