Sprint Goal with a varied Product Backlog
We have a scrum team that handles bug fixes and small "quick win" projects for our software. Another team handles new product development. By splitting the development team in this fashion we have allowed the project team to focus on new development while also having a team dedicated to "keeping the lights on". Prior to this, most focus was only given to new product development and the live issues or bugs were not being handled in a timely fashion. At any rate, what I want to know is how do we set a Sprint Goal on the bug fix team which has a varied Product Backlog with no cohesiveness? Thoughts?
Are you sure that Scrum is appropriate for the second team?
Maintenance and support work tends to be more interrupt driven. Even if you could plan a Sprint with a Sprint Goal, the nature of the work is that a new, more urgent or critical issue would need to interrupt any plan. The interrupts should be expected and embraced by the team, rather than exceptional cases. I'd look at more just-in-time methods of achieving work rather than a cadence-based approach like Scrum. Depending on the nature of the work, the team may need to synchronize with the Scrum Team for releasable Increments that include both new development but also bug fixes, but this is relatively straightforward with only two teams.
At any rate, what I want to know is how do we set a Sprint Goal on the bug fix team which has a varied Product Backlog with no cohesiveness? Thoughts?
A Sprint Goal can be any coherence which gives team members a reason to work together. So, what about maximizing throughput for the same or better quality, or reducing cycle times or the average work item age?
Achieving improved predictability can be a complex problem which demands collaboration and focus.