RICE Scoring Framework for Engineering Directors | A Proven AI Prompt for leadership for engineering directors | Engify.ai
Prompt Template
Copy the prompt template below
# 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

---

**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
RICE Scoring Framework for Engineering Directors

Unlock Premium Features

Related Prompts

Try These Resources

Related Prompts

Use product strategy red prompt

Use technical debt assessment prompt

Use architecture decision verification prompt
