Do we need managers and hierarchy in agile?
In organizations that are adopting agile people sometimes state that the hierarchy should be abolished and that we should get rid of managers. They consider managers and hierarchy to be something that hinder self-organization of teams. Steve Denning wrote the article No Managers? No Hierarchy?
What is Kanban process in agile?
Kanban process is nothing but a Board, which is called “Kanban Board.” Agile methodology is a practice which promotes continuous iteration of development and testing throughout SDLC life-cycle. Kanban process visualizes the workflow which is easy to learn and understand.
Are fixed length iterations essential in agile?
Iterations are the basic building block of Agile development. Each iteration is a standard, fixed-length timebox, where Agile Teams deliver incremental value in the form of working, tested software and systems. The recommended duration of the timebox is two weeks. However, one to four weeks is acceptable, depending on the business context.
What is the role of the scrum master in agile?
The responsibilities of a Scrum Master include:
- Clearing obstacles
- Establishing an environment where the team can be effective
- Addressing team dynamics
- Ensuring a good relationship between the team and product owner as well as others outside the team
- Protecting the team from outside interruptions and distractions.
What is the purpose of sprint refinement?
The sprint refinement meeting is done to understand and break down the large epics into smaller sprints. The team takes time out from the sprint execution to prepare the product backlog in the meeting and assemble sufficient sprint for the next execution.
What is story refinement?
Refining user stories is the process of improving, splitting and clarifying each user story. The detail and clarity of each user story should be revisited. Backlog grooming is a term that generally refers to the higher level process of prioritising user stories.
Is refinement a Scrum event?
Refinement is an event when Scrum is implemented in a Nexus. That is correct, refinement is not a formal Scrum event because it doesn't have to happen. It is a good practice, but not always needed.
What is backlog refinement vs grooming?
Regular backlog grooming sessions also help ensure the right stories are prioritized and that the product backlog does not become a black hole. Backlog refinement sessions present an opportunity for product managers and product owners to explain the strategic purposes behind prioritized items in the backlog.
Who facilitates backlog refinement?
the Scrum MasterDuring Backlog Refinement (Grooming) the Scrum Master facilitates as the Product Owner and Scrum Team review the user stories at the top of the Product Backlog in order to prepare for the upcoming sprint.
What is refinement in Jira?
The refinement stage. The purpose of the refinement stage (also referred to as backlog grooming) is to set clear expectations with stakeholders and other teams. During this stage, the product owner and team will review items on the product backlog to ensure that stories are prioritized and ready for delivery.
Who is responsible refinement?
The Product Owner can refine items on the backlog at any time, in or outside a meeting. The Scrum Master and Development Team Members can also update items at any time. Usually under the direction of the Product Owner.
What happens in sprint refinement meeting?
Refinement meetings help teams arrive at clearly-defined and prioritized blocks of work that can be taken forward into the next sprint. Relatively short sessions that occur after product grooming is complete, they happen right before the sprint meeting.
How often is backlog refinement?
It depends on the duration of the sprint cycle. If the team is working a one-week sprint cycle, running a backlog refinement meeting every week is a recommended practice. On the other, if you are working on a two-week sprint cycle, running these meetings every alternate week should be considered.
What are the 3 questions in daily scrum meeting?
During the daily scrum, each team member answers the following three questions: What did you do yesterday? What will you do today? Are there any impediments in your way?
What is the difference between sprint planning and refinement?
Sprint Planning focuses on a short time horizon, while Backlog Refinement (can) focus on a longer time horizon: a. Sprint Planning, as the name implies, focuses on work the team intends to do during the upcoming Sprint, that is, the things that will be included in the Sprint Backlog; b.
Which comes first sprint planning or grooming?
Before a story is ready for sprint planning, it needs to be “groomed.” With the product owner, the development team decides the sprint's goals, duration, and story points. The development team then chooses what should be prioritized in the sprint backlog.
What do you do in backlog refinement meeting?
Some of the tasks involved in a backlog refinement meeting include:Reviewing backlog items and eliminating those that are no longer relevant.Coming up with new backlog items based on newly discovered needs.Re-evaluating the priority of items.Making estimates for new items and readjusting estimates for existing items.More items...•
How do you groom a user story?
1. Groom the storiesRemove the stories from the backlog that are no longer needed.Clarify the stories by elaboration the conditions of satisfaction as required.Estimate the stories with the best known facts at that time.Adjust the priority of the story with the permission of the Product Owner.
When a user story is further decomposed what are they called?
EpicsThe larger-sized stories are called “Epics” which are then decomposed to “Features” and then further decomposed to a “User Story”.
WHAT IS backlog grooming?
Backlog grooming is a regular session where backlog items are discussed, reviewed, and prioritized by product managers, product owners, and the rest of the team. The primary goal of backlog grooming is to keep the backlog up-to-date and ensure that backlog items are prepared for upcoming sprints.
How to solve backlog refinement problem?
The main practice to solve this problem is to set up a regular Backlog Refinement meeting. This should happen initially on a cadence of once per sprint. After a few sprints, the team may want to discuss whether they want to increase or decrease the frequency of these meetings (e.g. twice per sprints, or once every two sprints).
What is Scrum in development?
Scrum is an iterative agile development process. It involves a development team producing product increments each sprint, pulling items from a backlog into a two week sprint. One of the common questions is exactly what sort of backlog items, and how they go from the backlog into the sprint.
Why is backlog refinement important?
It is important that the purpose of the Backlog Refinement meeting is to ensure that Backlog Refinement happens at least once per sprint, much like the Daily Scrum ensures the team is discussing and coordinating their work at least once per day. This does not of course mean that it is the only time that Backlog Refinement can happen! (Similar to how the Daily Scrum does not mean that the team cannot discuss and coordinate their work at times other than at the Daily Scrum).
How to plan a sprint planning meeting?
The purpose of this meeting is: 1 to prepare a number of product backlog items (PBIs) near the top of the backlog to a state where they are ready (or close to ready) to be pulled into the next sprint at the forthcoming sprint planning meeting 2 to discuss items further down the product backlog, so the team has a better understanding of them 3 to discuss and confirm the priority of the product backlog items, so the team has a shared understanding.
What is backlog discussion?
to discuss and confirm the priority of the product backlog items, so the team has a shared understanding.
Why is it better to leave the estimation until later?
The advantage of leaving the estimation until later is that the team has more time to understand and further refine the backlog items, which will increase the accuracy of the estimates. The disadvantage is that the team may struggle to come up with the estimates in a sprint planning meeting. There is also no further time if there are unanswered questions at sprint planning to resolve those questions before the items get estimated and pulled into the sprint.
What is a scrum backlog?
In scrum, a team has a Product Backlog, which is managed by the Product Owner. It contains the sum of the current thinking of what can be built for the product. The team pulls work from the backlog into a sprint, where it forms the sprint scope (i.e. sprint backlog). The team then has the goal of completing that work and producing a product increment. The problem is how work goes from being Product Backlog Items, to a Sprint Backlog.
What is Product Backlog Refinement?
Product backlog refinement, also known as product backlog grooming, is one of the important events of agile scrum. The prime goal of this event is to keep product backlog items ready and move from uncertainty to certainty. Though this event has not been a formal ceremony in scrum guide, we recommend having this as a ceremony for creating a healthy product backlog. Following product backlog refinement best practices is vital because a healthy product backlog is the base for agile development and the dev team has to deliver scope within the product backlog. It is very essential that grooming is effectively used by the entire scrum team to optimize its advantages.
What happens if the product backlog is not detailed enough?
If the product backlog is not detailed enough, always emerging, not estimated and prioritized, then this can derail the entire project. It is the responsibility of the product owner to maintain the product backlog in a healthy state with the help of the entire team by conducting grooming sessions.
What is refinement in product planning?
Refinement ensures that the Product Backlog is up to date and can be used as a basis for the next Sprint Planning.
What is the Product Backlog Grooming or Refinement im Scrum?
Until a while ago, product backlog refinement in Scrum was called backlog gro oming. Backlog refinement is about maintaining and preparing the product backlog with its items and epics so that the Scrum team can use it as a basis for sprint planning.
What is product backlog refinement?
Product Backlog Refinement therefore means: The Product Backlog items are elaborated, evaluated and prioritized in such a way that the Development Team can compile its Sprint Backlog from them. A maintained product backlog should always contain at least as many prepared product backlog items in stock that can be used to plan a complete sprint.
Why should you have a feeling for the scope of the individual items?
Before you can finally prioritize or order the PBIs in the Product Backlog, you should have a feeling for the scope of the individual items, because this determines the costs, which in turn influence the priority. In Scrum, scope is estimated in relative units of measure such as Story Points.
Why is backlog refinement important?
A few other reasons why backlog refinement is important: It improves the efficiency of the Sprint Planning meeting because most questions are already answered . It keeps the Product Backlog focused, clean, and relevant, so you won’t feel like you’re drowning in an ever growing to do list. It leverages the benefits of collaboration in detailing user ...
What is backlog refinement in Scrum?
In Scrum, Backlog Refinement is an ongoing process in which the Product Owner and the Development Team collaborate to ensure that items on the Product Backlog:
Why is backlog refinement called backlog grooming?
There’s no difference. Backlog refinement used to be called backlog grooming. It changed because grooming became a dirty word.
How much time does it take to refine a backlog?
It only specifies that it usually does not take more than 10% of the capacity of the Development Team.
What happens if you don't order your product backlog?
Without ordering your Product Backlog in descending order of prioritization, you risk working on items that aren’t all that important, and missing important ones.
What is the objective of an item?
The objective of the item – how it will help a customer or user do their jobs.
What is a ready definition?
Similar to a Definition of Done, a Definition of Ready helps you to detail user stories to a consistent level. It specifies what a user story need to include before you’ll accept it for implementation in a Sprint. For example: The objective of the item – how it will help a customer or user do their jobs.
What Are Agile Meetings?
Agile development calls for team members to collaborate and work together at ‘supersonic’ speed, just like members of a band.
Why are Agile meetings important?
As a result, it allows your Agile development team to spend less time attending meetings, more time doing the …. But organizing these meetings can still take up some of your time.
Why do we have a backlog meeting?
This meeting is your chance to add clarifying details, establish deliverables, and prioritize the tasks in your backlog. It will reduce the need for a long sprint planning meeting since the team has a chance to reflect on the backlog items before fully committing to the Sprint goals.
How does ClickUp help you?
Fortunately, there are Agile project management tools like ClickUp, that can help you manage every aspect of your Agile meetings! Here are four ways that ClickUp can help you host better Agile meetings: 1. Fine-tune your sprint planning meeting.
Why do you need to be present during a Scrum meeting?
Your whole team needs to be present during the daily meeting so that the Scrum master knows what’s going on.
What happens after the review meeting ends?
After the review meeting ends, the team gathers for the last time.
How long should a planning meeting be?
A planning meeting is often a high-tempo Agile ceremony, and should not exceed 15 minutes.
What is refinement in product development?
You clarify the intent by adding more detail and work together to define scoping. Product Backlog Refinement is all about a shared understanding between Product Owner and the Development team.
What is team refinement?
In the end team refinement should be a structured session where you collaborate to clarify and sharpen the Product Backlog. It can take many forms, like time-boxed discussions, collective sketching and drawing, Q&A sessions with subject matter experts or users, or discussing and creating key examples for validation. Proper facilitation helps to make these sessions engaging and outcome oriented.
Why is refinement not an event?
In training usually someone asks why refinement is not an event? Good question.. One of the reasons is that it has no fixed time and place within the Sprint. How much Refinement and when to do it, really depends on the Dev Team, Product Owner and the maturity of the Product. For that reason, we rather describe it as an activity, that should take no more than 10% of the Dev Team time. If you want to fix that time in your agenda, go ahead.
What is the focus of a sprint?
During the Sprint the Dev Team has full focus on the Sprint Goal. Full focus on delivering a done increment. However, there needs to be some time to discuss new ideas, problems or improvements in order to get to something that we can deliver in a next Sprint. We collaborate around the why and what of a problem or idea, we clarify and sharpen, until we decide we know just enough to start working on this.
Why do we need just in time collaboration on the product backlog?
We need just in time collaboration on the Product Backlog to answer “do we understand what we are likely to do in the future?” , and “do we have just enough information to start working on it”. It is about finding a balance that works for you and your team, in order to prevent situations like this!
What is a 2 week sprint?
In 2-week Sprints, a big block in the second week as a more collaborative workshop. This could be half a day up to a full day. Teams often use the day that they would do Review, Retrospective and Planning in the first week. In this way there is time for deeper clarification, discussing with multiple stakeholders and looking at the system in action.
Is product backlog an event?
So, you wrote that the product backlog is not an event and this is write, yet per the scrum guide it is timeboxed. It should consume no more 10% of the Development team's capacity. Product Backlog refinement is the act of adding detail, estimates, and order to items in the Product Backlog.
What is Story Refinement?
Story Refinement or Backlog Grooming as it has been called, is where the Product Owner and the Delivery Team review high-priority Product Backlog Items (PBIs). While the Scrum Guide does not include Story Refinement as an event, many teams have found it to be a critical ceremony and it is often considered to be the 5 th Scrum Ceremony.
What is refinement in sprint planning?
Refinement ensures the highest priority Stories meet the Definition of Ready (DoR) and the team has enough work to bring into Sprint Planning and prepare a valuable Sprint Commitment.
How often should refinement teams attend?
It’s often best to have the entire delivery team involved with refinement, however, at times this can be challenging. If everyone cannot attend every refinement ceremony, ensure everyone attends often. Some teams suggest at least 25% to 33% of the time.
How often does refinement occur?
Refinement may occur once or twice a week immediately after the Daily Stand-Up. The team is already together and has not started developing or building yet. If the time isn’t needed, the team can have the time back.
Why do we do high level tasking?
High-level tasking may take place to better understand the stories, but deep dive details should wait for Sprint Planning.
What is the three amigos?
Follow the “Three Amigos”. This refers to different perspectives needed to ensure a story is viable. It involves the customer/business perspective, the builder perspective and the testing perspective. This often refers to the Product Owner, developers and testers. If the entire team can’t attend, it’s important to ensure these 3 perspectives are valued.
Why is it important to estimate?
Estimating can be used as a valuable check to determine the team’s understanding. If estimates vary widely, it may be due to a lack of common understanding.
Background / Context
The Problem with Backlog Refinement
So What’s The Solution?
- Regular backlog refinement
The main practice to solve this problem is to set up a regular Backlog Refinement meeting. This should happen initially on a cadence of once per sprint. After a few sprints, the team may want to discuss whether they want to increase or decrease the frequency of these meetings (e.g. twice … - Ad hoc backlog refinement
It is important that the purpose of the Backlog Refinement meeting is to ensure that Backlog Refinement happens at least once per sprint, much like the Daily Scrum ensures the team is discussing and coordinating their work at least once per day. This does not of course mean that …
Alternatives / Advanced Topics
- Story mapping
Story mapping is a method for constructing “flows” or “user journeys” through a system. It can enable a team to quickly identify and construct backlog items that are related together in terms of the actions a user would take. It is an excellent collaborative activity and works very well for pulli… - Impact Mapping
Impact Mapping is a variation on Story Mapping, created by Agile testing author Gojko Adzic. This system focuses on the “who” and “why”, i.e. who is being potentially impacted by the product and why, rather than the “what” and “how” (i.e implementation). You start by identifying the Goals or …
Dangers / Antipatterns
- Design sprints / dual track sprints
One of the dangers or anti-patterns of backlog refinement is to split work into “design sprints”, when stories are analysed and written, and “dev sprints”, when they are built. To make sure people are not waiting, this often becomes “dual-track sprints”, where half of the team are working on a… - Backlog as Laundry List
Another antipattern has recently become common due to the prevalence of tools like Jira. That is the “Laundry List” backlog. What teams need is a coherent product roadmap with a variety of product backlog items at different levels of fidelity, all linked by business themes or problems. In…
Conclusion
- Backlog Refinement is an important part of any agile methodology. The approach described here is a simple, lightweight and effective one: the team meets at least once formally (but probably more informally) to discuss and gain a shared understanding of the items in their backlog. The outcome should be a set of stories