When delivering business value, let us consider what would make a Product Valuable in the eyes of the Stakeholder. It must meet their expectations, and secondly, and equally as essential, it should be a Quality Product.

While all Agile Frameworks are geared towards developing Value for business, Scrum is strongly oriented towards developing Business Value. This business value should be delivered as Early and as frequently as possible. This is achieved by having Processes that concentrate on getting Deliverables out as quickly and often as possible. While the whole Team’s Energy is Focused on Delivering Value, the Product Owner is ultimately accountable for the Project output.

The Role of the Product Owner in Delivering Business Value

The important Role of Product Owner requires someone who both understands the Company and how it Functions. They must also understand the expectations of Stakeholders with respect to the new Product to be Developed. The Product Owner is the steward of the Product Backlog. They are the compendium of all the User Stories that describe the Product. In order to optimise the Value of Delivery, the Product Owner needs to organise the contents by Priority. They organise the most important parts as the highest Priority.

This Process is understood as “Prioritizing the Product Backlog”. The process is a crucial element in Delivering the most Business Value in the quickest time. It is likewise a Continuous Process; the Prioritized Product backlog is “Refined” often to ensure that the Prioritization is both existing and proper. The Product Owner also plays a huge part in specifying the appropriate Acceptance Criteria. This is at both a macro level and at a User Story level. These Criteria are utilized to determine whether a component is complete or not. They are signs of the intrinsic Value of that part. In essence, the Product Owner is the Manager of Value for the Project.

Maintaining Business Value

When the next Sprint Meeting is held, the Development Team will select from the highest Priority Items within the Backlog. They select the items that they can finish within the Sprint and commit to getting them “Done”. Each Sprint Delivers an Increment. This is a working segment of the Product that has actually been Tested and checked against pre-defined Acceptance Criteria. This is Demonstrated to the Stakeholders for their Review by Inspection and approval.

What often occurs at this stage is that the Stakeholders discover that they need to Change their initial Requirements. This is where Scrum is more receptive than Conventional Project Management; Change is acknowledged and welcomed. The only terms are that Changes can not be introduced throughout a Sprint. Operating within short Sprint Cycles (typically 2-4 weeks) this is not a long period hold-up. By introducing Change Requests as soon as possible, there is a boost in the Business Value. The Product is being Continuously aligned to the most current Requirements.

Preserving Quality When Delivering Business Value

Quality is an important part of Business Value; a faulty Product will not Deliver the anticipated Value, and might even trigger reputational Risk. Mistakes are discovered and gotten rid of early, and Code is typically Re-tested in later Sprints, as the Product Develops.

The ability to request Changes throughout Development also maintains Quality in addition to lining up with the latest Business Requirements.

Keeping the Customer notified and Involved

The Scrum Framework is a very Collaborative Approach to Product Development. The Customers and other Stakeholders are notified of the development of the Product Development through Sprint Review Meetings. These meetings are held at the end of each Sprint. Openness is Valued in Scrum. The Stakeholders are welcome to check out the Scrum Team (Scrum Master, Product Owner and Development Team) area. Within this area there are Artefacts such as the Burndown Chart that indicate the current progress. Stakeholders have interacted with the Scrum Team when the User Stories were being Developed. There is therefore already a rapport between Customer and provider.

We found these books great for finding out more information on Agile Scrum:

Justification of the Effort

Even the best-planned Projects may fail for a range of reasons. Perhaps the Product being Developed is outdated or Market sentiment has changed. Unlike Traditional Projects, where the Project is completed before a choice to cancel a project is made, Scrum is very Agile in this regard. It is the Product Owner who makes this call. They can make this decision at any time during the Project, even mid-way through a Sprint.

This can be a temporary halt, where the Project is reassessed and potentially re-geared or recalibrated prior to continuing. Alternatively, the project may be cancelled completely. What takes place in this case is that the Business Justification that was present at the start of the Project is no longer valid. The project no longer makes financial sense and should be stopped as soon as possible. In this way, financial and resource costs are reduced and maximized for another, more Viable Project. In this method, although there was some spend on the Project, the early halt has avoided even more outlay.

ROI and Delivering Business Value

Naturally, most Projects will complete and Deliver a finished Product. The ROI will not be known immediately. There is normally a lag between Project completion and achieving the anticipated advantages. Nevertheless, Program and Portfolio Management can measure the Business Value months or years after Project completion.

Delivering Business Value

The Value-Based Delivery of Scrum is consistent throughout any Scrum Project. This is why it has been so extensively adopted for Software Development projects. However, Scrum was originally described as a Framework that would be appropriate for any type of Teamwork, not simply Software Development, and is slowly being executed by business for other Business units and even the Company as a whole. The Collaborative and democratic style is better for Companies coping with digital improvement and the requirement to continuously innovate in the twenty-first century.