Product Backlog Prioritization
The product backlog is a list of features identified by the product owner as key in the successful delivery of a product. The backlog can contain several features that may or may not be required to achieve the optimal Return on Investment(ROI) and stakeholder vision. The goal behind a successful product backlog is that product features are placed in order of importance with risks and dependencies considered to reduce complexities and minimize technical debt.
The product backlog is refined by the product owner so that changes such as feature additions, removals, and updates are taken into consideration with a just-in-time approach. The product owner is responsible for setting the cadence for refining the backlog. The cadence should match the frequency of changes submitted. The product owner owns acceptance of any changes and subsequent modifications to the backlog. Risks that are identified will also be incorporated so that any mitigation plans do not cause negative affects to product features.
Sprint Planning
Sprints are planned based on team velocity, the point size of user stories and feature prioritization. Change management will be reviewed during this ceremony as the scrum team evaluates the completeness and feasibility of inclusion for user stories as related to the backlog of features. It is the responsibility of the scrum master to facilitate team reviews of the user stories. User stories can be rejected if they are:
- Not specific enough. Vague user stories cannot be estimated.
- Do not fit the time window for the sprint. Large user stories may need to be divided into smaller units for management within a sprint. Or a decision may need to be made to extend a user story over two sprints. This is generally not recommended.
- Require significant changes. If during the review of user stories the product owner or scrum team members identify changes that should be made then the user story will need revision.
User stories that fall into one of these three categories generally should not be in the current sprint. Modified requirements should be addressed by the product owner and scheduled for a future sprint.
Recommended Further Reading
The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course:
Course Contents
Section 1: Agile Project Management
Section 2: Using the Agile Manifesto to Deliver Change
Section 3: The 12 Agile Principles
Section 4: The Agile Fundamentals
Section 5: The Declaration of Interdependence
Section 6: Agile Development Frameworks
Section 7: Introduction to Scrum
Section 8: Scrum Projects
Section 9: Scrum Project Roles
Section 10: Meet the Scrum Team
Section 11: Building the Scrum Team
Section 12: Scrum in Projects, Programs & Portfolios
Section 13: How to Manage an Agile Project
Section 14: Leadership Styles
Section 15: The Agile Project Life-cycle
Section 16: Business Justification with Agile
Section 17: Calculating the Benefits With Agile
Section 18: Quality in Agile
Section 19: Acceptance Criteria and the Prioritised Product Backlog
Section 20: Quality Management in Scrum
Section 21: Change in Scrum
Section 22: Integrating Change in Scrum
Section 23: Managing Change in Scrum
Section 24: Risk in Scrum
Section 25: Risk Assessment Techniques
Section 26: Initiating an Agile Project
Section 27: Forming the Scrum Team
Section 28: Epics and Personas
Section 29: Creating the Prioritised Product Backlog
Section 30: Conduct Release Planning
Section 31: The Project Business Case
Section 32: Planning in Scrum
Section 33: Scrum Boards
Section 34: Sprint Planning
Section 35: User Stories
Section 36: User Stories and Tasks
Section 37: The Sprint Backlog
Section 38: Implementation of Scrum
Section 39: The Daily Scrum
Section 40: The Product Backlog
Section 41: Scrum Charts
Section 42: Review and Retrospective
Section 43: Scrum of Scrums
Section 44: Validating a Sprint
Section 45: Retrospective Sprint
Section 46: Releasing the Product
Section 47: Project Retrospective
Section 48: The Communication Plan
Section 49: Formal Business Sign-off
Section 50: Scaling Scrum
Section 51: Stakeholders
Section 52: Programs and Portfolios