Developing Epics for Scrum Masters

The term ‘epic’ in agile refers to a large user story that has not yet been defined in detail. Typically, an epic will cover a single business process that must be fully completed as a whole for the business value to be realized. These user stories are described as epics because they will require refining over multiple cycles before they can be considered done.

Defining epics and scheduling them into a release plan is an effective way to manage the product backlog. Part of identifying what epics can be made for the project requires an understanding of the granularity of backlog items. Scrum masters can help the product owner and the development team in defining and planning of Epics by letting them understand what epics are and how they can be broken down into user stories.

Collecting Content for the Product Backlog

The product backlog consists of requirements that come from conversing with the stakeholders. Some ways that can be used to collect such content could be the following:

1. Workshops – Meetings and sessions where the team empathizes with a group of customers and users by having them present problem areas and solutions to each other. This can be done by writing them down on post-its, grouping them together, and later on processing next steps.
2. Interviews – Up close conversations with individuals that have more personal statements, which can lead to useful and unique insights for the product.
3. Questionnaires – Surveys that are accessible to various users and customers and can be answered at their own convenience. Results can be more quantitative in nature since trends and patterns can be found based on the answers.

Recommended Further Reading

The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course: