The Quality-Value Equation: Enhancing Impact in Scrum Product Delivery

Darrell Fernandes, Exec. Advisor at Scrum.org and former Head of Product Technology at TIAA

The March Presentation . . .

Key Highlights:

• Overview of Scrum.org, The Home of Scrum
• Product Ownership overview (through an IT Product lens)
• Quality Approaches in Scrum Product delivery

  - TDD

  - BDD

  - Roles vs. Jobs

  - Automated Auditing
   

February’s speaker was David Barrett, coming to us from the Canadian snowbelt ski area where he lives north of Toronto. David leads the ProjectBites.com mini webinar subscription series (50% discount off regular $45 price with Coupon Code: SQGNE) and has long been prominent in the Project Management (PM) community. He graciously shared how to “Improve Your SQA Outcomes with Proven Project Management.“

David pointed out that PM can help SQA teams when they so often struggle with visibility, late involvement, and pushback from stakeholders. PM helps us understand the bigger picture (business goals, project drivers, and constraints) and provide structure, prioritization, and risk mitigation strategies. Improved alignment with project teams helps better integrate quality efforts and make better decisions regarding timelines, risks, and trade-offs.

David encouraged SQA to collaborate early with project managers to define realistic test schedules and set quality checkpoints throughout the project lifecycle instead of relying on a “big bang” at the end. Use agile sprint planning and retrospectives to ensure testing is properly considered. Prioritize and negotiate when time is limited/unrealistic.

To improve communications, understand each stakeholder’s different concerns and priorities. Advocate quality with data-driven arguments, storytelling, and real-world impact examples. Frame quality efforts as risk mitigation rather than roadblocks. Give concise, structured updates, e.g., “What’s the risk? What’s the cost of ignoring it?”.

Manage risks that PM focuses on, such as schedule pressures and focus on high-business-value features. Proactively flag risks to leadership, e.g., "If we skip this test, what’s the worst-case scenario?" Use project retrospectives to improve risk awareness for future projects.

Report useful metrics that matter to PM, such as defect severity trends rather than vanity metrics such as total test cases executed. Relate test coverage to ensuring critical functionalities are adequately tested. Show leadership the impact of skipping or delaying tests. Tailor reports for different audiences. Employ visual ways to highlight quality insights. Frame quality efforts in terms of business impact rather than just defect counts.