I've found that one of the best ways to manage technical debt is to treat it as much as possible like "ordinary" debt.
At times, it can be advantageous to take on some amount of financial debt. For instance, you might be able to pay for a car with all cash, but if interest rates are low and you want to retain a healthy emergency fund, you might decide that it's more valuable to take on a loan.
But any auto loan you take on will have a repayment schedule that you have to agree to up front. And that is exactly how you should treat technical debt as well. You should figure out a term and a repayment plan, then get your stakeholders to commit to it.
Easier said than done, of course. But too often we label something as technical debt and it ends up at the bottom of a Jira backlog, and it's still sitting there years later.
At times, it can be advantageous to take on some amount of financial debt. For instance, you might be able to pay for a car with all cash, but if interest rates are low and you want to retain a healthy emergency fund, you might decide that it's more valuable to take on a loan.
But any auto loan you take on will have a repayment schedule that you have to agree to up front. And that is exactly how you should treat technical debt as well. You should figure out a term and a repayment plan, then get your stakeholders to commit to it.
Easier said than done, of course. But too often we label something as technical debt and it ends up at the bottom of a Jira backlog, and it's still sitting there years later.