The key techniques used to prioritize the User Stories or requirements in the Prioritized Product Backlog, on the basis of business value are presented below: MoSCoW Prioritization scheme—The MoSCoW prioritization scheme derives its name from the first letters of the phrases “Must have,” “Should have,” “Could have,” and “Won’t have”. This prioritization method is generally more effective than simple schemes. The labels are in decreasing order of priority with “Must have” User Stories being those without which the product will have no value and “Won’t have” User Stories being those that ..read more

To ensure viability, desirability, and achievability of the project’s business justification, it is important that risks are managed effectively. Risk management focuses on identifying all the inherent risks, assessing their probability, proximity, & impact, prioritizing and mitigating them to increase the probability of project success. Risks are the uncertainties related to a project that could significantly alter the outcome of the project in a positive or negative way. Since risks are future uncertainties, they have no current impact on the project, but could have a potential impact o ..read more

When applying Scrum to manage projects within the context of a program or portfolio, it is strongly recommended that the general principles of Scrum are adhered to. Let us now understand how Program and Portfolio are defined: Program: A program is a group of related projects, with the objective to deliver business outcomes as defined in the Program Vision Statement. The Prioritized Program Backlog incorporates the Prioritized Product Backlogs for all the projects in the program. Portfolio: A portfolio is a group of related programs, with the objective to deliver business outcomes as defined ..read more

To perform a proper business justification, it is important for an organization to create a viable Project Vision Statement prior to starting any project. This helps key decision makers understand the business need for a change or for a new product or service and the justification for moving forward with a project. It also helps the Product Owner to create a Prioritized Product Backlog along with the business expectations of Senior Management & Stakeholder(s). The responsibility of prioritizing and delivering business value in an organization for projects lies primarily with the Product O ..read more

In Scrum, the Prioritized Product Backlog is a single requirements document that defines the project scope by providing a prioritized list of features of the product or service to be delivered by the project. The required features are described in the form of Epics and User Stories. User Stories are specific requirements outlined by various stakeholders. Each User Story will have associated Acceptance Criteria, which are the objective components by which a User Story’s functionality is judged. A clear definition of Done is critical because it helps clarify requirements and allows the team to ..read more

A key aspect of Scrum is its ability to quickly adjust to chaos created by a rapidly changing business model. In projects with ambiguous user requirements and significant potential for frequent changes, Scrum provides considerable advantages over other development models. To determine whether the justification or viability of executing the project continues to exist, business value should be assessed regularly. Frequent assessment of investment in the project relative to business value being created qualifies the continued viability of a project. The expected requirements from the project may ..read more

Initiate phase, as defined in A Guide to the Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK Guide), is applicable to the following: Portfolios, programs, and/or projects in any industry Products, services, or any other results to be delivered to stakeholders Projects of any size or complexity The term “product” in the SBOK Guide may refer to a product, service, or other deliverable. Scrum can be applied effectively to any project in any industry—from small projects or teams with as few as six team members to large, complex projects with up to several hundred team members. Ludo King for PC A brief Overv ..read more

Scrum helps organizations become more flexible and open to change. However, it is important to understand that although the Scrum framework emphasizes flexibility, it is also important to maintain stability throughout the change process. In the same way that extreme rigidity is ineffective, extreme flexibility is also unproductive. The key is to find the right balance between flexibility and stability because stability is needed in order to get work done. Therefore, Scrum uses iterative delivery and its other characteristics and principles to achieve this balance. Scrum maintains flexibility i ..read more

For an organization, it is necessary to perform a proper business justification and create a viable Project Vision Statement prior to initiate and continue with any project. A well-structured Project Vision Statement explains the business need the project is intended to meet rather than how it will be met. It is possible that the current understanding of the project is based on assumptions that may change as the project progresses, so it is important that the project vision is flexible enough to accommodate these changes. The project vision should focus on the problem rather than the solution ..read more

In Scrum, there are various factors that help determine the length of Sprint. The Product Owner and the Scrum Team decide on the length of the Sprints for the project. Once determined, the length of Sprint usually remains the same for the project. However, it can be changed depending on various circumstances. So, what is Length of Sprint? Length of Sprint is the duration of a Sprint within a project. One of the most important factors that helps determine Sprint duration is the Scrum guideline of 1-6 weeks. Other factors can include the impact and frequency of expected changes, team velocity ..read more