The Product Backlog Can be Used to Apply Order

Product Owner / Product Manager - EXPLAINED

The Product Backlog Can be Used to Apply Order

When an item is ordered, the higher-order items usually appear first in the backlog. Ordering the items can be done in a variety of ways. When ordering the backlog, four types of criteria should be considered:

The value of an item is determined by the benefits it provides for its stakeholders, the team, the organization, etc. It is possible that these items are of economic or business value. The order of higher-value requirements is therefore common. Backlogs in the financial domain tend to be dominated by money-moving items. Whenever we build a shopping product, payment functionality should be a priority. Stakeholders would be interested in shopping lists, baskets, and other items related to shopping. Having high-value items converts and retains customers, which is essential to a business. 

The Process of Refining the Product Backlog

Using the low-hanging fruit approach, cost ordering refers to implementing items that can be delivered with the least amount of time, effort, and money. The objective can also be to deliver products that provide the highest return on investment (ROI). An item's estimated value is divided by its estimated cost to determine its return on investment. As an example, an item on our backlog that would require most of the Sprint to complete but would make our product more accessible to new customers would be considered to have a high return on investment.

Products based on new, controversial, or disruptive ideas or technologies are most likely to be ordered based on risk. The idea is to re-scope the product if the high-risk items fail to be delivered.

Time-sensitive items may be more urgent than others. There might be an item defining some functionality that will be demonstrated at a trade show or conference. During the next Sprint, this item would gain prominence on the product backlog.

Viewing our backlog in the context of the Product Road Map will help you determine which of these criteria is most appropriate when ordering an item. As we progress through the product development process, we can determine what will be driving the order of the Product Backlog, based on risk, urgency, cost, and value. It is important for the Scrum Master to help the team refine the backlog.

Refining the Product Backlog is the responsibility of the Scrum Master and Product management teams.

The Scrum Master plays a crucial role in refining the Product Backlog. Transparency at all levels must be established, as well as education and information for the team. Scrum Masters should perform the following tasks:

• Workshops for refining the Product Backlog should be facilitated.
• Enhance Product Backlog refinement in three aspects (details, estimates, and priorities team members understand the order) in full.
• When refining the backlog, emphasize shared responsibility.
• Develop best practices for estimating items for Developers.
• Scope and break down backlog items so that they can be delivered (Done) within a Sprint.

In addition to ensuring the Product Backlog is refined appropriately, the Scrum Master's duties include ensuring the team pays attention to the refinement process. Oftentimes, teams don't devote enough time or energy to refinement due to their focus on sprints. 

A Sprint's Journey

Refining the Product Backlog regularly and collaboratively can make or break a successful product.

Detailing, estimating, and ordering the Product Backlog items correctly will make it easier to add the most appropriate items to the Sprint Backlog. For a Scrum team, the right value must be delivered on time. In order to ensure our sprint is successful, let's refine our Product Backlog in another way.

A sprint is being prepared for the first time. Every Sprint is treated equally in the Scrum process. During a timed event, the Scrum Team creates a potentially releasable increment of software. Therefore, no Sprint is unique. Some teams, especially those unaccustomed to Scrum, may treat the first Sprint differently.

Avoid Scrum Anti-Patterns. 

Scrum preparations include a design scrum, a backlog refinement scrum, and an infrastructure scrum. The scrum process does not result in software development; it is only a set of activities that precede the development of software. No sprint can end without a Done increment, according to Scrum principles.

The first Sprint is commonly misunderstood as a special Sprint because it does not produce user-side functionality. This is not true. Understanding the definition of potentially releasable software is crucial to understanding it. The term does not necessarily refer to user-facing software, although some people believe it does. The software is ready for release when the Product Owner decides that releasing it to stakeholders adds value. Skeleton web applications (also known as scaffolding) that print hello world can be released as long as they meet the definition of Done. A stakeholder's decision on whether to release it is up to them. By producing software that works, the Sprint contributes to achieving the Sprint Goal. 

Using a Scrum Board to Track Progress

The Scrum Team must prepare before starting product development and the Sprint cycle. 

The following are included:

Understanding the product to be developed and discussing it. With Scrum, Product Roadmaps, Planning, and Estimating can be done more effectively. During this discussion, some initial decisions may also be made about the product's architecture and design.

The Sprint length must be agreed upon. It's impossible to know the optimal Sprint length for a specific product and team prior to starting development, so this will be an educated guess. Starting with a 2-week sprint is usually a good idea. During a Sprint Retrospective event, the Sprint length can always be adjusted.

During the initial refinement of the Product Backlog, the team will develop some detailed and ordered backlog items that can be included in the first Sprint Backlog.

Developing the infrastructure for product development. Teams, products, and organizations will define this differently. Various actions may be involved, including buying new laptops and setting up AWS/Azure accounts, to acquiring software licenses and more.

A Definition of Done

A very important thing to remember during this preparatory phase is that in Scrum, empiricism rules. No decision taken during these initial stages is set in stone. 

Infrastructure, architecture, tools, and design are all subject to change if it is later found that they do not help the team's productivity. All these things should be inspected during Sprint Retrospectives and changed if necessary.

So, now that we know how to begin our first Sprint, let's take a look at the things we need to do within the Sprint

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