A Scrum Master Guide to Improving Value Delivered

By Stephanie Ockerman and Simon Reindl
Oct 29, 2019

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What is Value?
Delivering Faster Is a Good Start, But Not Enough
Product Value and the Scrum Team
Using the Product Vision to Enliven Team Purpose, Focus, and Identity
Measuring Value
Inspecting and Adapting Based on Feedback
Summary
Call to Action

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Using the Product Vision to Enliven Team Purpose, Focus, and Identity

The Product Vision expresses the raison d’etre of the product—who it is for, and what it hopes to do for them. It is important when defining and funding the product, but it also has value in bringing purpose and focus to the Scrum Team and helping them form their identity. Returning to this vision periodically is a useful way to remind everyone on the team why the team exists.⁵ Various related techniques help the team shape and reinforce their identity:

Product value. A clear understanding of value helps a team understand the why behind their work and how to validate whether their work is contributing value. Knowing the value in a tangible way (e.g., revenue, market share, customer satisfaction) goes a long way toward instilling a sense of purpose.
Personas. Personas help a team understand users and customers better, so as to develop empathy for them. This ultimately helps team members see the purpose in their work and create better solutions. Some teams post their persona descriptions around their work environment as a continual reminder of the people they are working to help.⁶
Product Roadmap. A Product Roadmap is a visual representation of the high-level plan intended to help a team see the direction of the product over time. The more a roadmap focuses on business objectives and business value, the more it provides a solid purpose.

IN PRACTICE: ENLIVENING THE PRODUCT VISION

It is easy for the Product Vision to be defined early in a product’s life cycle, but then become forgotten in the pursuit of individual releases. Products change over time, and they can do so either mindfully or accidentally. Feature creep and other forms of harmful scope expansion are often caused by the lack of focus that results from a confused or unfocused Product Vision. Consider these ways to keep the Product Vision keenly tuned:

Involve a broader community. Your stakeholders and your Development Team likely have valuable perspectives and ideas. And by including others, you help them feel heard, which is likely to increase their commitment to and understanding of the Product Vision. Using the Product Vision to engage in periodic discussions of who the product should serve and what it should do for them is a good way to evolve it in mindful, and not accidental ways.
Evolve it based on new information. The initial Product Vision is a starting point, based on assumptions and guesses, many of which will be correct but some of which will prove wrong. You will need to inspect, adapt, and evolve the Product Vision based on new information.
Keep it focused. Successful products have a clear focus; the teams building them know who they are serving and how. Poor products try to do a little something for everyone, but not very much for anyone.
Constantly reinforce it. In the words of Professional Scrum Trainer Don McGreal, “Be annoying about it.” Product Owners should look for opportunities to reinforce the Product Vision, as well as validate alignment to the Product Vision. Product Owners can bring the physical manifestation of the Product Vision to Sprint Reviews or other discussions with stakeholders and the Development Team (e.g., the Product Box⁷ or a poster of the elevator pitch).⁸

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