De-risking

Minimize the risk to build the product.

De-risking refers to the method of adequately understanding each backlog story and identify potential risk that could arise during development. Having a team conversation about the highest priority and highest value backlog stories creates an environment where the members of the product team can collaborate on the solutions to business problems.

Steps

Schedule regular meetings

Meetings are schedule weekly with the product team, whenever possible. The product manager grooms the backlog prior to the meeting.

Size each story

Prior to sizing each story, the team reviews the detail of each product backlog item and the acceptance criteria. Establish a shared agreement of the work required to successfully implement a given story. Let the developers and designers ask questions and define task to fulfill the commitment. Learn more about sizing.

Identify risks

The team discusses any potential risks found based on the severity of impact. Identify stories that are not defined well enough to be worked and need further clarification. Break down user stories into smaller items to deliver working, demonstrable, software features. The goal is to have a backlog of stories that are 1 or 2 point stories.