Is Your "Agile" Backlog REALLY a Waterfall Project?

Many software development teams use an agile backlog but have NO business agility - and are actually using scrum with a waterfall mindset! When the product backlog is used on a scrum project and the business doesn't really understand agile, it wastes money and makes most programmers feel miserable!  In this episode, I share what I've learned about using agile methods with software teams that actually produces business agility. Business agility is the ability for a company building a software product to adapt to feedback and data gathered about how customers are using it. Since software development is such an unpredictable engineering activity, a business can choose to put their hopes in estimates, or deliver releases more often and let data be their guide.  I hope this episode helps you understand how programmers, product owners, scrum masters, and everyone else who works together to build and release software can do it in a healthy way - where less stress is placed on everyone trying to predict the future through estimates. Instead, we can use the insights gathered through feedback and recording data in production about how customers are using the software to product the RIGHT features - and at a sustainable pace!  You can also watch this episode on YouTube.  Chapter markers / timelinks:  0:00 Introduction 0:57 The Purpose of a Backlog 1:19 7 Waterfall Backlog Signs 1:28 #1 No Feature Usage Metrics 2:09 #2 No Release After Sprint 2:55 #3 Backlog Never Reordered 3:37 #4 Features Never Removed 4:19 #5 No New Features 4:54 #6 Estimates For All Stories 5:35 #7 Measuring Output Not Outcomes 6:32 7 Ways To Get Backlog Agility 6:53 #1 Measure Feature Impact 7:51 #2 Release Every Sprint 8:51 #3 Don't Build Onto Features 10:08 #4 Use Data To Reprioritize 10:42 #5 Remove Bad Features 11:28 #6 Commit To Outcomes 12:40 #7 Use Cross-Functional Teams 15:25 Episode Groove Visit me at JaymeEdwards.com Find me on Facebook at JaymeEdwardsMedia Find me on Twitter as @jaymeedwards

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If working on software teams feels complicated, frustrating, and filled with politics - that's just because your eyes are open. Unfortunately, you do need to make a living! So how do you keep up with the demands of your tech job and still have a life outside of work? Hi I'm Jayme Edwards, and I've had a 26 year career in the software industry filled with thrilling victories - and maddening drama. With so many problems in our industry, the more money I made the more ridiculous people's expectations were. I’m sharing the biggest mistakes I made in my career, and the insights I learned along the way. This podcast is the audio version of the Healthy Software Developer YouTube channel, where you can find new episodes every Monday. Podcast versions appear on Wednesday of the same week. Subscribe and join us! Let’s help each other grow a community of healthy software developers.