How can you ensure transparency and visibility of progress in Scrum?

1 Use a product backlog

The product backlog is a list of features, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that the product owner prioritizes and maintains for the product. The product backlog provides transparency and visibility of the product vision, the value proposition, and the customer needs. It also helps the team to plan the work for each sprint, based on the product owner's feedback and the team's capacity. To use the product backlog effectively, you should keep it updated, refined, and accessible to everyone involved in the project.

2 Conduct daily stand-ups

The daily stand-up is a short meeting that the team holds every day to synchronize their work and identify any impediments or dependencies. The daily stand-up provides transparency and visibility of the progress, the challenges, and the collaboration of the team. It also helps the team to align their actions with the sprint goal and the product backlog. To conduct the daily stand-up effectively, you should keep it time-boxed, focused, and engaging.

4 Perform sprint reviews

The sprint review is a meeting that the team holds at the end of each sprint to demonstrate and inspect the product increment that they have delivered. The sprint review provides transparency and visibility of the value, the feedback, and the satisfaction of the product owner and the stakeholders. It also helps the team to validate and adapt their work, based on the product backlog and the customer expectations. To perform the sprint review effectively, you should keep it informal, interactive, and constructive.

5 Generate sprint reports

The sprint report is a document that summarizes the results and the metrics of the sprint, such as the completed user stories, the remaining product backlog items, the velocity, the burndown, and the quality indicators. The sprint report provides transparency and visibility of the performance, the outcomes, and the improvement of the team. It also helps the team to communicate and celebrate their achievements, as well as to identify and address their issues. To generate the sprint report effectively, you should keep it concise, accurate, and consistent.

6 Promote a feedback culture

The feedback culture is a mindset and a practice that encourages and supports the exchange of constructive and honest feedback among the team members, the product owner, and the stakeholders. The feedback culture provides transparency and visibility of the expectations, the opinions, and the learning of everyone involved in the project. It also helps the team to improve their skills, their processes, and their products, based on the feedback loops and the retrospectives. To promote the feedback culture effectively, you should keep it respectful, timely, and actionable.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?