Back to Forum

Scrum Master Service to PO

Last post 06:48 pm March 2, 2015 by Ian Mitchell
1 reply
K C
01:39 am March 2, 2015

1) "Finding techniques for effective Product Backlog management"

To me, effective backlog management is about clarity & completeness of PBIs, ordering of PBIs, transparency and visibility of the backlog, keeping the backlog current, etc. Am I missing something?

What are examples of techniques that Scrum Masters use for the above?

2) "Ensuring the Product Owner knows how to arrange the Product Backlog to maximize value;"

Wouldn't the PO (in most situations) want to extract value as early as possible in the product release cycle? If so, wouldn't the higher PBIs be ordered higher than the lower-value ones?

What are some examples of how the Scrum Master educates the PO on arranging the backlog for value maximization?

Thank you!

Ian Mitchell
06:48 pm March 2, 2015

> What are examples of techniques that Scrum
> Masters use for the above? 

Teaching the Scrum Team to author PBI's in terms of User Stories and acceptance criteria is one possible technique. Teaching them how to organize a Product Backlog in terms of epics and themes might be another.

> What are some examples of how the Scrum
> Master educates the PO on arranging the
> backlog for value maximization? 

The PO should take the advice of the Development Team into account when ordering the Product Backlog, including any technical dependencies or advice about possible efficiencies. Also it could be advantageous to prioritize the delivery of some lower-value items as well as higher value ones, if this were to reduce delivery risk.

By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.