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Product Backlog is dynamic, so this is a risk?

Last post 11:08 am October 6, 2023 by Oliver Flaggl
6 replies
12:23 pm January 12, 2014

Hello

I'm reading Scrum Guide and says that Product Backlog is dynamic, because never is complete and is changing when new requirements/elements must be added to met the objective.

As you know the customers all of the time are trying to add new features in order to met with the expected result and the environment conditions, so in this point my question is:

What is the best practice for try to avoid big changes that could to impact in project scope or in the project finish? Even knowing that sometimes the end customers thinks that the change is simple, but all of the times this 'little changes' could be big if requires modifications at other elements previously complete ...

Really appreciate your feedback
Regards


02:41 pm January 12, 2014

> What is the best practice for try to avoid big
> changes that could to impact in project scope
> or in the project finish? 

Scrum practice is to have a Product Owner who is the final arbiter on product value and the content of the Product Backlog. This is an important role, and involves liaising with customers and other stakeholders, and being accountable to them for the Return On Investment.


02:21 am January 14, 2014


In addition to what Ian said, it depends on the type of project/organization e.g. if you are working for a service based organization and your company working on the fixed-price model then PO has to make a call between original scope vs new feature by doing the cost benefit analysis. He should not keep building a product which no one wants but he cannot keep adding new requirements into the backlog at the expense of vendor company to keep his/her users happy. That's why PO is a really tough role to play in critical situation.

Cheers
Sanjay


05:11 am January 14, 2014

Hi Sanjay,
you are right, the Product Backlog is never complete, same as the product. This means there is no such thing as a project scope or a project end, because SCRUM is not a project management methodology. The idea of product development with SCRUM is rather made for real products, think of facebook, google or ebay. They are never "complete", even if it may happen that a product is discontinued for whatever reason.
You may look at changes as oportunities to make the product better rather than risks for your project or threats for your existing product in which you invested a lot of work.
Best, Ludwig


08:36 am January 14, 2014

Thanks a lot for your responses guys


04:49 am September 23, 2023

I am coming into Scrum Master from a business background. In other words, I do not have any software development experience.

-What would be 5 good items I should consider to become a successful Scrum Master?

-Mofid 

 


11:08 am October 6, 2023

What is the best practice for try to avoid big changes 

Waterfall development. The very point of agile development is to deal with changes.


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