Mastering Dependencies in Your Product Backlog

Agile teams may unintentionally assume significant risk and excessive rework by not addressing dependencies in the product backlog. While the business defines the minimum requirements needed to deliver value and when to deliver that value-delivery dependencies-the agile team determines the necessary sequence of development-development dependencies. The challenge for everyone is balancing delivery and development dependencies. Taking a holistic approach to the product backlog enables the team to evaluate the impact of these dependencies and, as needed, adjust release and iteration plans. Ellen Gottesdiener and Mary Gorman share techniques they have used to master dependencies in backlogs. Learn the difference between process flow and process dependencies, and how to identify story dependencies through pre- and post-conditions, detect data dependencies with interaction matrices, and visualize delivery and development scenarios using minimal marketable feature (MMF) dependency graphs. By analyzing and managing your backlog dependencies, your team will gain a vital perspective on what to build and when to build it.