Refinement of the Cluster Backlog is viewed as the process of adding details to backlog entries, making estimates, or determining the order of entries in the Cluster Backlog.
Category: Organizational Levels
Portfolio Architect (PFA)
With the Cluster System Engineer Group at Portfolio and organizational level, the Portfolio architect is responsible for the technology and architecture side of the entire product development process.
The Portfolio architect forms the management of the entire Organization together with the Portfolio Owner and the Organization Scrum Master .
Cluster System Engineer (CSE)
With the Team System Engineer Group at the Cluster / system level, the cluster System Engineer is responsible for the technology and architecture within the product creation process.
Portfolio Owner (PFO)
The Portfolio Owner is the “Product Owner” the Organization and has, together with the Cluster Product Owner Group (CPOG) on the Portfolio- or Organizational level, overall responsibility for the Market and Business side of the product development process. (A general description of the Product Owner role can be found here …)
Cluster Product Owner (CPO)
The Cluster Product Owner is part of the Team Product Owner Group (TPOG). They have the responsibility for the market and business side of the product development process at the Cluster and System level,. (A general description of the product owner role can be found here …)
Cluster Planning
Cluster-Planning in Cycles
Each Cycle begins with a Cluster Planning event. In this, the Cluster Product Owner of the Team System Engineer Group (TSEG) presents the current status of the Cluster Backlog . New entries or changes that have not been known to the TSEG since the last Cluster Backlog Refinement are estimated, supplemented by Acceptance Criteria and prioritized by the Cluster Product Owner within the Cluster Backlog.
The TSEG determines the Capacity for the next Cycle by looking at the previous “working speed” of the Cluster (Cluster Velocity) and by looking at the capacity of the Teams in the next Cycle.
The TSEG pulls the number of Cluster Backlog Items (CBI), which corresponds to the TSEG’s assessment of the Capacity in the next Cycle, into the Cycle Backlog of the Cluster. The Team Product Owners then use the TSEG to refine the CBIs in Team Backlog Items that are required to complete the CBIs.
Then the TSEG starts the Cycle by pulling the first items from “open” to “in progress”.
Continuous Cluster Planning
As an alternative to the planning rhythm in Cycles, the work for the Cluster can also be planned continuously. The Cluster Backlog Refinements are used for this, whereby the work on a Cluster Backlog Item can be started immediately after its analysis and estimation.
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Further suitable links:\r\n
Further suitable links:
| Events | Roles | Groups | Artifacts |
| Team Planning
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Cluster Product Owner | Team Product Owner Group | Cluster Backlog |
Organizational Artefacts
The Organization is the top level in P4 and organizes the portfolio. For this purpose, the Organization has a Portfolio Backlog with applications as elements, a Portfolio Kanban board and the organization DoD .
Organisation Sync
Organizational Sync (Scrum-of-Scrums-of-Scrums)
This event enables several Clusters to communicate with each other in order to coordinate dependencies, disruptions, new findings and decisions, etc. during ongoing work. The Clusters themselves decide how often this is needed (e.g. daily, weekly).
The representatives of the Cluster can be the Cluster System Engineers of the Clusters. However, other technical representatives of the Cluster can also be designated.
The Organization Sync takes place (usually in a semicircle) in front of the Portfolio Kanban Board of the Organization , since the members move the Portfolio Backlog Items in the Organization Sync.
The three questions in Organization Sync are:
- What has my Cluster been doing since the last Organization Sync?
- What is my Cluster expected to do until the next Organization Sync?
- Where is my Cluster blocked and needs support?
In a similar way, the structure of the Organization Sync can also be used for the exchange of certain roles or expertise, e.g. a sync of the Cluster Scrum Masters , the Cluster Product Owners , the testers, the designers, designers, etc. of a Cluster .
Due to the shortness of a maximum of 15 minutes, the Organization Sync is only suitable for identifying problems, but not for discussing or solving them. The required members can use the time after the Organization Sync to discuss problems, while the unnecessary members can continue to work.
Organizational sync visitors
Visitors who want to experience the Organization Sync can participate with the permission of the members. The visitors are in the second row and only listen, unless they are addressed by an active member. Visitors can be:
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Further suitable links:\r\n
Further suitable links:
| Events | Roles | Groups | Artifacts |
| Team Sync
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Portfolio Owner | Cluster Product Owner Group | Portfolio Backlog |
Organisation Improvement Backlog
The Improvement Backlog is the planning and structuring tool of the Scrum Master. There are Improvement Backlogs on all three levels of the P4 framework (Team, Cluster, Organization).
Each Team that identifies more improvements than can currently be implemented stores these improvements in their Team Improvement Backlog, which the Team Scrum Master prioritizes with the Team .
The sum of the improvements of a Cluster is located in the Cluster Improvement Backlog , which the Cluster Scrum Master prioritizes with the Team Scrum Master Group . The Cluster Improvement Backlog is mostly fed by the Teams’ suggestions for improvement.
The total of an Organization’s improvements is in the Organization Improvement Backlog, which the Organization Scrum Master prioritizes with the Cluster Scrum Master Group . The Organization Improvement Backlog is mostly fed from the Cluster’s suggestions for improvement.
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Further suitable links:
| Events | Roles | Groups | Artifacts |
| Portfolio Planning | Portfolio Owner | Cluster Product Owner Group | Team Improvement Backlog
. . |
Cluster Improvement Backlog
The Improvement Backlog is the planning and structuring tool of the Scrum Master. There are Improvement Backlogs on all three levels of the P4 framework (Team, Cluster, Organization).
Each Team that identifies more improvements than can currently be implemented stores these improvements in their Team Improvement Backlog , which the Team Scrum Master prioritizes with the Team .
The sum of the improvements of a Cluster is located in the Cluster Improvement Backlog, which the Cluster Scrum Master prioritizes with the Team Scrum Master Group . The Cluster Improvement Backlog is mostly fed by the Teams’ suggestions for improvement.
The total of an Organization’s improvements is in the Organization Improvement backlog , which the Organization Scrum Master prioritizes with the Cluster Scrum Master Group . The Organization Improvement Backlog is mostly fed from the cluster’s suggestions for improvement.
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Further suitable links:
| Events | Roles | Groups | Artifacts |
| Cluster Planning | Cluster Product Owner | Team Product Owner Group | Team Improvement Backlog
. Usable Knowledge & System Increment . |