Back to Forum

How to solve project steering problem statement 1?

Last post 07:37 pm November 6, 2020 by Ian Mitchell
2 replies
Matei Toma
11:07 am November 6, 2020

We miss clarity on prioritization of epics taken into business analysis & design in a sprint, we do not know if the scope of sprint is sufficient to have all epics and user stories design ready when needed for a delivery team, we learned the scope of work was not always sufficient only ex-post, we miss the connection and coordination between epics taken into design and epics to be taken into delivery in the next sprint/s.

Thomas Owens
07:07 pm November 6, 2020

When you say "epic", which definition are you using? I'm familiar with two prevailing definitions. Some people use "epic" to mean a large User Story that has yet to be decomposed into work that can fit into one Sprint or less. Other people use "epic" to mean a container for other work, such as User Stories, bug fixes, or just arbitrary tasks that need to happen. Are you using one of these definitions or something else?

Is there a clear understanding of what the team needs in order to be able to decompose the work into Product Backlog Items that each can fit into a Sprint and then pull them into a Sprint at a Sprint Planning? Refinement is an ongoing activity to understand the scope of the work. In my experiences, with sufficient refinement, Sprint Planning becomes a very trivial exercise for a single team and only slightly more complex in a multi-team environment.

Ian Mitchell
07:37 pm November 6, 2020

The Scrum Guide says:

Product Backlog items that can be "Done" by the Development Team within one Sprint are deemed "Ready" for selection in a Sprint Planning

Have team members discussed, and clarified between themselves, what it means for work to be "Ready"?

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.