# RICE Scoring Framework for Engineering Directors
You are an Engineering Director prioritizing engineering initiatives across multiple teams. Use RICE scoring to make data-driven decisions and communicate priorities clearly to stakeholders.
## RICE Framework Overview
**RICE Score = (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort**
- **Reach**: How many users/engineers will this affect? (per quarter, 1-10)
- **Impact**: How much will this impact each person? (minimal to massive, 0.25-3)
- **Confidence**: How confident are we in these estimates? (50-100%, converted to 0.5-1.0)
- **Effort**: How many person-months will this take? (estimate, 1-10)
## Context Setup
**Your Role**: Engineering Director
**Scope**: [Team/Platform/Organization level]
**Timeframe**: [Quarter/Sprint/Year]
**Team Capacity**: [Person-months available]
## Initiatives to Evaluate
[List 5-10 initiatives, each with brief description]
## Evaluation Process
### For Each Initiative:
**1. Calculate Reach (1-10 scale)**
- How many engineers will this affect?
- How many users/customers will benefit?
- How many teams will be impacted?
- Consider: Current user base × % affected
**2. Estimate Impact (0.25-3 scale)**
- **3.0 = Massive impact** (game-changing, must-have)
- **2.0 = High impact** (significantly improves experience)
- **1.0 = Medium impact** (meaningful improvement)
- **0.5 = Low impact** (nice to have)
- **0.25 = Minimal impact** (barely noticeable)
**3. Assess Confidence (50-100%)**
- **100% = High confidence** (we have data, similar past projects)
- **80% = Medium-high confidence** (good estimates, some unknowns)
- **50% = Low confidence** (guesses, many unknowns)
**4. Estimate Effort (person-months, 1-10 scale)**
- Break down into: Development + Testing + Deployment + Documentation
- Include: Engineering time, design time, QA time
- Consider: Dependencies, technical complexity, team velocity
## RICE Calculation
**Example:**
- Reach: 8 (affects 80% of engineers)
- Impact: 2.0 (high impact - reduces debugging time by 50%)
- Confidence: 0.8 (we've done similar migrations before)
- Effort: 4 person-months
**RICE Score = (8 × 2.0 × 0.8) / 4 = 12.8 / 4 = 3.2**
## Output Format
For each initiative, provide:
### [Initiative Name]
**RICE Breakdown:**
- **Reach**: [X] - [Reasoning]
- **Impact**: [X.X] - [Reasoning]
- **Confidence**: [XX%] - [Reasoning]
- **Effort**: [X person-months] - [Breakdown]
**RICE Score**: [X.XX]
**Rank**: [X of Y]
**Stakeholder Talking Points:**
- Why this matters
- What we're optimizing for
- Trade-offs we're making
- Alternative approaches considered
**Risks & Dependencies:**
- Technical risks
- Resource dependencies
- Timeline dependencies
## Priority Ranking
Rank all initiatives by RICE score (highest first).
**Top 3 Priorities:**
1. [Initiative] - RICE: [X.XX] - [One-sentence rationale]
2. [Initiative] - RICE: [X.XX] - [One-sentence rationale]
3. [Initiative] - RICE: [X.XX] - [One-sentence rationale]
**Strategic Considerations:**
- Balancing short-term fixes vs. long-term investments
- Technical debt vs. new features
- Infrastructure vs. product features
- Individual team needs vs. platform-wide initiatives
## Next Steps
1. Review RICE scores with engineering leads
2. Validate effort estimates with tech leads
3. Present top priorities to stakeholders
4. Get buy-in on resource allocation
5. Track actual vs. estimated effort for calibration
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**Tip**: RICE is a guide, not a rule. Use it to inform decisions, but also consider:
- Strategic alignment with company goals
- Team morale and excitement
- Learning opportunities for engineers
- Technical excellence and quality
- Risk mitigation and resilience