✔ Assess business impact for both. ✔ Set % time for tech debt fixes. ✔ Address critical blockers first. ✔ Align priorities with team & roadmap.

Some ways to get started - Sprint or Agile approach: 1. Assess the impact and urgency: how much does the item affect quality, performance, usability of a product, how soon it is needed. 2. Allocate time and resources: take note of how much effort or complexity the item involves. 3. Communicate and collaborate: share goals, expectations, progress and feedback with the team/stakeholders. 4. Monitor and adjust: measure performance, quality, and make necessary changes. 5. Learn and improve: identify and analyze strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, threats to the agile process. 6. Balance and deliver: find the optimal trade-off between technical debt and new features based on the points before.

Technical debt management is an ongoing process that requires planning, communication, and collaboration from the entire team. By balancing technical debt with new feature development, companies can ensure long-term product quality and remain competitive in the market.

Balancing technical debt and new features requires clear prioritization. Strategies include allocating 10-20% of each sprint to address debt, using the 80/20 rule to focus on the most impactful debt, and integrating debt reduction into feature development. Prioritize debt based on its risk, impact on stability, and business value. Track both technical debt and features in separate or integrated backlogs, and regularly review debt in “tech debt sprints.” Use feature flags for incremental releases, set measurable metrics, and ensure automated testing. Collaboration with stakeholders and continuous learning is essential for effective balance.

1. Assess Impact and Urgency: Prioritize technical debt that directly impacts user experience or system stability as high as new features that promise significant business value or competitive advantage. Use metrics like customer complaints, system downtime, and potential revenue impact to guide decisions. 2. Strategic Alignment: Ensure that each decision aligns with the long-term product vision and roadmap. If a new feature supports strategic goals more than resolving existing debt, it might take precedence, but always consider the long-term maintenance costs and technical health implications.