Sabine GOURAUD

Product backlogs fail when they’re used as ticket storage. We like David Theil’s point that a backlog should act as a guide to outcomes. Managed well, it keeps teams focused on priorities, value, and user needs. Too often though, teams treat it as a giant list of tickets that leads to oversized backlogs, unclear priorities, and confusion. That kind of mess turns into a “feature factory,” where work piles up without clear strategy or value. Check out his article: https://lnkd.in/gTRhZ-Hw Here are David’s big ideas: →  Most teams misuse the backlog as a giant list of tickets. → Poor backlog management creates oversized lists, unclear priorities, and confusion. →  A messy backlog often becomes a “feature factory” with no clear strategy or value. → The backlog should be a strategic tool, not just ticket storage. → A well-managed backlog keeps teams focused on priorities, value, and user needs. → Regular refinement and prioritization are essential for clarity. → Backlogs should support conversations about outcomes and strategy, 💬 We asked David why he wrote the article: “It is a summary of a keynote I held at a meetup for the Austrian Agile Community. The idea was that I wanted to inspire product owners and agile people to rethink what backlog management is about. It is so much more than just a tool and a list of items. Especially when you build the right lean product management mindset, you will widen your view on the topic and will discover more possibilities. ” We’re on board. Here are some other featured posts: Prioritize and manage ideas with a product backlog. Waleed Elaghil https://lnkd.in/g8JxDgA3 Refine the backlog with well-defined problems, user data, and team alignment. David Pereira https://lnkd.in/gSjWRP8u Use a simple ROI method to prioritize features. Alex Pedicini https://lnkd.in/gktkCHqT 👉 Helio helps teams keep their backlog tied to real outcomes by collecting design signals through fast user tests. With clear UX metrics, you can see which ideas matter most to users and use that evidence to prioritize with confidence. Want to learn how? Join the Helio Glare community: https://lnkd.in/gynueqWu

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Understand Scrum in 5 minutes Scrum is simple to understand… but hard to master. Most teams say they “do Scrum,” but few actually live it. Scrum ≠ Process. It’s a framework for focused delivery, built on collaboration, iteration, and improvement. Scrum gives you: ✅ Structure without rigidity ✅ Flexibility without chaos ✅ Accountability without micromanagement ☑︎ Agile vs Scrum, the truth: Agile is the mindset. Scrum is an execution engine (Framework) Agile says “be adaptable.” Scrum shows how. ☑︎ The Scrum DNA 1. Timeboxed Sprints (2–4 weeks) 2. Clear Roles and events 3. Transparent Artifacts 4. Relentless Improvement ☑︎ The 5 Scrum Values Commitment. Courage. Focus. Openness. Respect. If your team doesn’t live these, you’re just pretending to be Agile. Scrum isn’t daily stand-ups and sticky notes. It’s a culture of accountability, focus, and delivery. If your Scrum Master isn’t protecting that, they’re part of the problem. ☑︎ Your turn: ↓ What’s the most misunderstood part of Scrum in your team? Share with us in the comments - Sharing is learning #Repost to help others gain more clarity #Follow Stanley for more Agile-related posts 🖼 Credit @shraddha sahu

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Scrum Masters — if your metrics don't reflect customer reality, you're not measuring progress. You're optimizing the illusion of it. Scrum teams don't get paid to move tickets. They get paid to move the needle. Yet most Scrum Masters still obsess over: 📊 Stories Planned vs. Stories Delivered 📈 Velocity trends 🏁 Burndown charts All of which tell us how busy we are. But not whether we made anything better. 🛑 Velocity target: 100 — met. 🛑 Dashboard: glowing green. 🛑 Team: feeling accomplished. 🛑 Users: Still stuck. So, your team didn't fail the sprint. But the sprint failed the customer. Here's how I think about it instead: ✅ Output = Features shipped, code deployed, hours logged ✅ Outcome = A real user can now do something they couldn't before ✅ Impact = The organization gains when that outcome drives satisfaction, loyalty, or revenue Here's the difference: 🚫 "We completed 48 story points this sprint." (Output) ✅ "80% of users now complete onboarding in under 2 minutes." (Outcome) 📈 "Conversion rates for new users increased by 12%." (Impact) 🚫 "We released 6 new dashboard widgets." (Output) ✅ "Customers are now identifying spending anomalies 40% faster." (Outcome) 📈 "This reduced churn in premium accounts by 18%." (Impact) Scrum without outcome thinking is just sophisticated busyness. 👉 Shift your sprint goals from "story done" to "delivered value." 👉 Measure what users gain, not what you give. 👉 Track progress based on real change not performance theater. Busy teams burn out.
Value-focused teams win. #ReTHINKscrum #ScrumMastery Agilemania Agilemania Malaysia

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✅ Join our 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐀𝐩𝐩 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 for daily Scrum & Agile insights 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d2CTUCnu 🔸 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝟏:𝟏 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩, 𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞? 📞 Call/WhatsApp: 9137275692 ✅ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐓𝐋𝐎 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 If you’ve ever wondered why your team’s Sprint capacity seems tight even before development starts, the answer might be KTLO. 1️⃣ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐓𝐋𝐎? 🔸 KTLO stands for "Keep the Lights On"—essential maintenance work that ensures systems continue to function smoothly. 🔸 These are not roadmap features but are critical for operational stability. ✅𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐓𝐋𝐎 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬: 🔸Bug fixes 🔸Server patching 🔸Security updates 🔸Incident response 🔸Routine backups 🔸System monitoring 2️⃣ Why KTLO Matters in Scrum KTLO tasks can be unpredictable and recurring. If left unmanaged, they consume team bandwidth and quietly derail feature delivery. ✅𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬: 🔸Reduces availability for Sprint Goals 🔸Adds unplanned work mid-Sprint 🔸Affects velocity and stakeholder expectations 3️⃣ 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐊𝐓𝐋𝐎 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦: ✅ 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 🔹 Reserve 10–30% of Sprint capacity based on past KTLO load. ✅ 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 🔹 Log KTLO tasks in JIRA (or similar tools) to review impact and patterns. ✅ 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 🔹 Raise known KTLO work upfront to adjust commitments realistically. ✅ 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 🔹 If a KTLO task is known in advance (e.g., planned upgrade), treat it like any other Product Backlog Item. ✅ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐧 (𝐢𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝) 🔹 In teams with high KTLO demand, a Scrumban approach allows more flexibility in managing flow. ✅𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨: A team working on a public sector healthcare portal may have to: 🔸Respond to a sudden server downtime 🔸Apply critical patches from a new security bulletin 🔸Monitor system load and troubleshoot urgent performance drops 🔸None of these are “features,” but without them, nothing runs. ✅Takeaway: If you’re a Scrum Master or Product Owner, acknowledging and planning for KTLO is essential to protect your Sprint Goals and maintain transparency with stakeholders. ✅ Have KTLO tasks ever derailed your Sprint plan? How did your team handle it? Drop your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to learn from you! 👇 ✅ Follow Chandan Kumar for hands-on Scrum strategies, Agile leadership lessons, and field-tested team guidance.

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🧠 Backlog Grooming Isn't Just a Meeting — It's Strategic Planning in Disguise! 🚀 Make Your Sprint Planning Seamless As Scrum teams, we often focus on Sprint Planning, Reviews, and Retros — but what about Backlog Grooming (Refinement)? This is where clarity, alignment, and prioritization take shape. Here’s a quick Backlog Grooming Checklist I use with my teams to ensure we're sprint-ready: ✅ Items are prioritized by the Product Owner ✅ PBIs have clear acceptance criteria ✅ Stories are small, estimable, and achievable ✅ Large epics are split into actionable stories ✅ The team has estimated each item collaboratively ✅ Every story meets the Definition of Ready ✅ All dependencies and blockers are discussed 🔁 Regular grooming ensures: Less chaos in Sprint Planning Faster delivery with fewer surprises Better team alignment on scope and expectations 📌 Pro tip: Keep grooming sessions focused (max 60–90 mins) and frequent (weekly or bi-weekly)! 🛠️ Tools I prefer: Jira, Confluence, Azure DevOps — whatever helps the team collaborate best. Let’s not underestimate the power of a well-groomed backlog — it’s the backbone of high-performing Scrum teams. #ScrumMaster #AgileCoach #BacklogRefinement #ScrumTips #AgilePractices #VikasNHarale #ServantLeadership #AgileMindset

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🚀 SCRUM vs KANBAN — Two Agile Powerhouses, One Goal: Continuous Improvement Both Scrum and Kanban help teams deliver value faster, but their approaches differ 👇 🧩 SCRUM – Structured Agility ➡️ Fixed Sprints (usually 2–4 weeks) ➡️ Defined Roles – Scrum Master, Product Owner, Development Team ➡️ Commitments made at the start of each Sprint ➡️ Focus on delivering incremental improvements ➡️ Regular ceremonies – Daily Stand-up, Sprint Review, Retrospective 🔄 KANBAN – Flow-Based Flexibility ➡️ Continuous workflow, no fixed sprints ➡️ Visual board to track work in progress (WIP) ➡️ Focus on limiting WIP to improve flow ➡️ No specific roles or ceremonies required ➡️ Ideal for teams handling unplanned or continuous tasks ⚖️ When to Use What ✅ Choose SCRUM if your work can be planned, iterative, and time-boxed ✅ Choose KANBAN if your tasks arrive unpredictably or require continuous delivery 💡 Pro Tip: Many teams now blend both — using Scrum’s structure with Kanban’s visual flow control for best results! #quality #qualityassurance #qualitycontrol #qualitymanagementsystem #qualityjobs #qualityengineer #qualityeducation #qualityaudit #qualitytraining #qualityinspection #qms #qaqc #7qctools #qualityengineering #pdca #sixsigma #capa #qualitymanagement #management #training #productivity #engineering #careers #projectmanagement #lean #excellence #engineers #waste #iso #tutorial #kanban #kaizen #iso9001 #leansixsigma #tutorials #leanmanufacturing #5s #mechanicalengineering #msa #oee #industrialengineering #smed #ishikawa #jidoka #pokayoke #andon #7qctools #histogram #qcc #sop #timwood #takttime #pullsystem #kpi #tpm #ppap #coretools #spc #tpm #automotiveindustry #controlchart #iatf16949 #jobinterviews #checksheet #fishbone #g8d #paretochart #vsm #iatf #qms #linebalancing #fmea #vsmstudy #flowchart #histograms #7waste #3mwaste #apqp #smartgoal #DMAIC #Kaizen #5Why #BlackBelt #GreenBelt #YellowBelt

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