Some Ideas Formally Included First Time in The Guide – Product and Product Goal

Scrum always was a framework to deliver complex products. However the 2020 Scrum Guide defines “product” and Product Goal formally for the first time

Scrum Guide now formally defines the terms product and product goal

Scrum always was a framework to deliver complex products. However the 2020 Scrum Guide defines “product” formally for the first time . The guide defines scrum as “a vehicle to deliver value”.

A product has a clear boundary, known stakeholders, well-defined users or customers üA product could be a service, a physical product, or something more abstract.

üIt has a clear boundary, known stakeholders, well-defined users or customers üA product could be a service, a physical product, or something more abstract.

This definition clarifies the misconception that a product is a tangible item and a service which is inherently intangible can not be termed a product and as such scrum teams cant work on a service , the guide now states transparently that

  1. A Product has has a clear boundary, known stakeholders, well-defined users or customers.
  2. A product could be a service, a physical product, or something more abstract.

A product goal is defined as the long-term objective for the Scrum Team. It describes a future state of the product which then serves as a target for the Scrum Team to plan against. This goal is included in the product backlog and in fact is a “commitment” that drives “what” gets added in the product backlog.

Scrum team has one product goal and the team must fulfill or abandon the goal before moving on to next product goal

Scrum Guide 2020 – What’s New?

Scrum Guide 2020 – What’s New?
Excitement is in air. The new scrum guide is out. Like always there is a great curiosity among agile enthusiasts to see how the guide to scrum has evolved.

Excitement is in air. The new scrum guide is out. Like always there is a great curiosity among agile enthusiasts to see how the guide to scrum has evolved.

Over the years Scrum Guide has changed considerably. A very key point to keep in mind would be that “Scrum” has not changed – Jeff and Ken have inspected and adapted the guide to Scrum so that Scrum is articulated clearly and concisely.

Here, in this series, I have articulated my understanding and perspective on how the guide has evolved in its latest avatar. Some Of the themes I want to explore in this series are::::

  1. Purposefully Incomplete – First time, the authors have put it on the paper that scrum guide is Purposefully incomplete. In my eyes, this drive to make things less prescriptive is behind many of the changes in scrum guide.
  2. Some Ideas Formally Included First Time in The Guide – Some ideas and Principles like Lean , product goal , formal specification of commitments are formally included first time in this guide. Some of these were already practiced by many as a beneficial. Now they are included in the guide formally. This formal inclusion helps to further the Scrum cause of focusing on value
  3. Some Changes That Bring in More clarity – Along with concepts formally included for the first time, we can see some small but significant changes. These changes bring a wonderful clarity. Some items in this list are rewording of scrum master being a servant leader or the team being “self managing” instead of “Self organized”
  4. What Has NOT changed – Perhaps the most important theme, I want to explore. Scrum is delightfully incomplete and its a very satisfying exercise to contemplate what has not changed and more importantly why? These are the aspects of scrum that provide the anchor to our thought process.