Agile First Steps: Building Effective Backlogs

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www.ivarjacobson.com

Agile First Steps:

Building Effective Backlogs

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2

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Introducing the product and sprint backlogs

Product

Backlog

Most

important

items form

objectives for

the Sprint.

Most

Important

Least

Important

Tasks are defined

(from the selected

product backlog

items) and

prioritized to be

undertaken during

the sprint

New stories are

prioritized, estimated

and added to the stack.

Stories can be

re-prioritized or removed

at any time.

Items at the top of the

list should be well

defined.

(4)

4 When backlogs go bad

Epic

business

priority /

value

Product

Backlog

Epic

Stories and other Requirements

Change Request

Defect

(5)

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6 Agenda

Product

Backlog

Most

important

items form

objectives for

the Sprint.

Most

Important

Least

Important

Tasks are defined

(from the selected

product backlog

items) and

prioritized to be

undertaken during

the sprint

New stories are

prioritized, estimated

and added to the stack.

Stories can be

re-prioritized or removed

at any time.

Items at the top of the

list should be well

defined.

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The Product Backlog is an ordered list of everything that might

be needed in the product and is the single source of

requirements for any changes to be made to the product.

K Schwaber & J Sutherland, The Scrum Guide, 2011.

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8 The Product Backlog is an ordered list of everything that might

be needed in the product and is the single source of

requirements for any changes to be made to the product.

K Schwaber & J Sutherland, The Scrum Guide, 2011.

What is a product backlog?

Ideas

Ready

for Dev

Storytelling

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What makes a good Product Backlog Item?

The Product Backlog lists all features, functions, requirements,

enhancements, and fixes that constitute the changes to be made to the

product in future releases.

Product Backlog items have the attributes of a description, order, and

estimate.

K Schwaber & J Sutherland, The Scrum Guide, 2011.

Source :Bill Wake

My Product Backlog is…

D

etailed Appropriately

E

stimated

E

mergent

P

rioritized

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10 The Importance of Ordering

Adapted from Mike Cohn’s blog: ‘

Why There Should Not Be a “Release Backlog”’

Release

Backlog

Most

Important

Least

Important

Where we’ll finish...

..at our slowest velocity (5x 28)

..at our long-term average (5 x33)

..at our best velocity (5 x 37)

…in another 5 Sprints.

What we’ll do next.

What we’ve done.

Pending

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Bringing order from chaos

Define Backlog

Items

Agree to Backlog

Item Business

Value & Priority

Estimate Relative

Backlog

Item Effort

Identify & Assess

Backlog Item Risk

Product

Backlog

Establish

Ordered

Backlog

+ Priority

+ Effort

+ Risk

+ Order

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12 The Big Picture

Operational Defects

Change Requests

S/H Requests

Supporting Definitions

Stories

Release

Backlog

Done

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The Big Picture

Operational Defects

Change Requests

S/H Requests

Supporting Definitions

Stories

Release

Backlog

Done

Possible

Ready

Prepare the most important items for development

You could keep

preparing

backlog items

until the release

backlog is full….

….or you could

get started

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14 The Big Picture

Operational Defects

Change Requests

S/H Requests

Supporting Definitions

Stories

Release

Backlog

Done

Possible

Ready

Remembering to Continuously Work on Your Backlog

Priorities will

change.

More will be

_{got ready.}

Change

Requests will

be made

Is it a new story?

Is it a tweak to an

existing story?

Re-write

or refine.

Does it change

the order?

Is it a new use case,

epic or theme?

Does it affect the

current work?

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16 Is your product backlog a funnel….

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What do you need to get started

The Big Picture

Operational Defects

Change Requests

S/H Requests

Supporting Definitions

Stories

Release

Backlog

Done

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18 Agenda

Product

Backlog

Most

important

items form

objectives for

the Sprint.

Most

Important

Least

Important

Tasks are defined

(from the selected

product backlog

items) and

prioritized to be

undertaken during

the sprint

New stories are

prioritized, estimated

and added to the stack.

Stories can be

re-prioritized or removed

at any time.

Items at the top of the

list should be well

defined.

(19)

What is a Sprint Backlog?

A

Least Popular

B

Most Popular

C

Chosen by Ken Schwaber

Source: Scrum Guide Updates::The New, New Sprint Backlog by David Starr with Ryan Cromwell

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20 Where do Sprint Backlog Items come from?

Don’t we just

take the top

items from the

Product Backlog?

And then return

them when they

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Understanding Done, Done Done, and Done Done Done

Release

Backlog

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22 Inc #2

Understanding Done, Done Done, and Done Done Done

Release

Backlog

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Inc #3

Release #1

Understanding Done, Done Done, and Done Done Done

Inc #1

Release

Backlog

Inc #2

Releas

e

Ready

Release

Ready

Releas

e

Ready

Op’s

Ready

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24 What happens at the beginning of a Sprint?

Done

Objectives

Overheads

To Do

In Progress

Blocked

Impediments

In-Flight Defects

Complete

WARNING !

Sprint Full

1

2

3

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1

2

3 What happens during a sprint?

Done

Objectives

Overheads

To Do

In Progress

Blocked

Impediments

In-Flight Defects

Complete

Execute Test

for Story # 1

And so

on…..

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26

1

2

3 What happens at the end?

Done

Objectives

Overheads

To Do

In Progress

Blocked

Impediments

Complete

In-Flight Defects

And so

on…..

until

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1

2

3 What happens at the beginning of the next iteration

Done

Objectives

Overheads

To Do

In Progress

Blocked

Impediments

Complete

In-Flight Defects

WARNING !

Sprint Full

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28 How are the Product and Sprint Backlogs related?

Push every

sprint.

Pull as

needed

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Using Kanban to focus the release backlog

Release

Backlog

Analysis

On-Going

Done

Test

_Live

Dev

Done

On-Going

Done

3

4

2

10

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Some simple do’s and don’ts

Don’t

try

to

orde

r

ever

ythi

ng

Alwa

ys

know

your

top

10. Don’t

just

have

a

sing

le

big

list

Have a

stagi

ng /

prepa

ratio

n area

Alway

s know

where

you’re

going

Keep

the

big

pictu

re

visib

le at

all

times

Don’t

slavi

shly

apply

other

peopl

e’s

board

s

Contin

uously

inspec

t &

adapt

your

backlo

gs

Don’t

put

in-flight

defect

s in

your

produc

t

backlo

g

Don’t

put

change

reques

ts in

your

releas

e

backlo

g

Allow

non-PBI

sprint

object

ives

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34 For questions, feel free to contact me, Ian Spence, at

[email protected]

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