#208 – Product Goal

Focus is a Scrum Value that we should take very seriously; the concepts of Product Goal and Sprint Goals help the Scrum Team focus on what’s important as well as increase their understanding of the ‘why’ of their Product Increments and the general direction of the product. So, how does a Scrum Team keep focus in an organizational context where all sorts of goal-setting is happening outside of Scrum?

Well, they can’t. Therefore, if you find yourself in this sort of predicament, you must go on a mission of simplifying the goal-setting processes of your organization. Start asking questions: “What keeps us from only having Product Goals and Sprint Goals?”—”In our OKRs, can a Product Goal be the same as a Key Result?”—”Do we really need PI Objectives when we also have Features?”—”Can our Product Goals consist of Features?”.

Challenging your current setup by asking and answering these questions will show you what you need to simplify to increase focus in order to prioritize to effectively deliver value.