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progress and milestones achieved. They determine project scope, schedule, and

request the funding needed to complete the work of the project. They manage and
prioritize the backlog, which is essentially a list of tasks or work components.

Stakeholders Stakeholders are people with a vested interest in the project or the
outcomes of the project. They interface with the product owner, who informs them of
work progress.

Team Members Team members are responsible for completing backlog items. They

sign up for tasks based on the priority of the work and their skill sets. They establish
estimates for the work and take on enough tasks to fill the sprint period. Agile teams
are self-directed, self-organized, and self-managed.

Sprint Planning

A sprint, which is a time-bound period of work, always starts with a sprint planning
meeting. During the meeting, team members choose items from the backlog to work on

during the sprint. The backlog is a list of requirements (both functional and
nonfunctional) for the project. The product owner prioritizes the backlog items based
on business need, risk, and value to the organization. The Scrum team members break
down large requirements into manageable portions of work that can be completed in a
sprint.

The backlog is reviewed at the beginning of each sprint, and new requirements can be
introduced, changes can be made to existing requirements, or some requirements

might be deleted altogether. The product owner typically determines whether a
requirement should be added or removed from the backlog. Team members choose
which backlog items to work on during the sprint and how much of the work can be
accomplished during the sprint. Daily standups (discussed next) are held every day of
the sprint.

The sprint items are easily managed with sticky notes on a white board. The backlog
items (also known as user stories) are listed in the first column. The next column

shows the backlog items that will be worked during the sprint followed by columns
noting the progress or stages the work is in. Last there is a column for completed work.
Table 9.3 is an example of a Scrum board.

TABLE 9.3 Sample Scrum board

User Stories Tasks This Sprint In Progress In Review Completed

Story 1 Story 1.1 Story 1.1
Story 1 Story 1.2 Story 1.2

Story 2 Story 2.1 Story 2.1

Story 3 Story 3.1 Story 3.1

Many software programs are available that help manage the backlog items chosen for

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