In this video, PST Ryan Brook discusses how the Sprint Backlog, its creation and how the Sprint Goal drives the work of the Sprint. (7:13 Minutes)

Scrum describes three formal artifacts in the Scrum Guide, but why? What is the point of the artifacts? What are the official artifacts defined by the Scrum Guide? Watch this video to find out!

When Scrum Teams experience a work quality issue, they sometimes shift the responsibility for quality control to the Product Owner as a solution. Not only is this impractical, but it's also anti-Scrum. Here's why.

The Sprint Backlog is a plan by and for the Developers. It is a highly visible, real-time picture of the work that the Developers plan to accomplish during the Sprint in order to achieve the Sprint Goal.

The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product. It is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team.

How does the Sprint Backlog supports Transparency? Transparency being one of the core underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. How can you use the Sprint Backlog to raise transparency?

How does the Product Backlog supports Transparency? Transparency being one of the core underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. How can you use the Product Backlog to raise transparency?

The idea of self-managing teams who have flexible scope and timelines can be perceived as daunting to some executives and senior leaders. In this session, Professional Scrum Trainer, Mary Iqbal talks about some of the common misconceptions about Scrum and Agile in general from a leader’s perspective...

Add a constraint to the length of the Product Backlog and see what happens next.

A scenario showing how the scrum framework and metrics can help a team self manage for improvement.

Der Scrum Guide enthält viele Regeln und Empfehlungen, aber kannst du sie unterscheiden? User Storys zu schätzen ist nicht verpflichtend. In Scrum gibt es keine verpflichtenden Best Practices! Scrum ist ein Rahmenwerk und keine Methode. Der Scrum Guide beschreibt deshalb nur das „Was“ und nicht d...

During refinement, the team discusses what we will deliver with each Product Backlog item. Although it's easy to drift into sorting out how we will deliver each PBI during these discussions, planning at this stage is a mistake. 

No matter how much a Scrum Team plans, there are times when someone asks them to undertake unplanned work mid-Sprint. In this article, we will discuss how to handle unplanned work in Scrum.

I gotta say, refining work items is usually, by far, the Scrum Team’s least popular activity.  No one gets up in the morning saying, “I can’t wait to refine the Product Backlog!” In this article, we will discuss five reasons why refining your Product Backlog is worth the time.

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to your Sprint Backlog? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (73)

Done is a fundamental part of bringing transparency. How does this relate to your Product Backlog? Check it out! Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (71)

The backlog was a great idea until it wasn’t. Many successful teams deliver backlog items daily, but their backlogs aren’t getting smaller. Learn more about Allan’s remedy for oversized product backlogs in less than an hour.

In this Scrum Pulse webcast, PST Mary Iqbal will explore the accountability of the Product Owner and walk the audience through characteristics of an effective Product Owner.

Scrum’s strength is that it makes difficulties visible faster so the team can address them. While the framework helps to resolve many things that might not be working optimally, it doesn’t eliminate every issue. Let’s look at three problems Scrum doesn’t solve. 

Learn more about good Product Backlog practices, from ‘Do We Need One’ to the Product Owner as a Dictator to its Growth Rate and Size

I think of the three accountabilities in the Scrum framework as creating a balance of power.  But what happens when an individual fulfilling one (or more!) of the accountabilities in Scrum gets a bit — um — power hungry?  In this article, we will discuss a few examples of how people fulfilling each ...

Epics and features are complementary Scrum practices that some Product Owners use to organize their Product Backlog. Like a folder structure, they are a convenient way to group PBIs into meaningful groups.

How often have you been exposed to the conflict or different objectives between departments? If never, congratulations! You have probably seen and experienced healthy environments, meaningful shared goals, and true leaders. Keep on!

A cross-functional team is a fundamental part of effectivity. How does this relate to the Sprint Backlog? Check it out! - Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (62)

A cross-functional team is a fundamental part of effectivity. How does this relate to the Product Backlog? Check it out! - Back to the foundations of the Scrum framework (61)

According to the Scrum Guide, Scrum teams are typically 10 or fewer, with a preference to the smaller size.  When Scrum Teams become too large, they should consider re-organizing into multiple Scrum teams supporting a single product.  When this happens, the Scrum Teams should share a single Product ...

But when you have scrum, for example, you need to deliver an increment every single sprint and that increment needs to be done. So the team needs to have a thing called a Definition of Done and done does not mean met the acceptance criteria. Doesn’t just mean that, there should be other consideratio...

​​​​​​​According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, a Scrum Team should contain members with all the skills necessary to create an Increment of usable product each Sprint. Teams that approach their work from a product perspective find this cross-functionality easier to achieve than teams that organize around ...

Learn how individual incentives and outdated organizational structures — fostering personal agendas and local optimization efforts — manifest themselves in Scrum stakeholder anti-patterns that easily impede any agile transformation to a product-led organization.

In my last article, I explained why we need to stop talking about "carryover" and how it's not actually a thing in Scrum. "Carryover" is really just partially done work at the end of a Sprint. Now I will take you deeper and share the 4 common misunderstandings often associated with this concept, and...

A self-managing team is a fundamental part of effectivity. How can your Product Backlog support this? Check it out!

In this vlog, PST Joshua Partogi demystifies Product Backlog Refinement ... what it is, where, when, how long and how often it happens also how refined should each Product Backlog item be.

Scrum is a tactical framework to build products, provided you identify what is worth making in advance. But even after a successful product discovery phase, you may struggle to create the right thing in the right way if your Product Backlog is not up to the job—garbage in, garbage out.

What is an Increment and how does it connect with the other elements of Scrum?

Welcome to Scrum Sutra — a series where I shall share a 2-min overview of each element of Scrum and how it connects with the other elements in the bead to form Scrum Sutra. Today, I shall talk about Sprint Backlog.

“Carryover” is not a thing in Scrum, and I think we need to stop using that terminology. Because by giving it a special name, it gets normalized. Plus the term itself is misleading. In this post, I will talk about “carryover” really means and how to handle it.

Scrum Values make the use of Scrum successful. How can these values bring more Transparency to your Product Backlog? Check it out!

A well-refined Product Backlog is essential for high-performing Scrum Teams.  Without it, teams will likely struggle to deliver a Done increment each Sprint.  But like all things in Scrum, we must have a balance.  So, how far out should the Product Backlog go?  

Scrum involves a radically different mindset that involves fully embracing Empiricism, or making decisions based upon what is known. Rather than creating project plans, teams rely upon Goals to measure success. The list of the most valuable things to do next is the Product Backlog, and it is the p...

Scrum uses an iterative, incremental approach to deliver value to the business through the medium of the Sprint. The purpose of each Sprint is to deliver a Done, usable increment. It sounds straightforward, but it can be tricky to achieve. Here are the three steps to Done in Scrum.

How does your Sprint Backlog support adaptation in order to minimise deviations from agreed goals? Each of the Scrum Artifacts serve to adapt. So does the Sprint Backlog. Check it out!

How does your Product Backlog support adaptation in order to minimise deviations from agreed goals? Each of the Scrum Artifacts serve to adapt. So does the Product Backlog. Check it out!

How does the Daily Scrum support adaptation in order to minimise deviations from agreed goals? Each of the Scrum Events serves to adapt. So does the Daily Scrum. Check out our tips!

Leaders use the Scrum Artifacts as a window into the work of the Scrum Team. This transparency enables inspection and adaptation at the appropriate level while enabling the team to self-manage. 

In today's vlog, PST Joshua Partogi will show you how your Scrum Team can save time and make a forecast during Sprint Planning with #NoEstimates & Kanban metrics.

The future is unknown and although some people claim to be able to predict the future, most people can't. But to look a little ahead, into the future, to have a sense of when certain items on the Product Backlog are finished, predictability would be very useful. Although we can't be completely predi...

So many times, I’ve heard that round about 50–70 % of all software features are rarely or never used. In the Cloud we can now even measure it.

The Scrum Guide has a lot to say about the Product Backlog, and rightly so. It's pivotal to everything a Scrum Team does. But one thing the Scrum Guide doesn't tell you, is how you create a Product Backlog. So, here's one way you can do exactly that.

If I were to summarize the purpose of a Sprint, I would say that it’s to deliver a Done, usable increment that meets the Sprint Goal.

Each of the Scrum Artifacts is inspected in one or more Scrum Events to detect undesired variances. So is the Sprint Backlog. Go check it out!