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Wednesday, 6 September 2023

How to do Risk Management in Scrum Agile?

Risk Management in Scrum Agile is an ongoing, adaptive process that focuses on early identification, assessment, and mitigation of risks. Unlike traditional project management, where risks are managed in a formalized plan, Agile risk management is iterative and collaborative.

Key Steps for Risk Management in Scrum:


1. Identify Risks Early & Continuously

  • Sprint Planning: Discuss potential risks during backlog refinement and sprint planning.

  • Daily Stand-ups: Team members highlight blockers or emerging risks.

  • Retrospectives: Reflect on past risks and how they were handled.

  • Risk Storming: Dedicate time (e.g., a workshop) to brainstorm risks.


2. Assess & Prioritize Risks

  • Impact vs. Probability: Use a simple Risk Matrix (High/Medium/Low) to prioritize.

  • Agile Risk Burndown Chart: Track risks over sprints to see trends.

  • Dependencies & Assumptions: Identify risks related to external teams, tech debt, or unclear requirements.


3. Mitigate & Respond Proactively

  • Incremental Delivery: Break work into smaller chunks to reduce uncertainty.

  • Spikes (Technical Investigations): Allocate time to explore high-risk items.

  • Buffer in Sprints: Reserve capacity for unexpected issues.

  • Fail Fast: Encourage early experimentation to validate assumptions.


4. Monitor & Adapt

  • Transparency: Make risks visible (e.g., on the Scrum board with a "Risk" column).

  • Review in Sprint Reviews: Stakeholders provide feedback on risks.

  • Adaptive Planning: Adjust backlog priorities based on new risks.


5. Foster a Risk-Aware Culture

  • Psychological Safety: Encourage open discussion of risks without blame.

  • Team Ownership: Everyone (PO, SM, Dev Team) shares responsibility.

  • Continuous Learning: Use retrospectives to improve risk responses.

Example Risk Management in Scrum:

  • Risk: A third-party API integration may fail.

  • Mitigation:

    • Add a Spike in Sprint 1 to test integration feasibility.

    • Implement a fallback mechanism in Sprint 2.

    • Monitor API performance in Daily Scrums.


Tools to Help:

  • Risk Board (physical or digital)

  • Impediment Log (track blockers)

  • Burndown/Burnup Charts (track progress against risks)

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