What should we do with Agile Backlog items that have been there a long time?

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What is Agile backlog refinement? And What to do with it?

Product backlog items are all the tasks we hope to complete before we deliver the product to our customer. Every now and then, we run into some ideas that were sourced a long time ago: they are still things we might want to do in the future but we just haven’t done them up till now. 

How to apply backlog refinement correctly for items which have been there for a long time?

One idea that might really help in backlog refinement is to apply an expiration date to all your product backlog items. You can choose, let’s say, 12 months in the future, or even 18 months, for each item. And then, treat it like you would any expiration date that’s on any item in your fridge, for example.

When you open up your fridge and see that carton of milk with an expiration date that is a month off in the future, you grab and pour it without any concern because you know it’s nowhere near the expiration date. As you get closer to the expiration date, well, we’re not that confident now. We might have to sniff it, open it up, and look inside just to make sure it’s okay before we pour it and we drink it. And then if it’s a month past it, well, you go right past it for a newer can of milk. 

So, this is how we should treat the items in our product backlog. If an expiration date is in the distant future, don’t worry about it. Prioritize the item and manage it like you would any other item in your product backlog. But as you approach that expiration date, then, it’s time to really give it a sniff test. Let’s review it. Let’s evaluate and discuss it to figure out if it still needs to be there. And if a month goes by or some amount of time goes past the expiration date, well, maybe you should just throw it out – get rid of it just like you would that spoiled can of milk!

Liked this Agile QuickTip? Just wait until you hear the others! Head to my catalogue to watch the whole series on YouTube, and let me know which one is your favourite, or the most effective for your Scrum team! You can also visit our website, thinklouder.com where you’ll be able to learn more about our training and coaching offerings.

Should we have all sprint tasks assigned at sprint planning?

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Sprint Tasks Tips: Staying Focused when Agile Sprint Planning

Assigning tasks at sprint planning makes us task-driven or more focused on our tasks than the goal of the sprint. For some time, it looks like we’re making rapid improvements until some tasks get blocked. Then, we just move on only to later on realize that we haven’t fixed all those tasks that were blocked. Now you’ve got just a little bit of time to resolve those things. More than that, when we’re task-driven, collaboration tends to be a last resort rather than a first resort.

Here’s what I mean:

Imagine Bill and I were on the same Scrum team. He’s a developer, I am too. If Bill is stuck on something and he comes to me for help. If I stop working on my task to help, I put at risk my ability to be successful because we’re only successful if each individual completes their task.

Not only that, I’m actually putting our sprint at risk. To avoid that, I’m more likely to make suggestions to Bill for some things he can do on his own. If it doesn’t work, he’ll come back and I’ll propose a few more until I run out of things that I can suggest. Then, I’ll ask to sit together with him and see if we can resolve this. Again, you see how collaboration is a last resort here. 

Contrast that with the “just in time” approach where everyone working on the sprint is focused on that sprint goal and assigns themselves a task not at the beginning of the sprint, but when it is needed. The result? We learn from each other, build better and make real improvements. 

Liked this Agile QuickTip? Just wait until you hear the others! Head to my catalogue to watch the whole series on YouTube, and let me know which one is your favourite, or the most effective for your Scrum team!

What are the Benefits of Agile and How does Agile save us money?

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Benefits of Agile Explained – How to Realize Agile Cost Savings? 

Agile benefits are all about delivering the most valuable products or features in the least amount of time by prioritizing the highest valued things and then delivering them through to completion very quickly. With agile, we get to accelerate the returns so we can reap the benefits sooner. 

Put another way, the benefits of agile are about focusing on what matters more to the customer and optimizing those important features of the product, while disregarding unnecessary things that would slow us down. Agile encourages short loops, allowing teams to adjust and pivot their projects quickly based on customer feedback, instead of waiting until the end of the project to make changes. 

Lots of people ask: How does agile save us money?

It doesn’t. The only way you’re gonna save money with Agile, or with Scrum is by avoiding investing in things you shouldn’t be investing in at all. Agile is not about saving money. It’s about accelerating value – highlighting the things that you really need and then delivering those most valuable ones in the shortest time possible. That’s how we reap the benefit of Agile!

Liked this Agile QuickTip? Just wait until you hear the others! Head to my catalogue to watch the whole series on YouTube, and let me know which one is your favourite, or the most effective for your Scrum team!

You can also visit our website, thinklouder.com where you’ll be able to learn more about our training and coaching offerings.