Sprints only go as well as the shape of the product backlog. Having a good product backlog is key to being able to deliver software in a Scrum fashion. There are very few required elements to generate an adequate backlog for beginning Scrum. These elements are: Forced ranking User Story Acceptance Criteria Size The first steps are to get customer facing features ranked by their expected ROI and risk. If the backlog is a list of requirements, functional, and task-based, Scrum will be of little use. If the customer or Product Manager understands how to write effective user stories, then … Continue reading →