Managing Risk in the Product Backlog

Written By Allison Pollard

Photo by symphony of love

I recently attended the Agile Coach Camp in Atlanta, and one of the discussions there was about how to manage risks and dependencies in large agile projects.  I shared some of my ah-ha's with my peers, and we've been talking more about how risks are managed and made visible in the product backlog; we're exploring the idea because in the past we've been training teams to keep a separate risk log, and we've seen mixed success with that approach.  

In addition to possibly adding risk mitigation actions to the product backlog, there's been talk of "rating" the relative risk of stories; Rally's Portfolio Manager includes a "risk score" field for stories.  This sparked the conversation of what types of risk should be considered in that risk score: is it just delivery/technical risk, or does it also include the business risk?  And is the score determined by the development team or stakeholders?

What are your thoughts on defining a risk score and using it to help prioritize stories?  Is this something that could help drive the right conversations and decisions, or is it adding too much complexity to the backlog?

Allison Pollard

Allison Pollard is a coach, consultant, and trainer who brings the power of relationship systems intelligence to go beyond tasks, roles, and frameworks to create energy for change. She engages with people and teams in a down-to-earth way to build trust and listen for signals to help them learn more and improve. Allison focuses on creating alignment and connection for people to solve business problems together. Her experience includes working with teams and leaders in energy, retail, financial, real estate, and transportation industries to help improve their project/product delivery and culture. Allison currently volunteers as program director for Women in Agile’s mentorship program. Her agile community focus is championing new voices and amplifying women as mentors and sponsors for the next generation of leaders. Allison earned her bachelor’s degrees in computer science, mathematics, and English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), a foodie, and proud glasses wearer. Allison is a prolific speaker at professional groups and international conferences, including Scrum Gatherings and the Agile Alliance Agile20xx conferences. Allison is co-owner of Helping Improve LLC.

http://www.allisonpollard.com
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