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User Stories – Part 6

Product Backlog Prioritization

The backlog ceremony should have specific goals and objectives in mind that are introduced by the Product Owner and agreed to by all participants. The goal may be to refine the features and divide the deliverables into smaller epics and subsequent user stories. Prioritization takes place and during effective ceremonies, dependencies between features are highlighted. Identification of dependencies and risks can minimize technical debt that may negatively impact the Return on Investment (ROI) of a project. The artifacts used for the product backlog prioritization ceremony are the product backlog and estimation tools (i.e., story points, bucket system, or t-shirt sizes).

The Scrum Master will facilitate the ceremony by reminding all participants what the initial objectives are and facilitating feedback on agreement by the team members. The Product Owner should be the owner of the goals and objectives of the inputs having been received from the project owner and key stakeholders. If there are questions on any of these items, it is important that the Scrum Master facilitate team member understanding before moving forward with breakdown and estimation of features for delivery.

 The Product Owner then outlines each feature with a description and objective of the feature in the larger product design. Epics are then defined in order to group similar high-level deliverables together. User stories are high-level definitions of requirements under each epic.

Higher level estimates are defined based on the user story definitions. The reason that these estimates are high level relates to the fact that team members are asked to use estimation techniques such as Fibonnaci sequencing or relative estimation with only the title and description of a user story available. While not a detailed estimate, this will allow the team to refine the prioritization and scope of the effort. The Scrum Master is the facilitator to guide the team in discussions where scope, priorities, and dependencies may need to be adjusted. Early release planning is managed here and frequently throughout the life of a project as the product backlog is prioritized.

Approval of the estimates and the impact on the scope will be the responsibility of the Product Owner as the stakeholder liaison.

59 Seconds Training Video

Master of Agile – Scrum Product Owner With 59 Seconds Agile (Video Training Course)

Introductory Offer: Free Course

What is this course?

This ‘Master of Agile – Scrum Product Owner With 59 Seconds Agile (Video Training Course)’ provides an in-depth understanding of the Scrum Product Owner roles and responsibilities

You will explore the Agile Scrum project life-cycle, including how an Agile User Story is created, to how we know when it is ‘done’

This course is aimed at those with or without prior knowledge and experience of the Agile values and principles

During this course you will learn the tools needed to succeed as a Scrum Product Owner

What will you learn?

You will gain an in-depth understanding of the Scrum Product Owner roles and responsibilities, and you will be able to

  • Fully understand the role of the Scrum Product Owner
  • Understand the roles involved in an Agile project
  • Create an effective Product Backlog
  • Effectively participate in Scrum Meetings such as the Daily Stand-up, Sprint Review and Retrospective
  • Identify the roles involves in the Scrum Team

What topics are covered within this course?

You will cover the following topics during this course:

  1. An Introduction to Agile Project Management (Product Owner)
  2. The 12 Agile Principles (Product Owner)
  3. The Declaration of Interdependence (Product Owner)
  4. Introduction to Scrum (Product Owner)
  5. Scrum Project Roles (Product Owner)
  6. The Agile Project Life-cycle (Product Owner)
  7. Acceptance Criteria and the Prioritised Product Backlog (Product Owner)
  8. Epics and Personas (Product Owner)
  9. Sprint Planning (Product Owner)
  10. User Stories (Product Owner)
  11. The Daily Scrum (Product Owner)
  12. The Product Backlog (Product Owner)
  13. Scrum Charts (Product Owner)
  14. Review and Retrospective (Product Owner)
  15. Validating a Sprint (Product Owner)
  16. Releasing the Product (Product Owner)

Our Book Recommendations

We found these books great for finding out more information on Agile Scrum:

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