How many projects have you worked on where the overall goal seems unclear, vague or just lost in the myths of time and space?

Can this happen in agile teams? Well unfortunately the answer is very often yes! In fact teams doing Scrum are perhaps more guilty of this than those using more conventional project management techniques such as PRINCE 2.

Scrum is often misunderstood and poorly implemented and in the race to start developing code and producing deliverable's the overall goal gets missed.

However every Scrum project SHOULD have a Product Vision, It's one of the must have artifacts I list in my The ten must do's of Scrum

Who sets the Product Vision? The Product Owner is responsible for the overall success of the project and they should be responsible

What makes a good Product Vision? The vision statement should be clear, concise and importantly brief! It's purpose is to align the entire team and stakeholders so that everybody understands the goal - That goal should guide the Scrum team but not restrain them.

As Ken Schwaber puts it:- "The minimum plan necessary to start a Scrum project consists of a vision and a Product Backlog. The vision describes why the project is being undertaken and what the desired end state

Ideally it should address the target group, The problem being solved, the product being developed and the value it provides.

And finally make sure it appears on the Information Radiator (The task board) don't hide it away in the refrigerator!