Business value focus in software development practices

What is Business Value and why is it so important?

As Agile Coaches, Delivery Managers and even Product Owners, we sometimes focus too much on how to deliver fast.

We set up and maintain high-performing teams with great, high-quality outputs and a workflow as smooth as silk.

Our framework (Scrum, SAFe, LeSS, you name it) is like a well-oiled machine:

• Empowered, self-organizing teams
• Effective communication and collaboration
• Continuous integration and deployment
• High coding and quality assurance standards
• Constant improvement of processes and tools
• Happy developers riding into the sunset on unicorns….

Ok, ok, I got carried away with the last one. But doesn’t it sound wonderful? Isn’t that the dream?

Well, not really. At least not if you forget to ask “Why?”:

• Why are we doing what we are doing?
• Why are we building this product?
• Why are we building it right now?

And finally

• What value are we creating for our business?

What is Business Value?

Let’s approach the answer from different perspectives, so that our picture is as complete as possible.

Stakeholder perspective

Whatever you are building, someone is interested in it:

• Customers (internal or external)
• Investors
• Partners
• Employees

At any point in time, you need to be aware of who that is. And understand the diverse needs and expectations of each stakeholder group towards your product.

Your answer to their problems is the value you create for them.

Financial perspective

Unless you are a charity, your product is supposed to bring in money: so-called financial benefits.

These can be direct or indirect:

Direct financial benefits:

• Revenue growth from features, products, services
• Cost savings from automation solutions, process improvements etc.

Indirect financial benefits:

• Enhancing brand value and market positioning
• Long-term benefits from improved customer satisfaction and loyalty

Operational perspective

Your product serves another product? That’s fine! You might be producing improvements that will

• raise your company’s productivity and efficiency
• reduce time-to-market for other products and features

In the context of software development, Business Value means delivering benefits that drive the organization forward. Those can be straightforward and easily measurable (like revenue increase), but there might also be less quantifiable impacts.

Tangible Elements:

Include measurable outcomes such as

• sales increases
• cost reductions
• productivity gains

Intangible Elements:

Those are harder to grasp but can be equally important. They include

• enhancing brand reputation
• improving customer trust
• fostering innovation and achieving market differentiation
• and even: improving employee satisfaction

Why is Business Value focus important?

All this might seem obvious (especially to Product Managers).

So, why am I constantly speaking about it, writing posts and articles, and even recording funny videos to attract attention to this topic?

Because from my experience the importance of the Business Value we intend to deliver through our products often gets lost in complex processes, sophisticated frameworks or just day-to-day habits.

Especially as Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Delivery Managers or Team Leaders we sometimes lose sight of why we are actually here: to deliver value to the business.

Don’t get me wrong: The picture of the dream product team I painted above is definitely worth pursuing!

A smooth workflow and lean processes are the best way to deliver fast and effective.

But whatever you are driving, never lose track of the “why?”. Otherwise, you will end up focusing on features that no one needs and processes that are good for nothing.

Any of the below sound familiar?

• Sprints without a goal or sprint goals that just sum up the list of items to be delivered
• Product Backlogs and roadmaps that are actually a list of technical activities to be performed
• Frequent last-minute changes to priorities without clear business justification
• Teams working in silos with little understanding of the overall business objectives
• Metrics focused solely on speed and output rather than on outcomes and value
• Stakeholders disengaged or unclear about the progress and impact of the work being done
• Lack of customer feedback or market research guiding the development process

All of these might indicate that you lost track of the purpose behind your work.

If that happens, it may lead to

• compromised product quality due to unclear priorities
• poor alignment between business goals and development efforts
• decreased customer satisfaction and engagement
• resources wasted on unnecessary features
• missed market opportunities
• demotivated teams feeling disconnected from the overall mission
• lack of innovation and competitiveness
• difficulty in adapting to market changes and user feedback

How can an Agile Coach help to get back on track?

Now the most important part:

How do we avoid stepping into that trap?

How to refocus on what really matters?

Here are some tips from me:

Keep asking

Whenever you have the opportunity, ask about the purpose of whatever is happening:

• What is the problem we are trying to solve for the user with this Product Backlog item?
• Is everyone clear about the Product Goal for this quarter?
• What valuable thing can we build for the users this Sprint? What problem can we solve for them in the next 2 weeks?
• Are the features on the roadmap aligned with the product vision?
• What is the product vision? (Grab a random developer for this one)

Yes, Agile Coaches can be very annoying…

Support and coach your Product Owner in value maximization techniques:

• Using a Business Model Canvas to visualize all aspects of a business model (you can do this even on team level)
• Applying various prioritization approaches (quick wins vs. max revenue vs. profit) to effectively manage the Backlog
• Implementing customer journey mapping to better understand user needs and pain points
• Utilizing impact mapping to align product goals with business objectives
• Encouraging the use of A/B testing to validate assumptions and measure real-world impact
• Teaching the use of the Value vs. Effort matrix to balance high-impact features with feasible implementation
• Encouraging continuous user feedback loops to inform prioritization decisions

Align on goals

• Make sure to have a framework or method in place that helps align goals throughout the organization, like OKRs or Value Stream Mapping.

Maximizing value lies within the accountability of a Product Owner or Product Manager. So why bother with a Scrum Master or Agile Coach?

A Product Manager might not work with all teams within her value stream daily, so she might not notice when the focus shifts away from the business. Having Scrum Masters or Agile Leads on all development teams will help notice the symptoms early on and react.

Also, while a Product Owner is busy working with stakeholders and management on the “Why?”, the Agile Coach can support with exploring the “How?” – A good Scrum Master will have an extensive toolbox and can facilitate many value maximization techniques.

So, the best way forward is a tight collaboration between the PO and the SM.

Delivering fast and efficiently is important, but never lose sight of the ultimate goal: creating value for the business and its customers. Let’s keep asking the right questions and supporting each other to build products that truly matter.