It was a sunny day in April when I embarked on a journey to create a direct messaging app called FlowChat. Armed with my trusty Jira board, I began to list out the user stories and issues that I wanted to tackle. However, as I delved deeper into the project, I soon realized that it was not going to be an easy feat. 17 issues needed to be addressed, and I was determined to prioritize and organize them into sprints to ensure that the project was completed on time.

With a plan in mind, I started sprint 1 with a clear goal in mind: to deliver a functional messaging app that allows users to create accounts, send and receive private messages, and block unwanted messages. The sprint started on April 15th, and I was determined to complete it by the 23rd. It was a race against time, but with the help of my team, we managed to achieve our sprint goal on the 21st.

Introduction: FlowChat is a direct messaging app that I developed on Jira. While creating the app, I faced several challenges that required careful planning, management, and execution. In this documentation, I will discuss the difficulties I encountered, how I prioritized and organized my backlog into sprints, and the Scrum ceremonies I held to ensure successful project completion.

Backlog and Sprint Planning: To start, I created a list of 17 issues or user stories that I wanted to work on. I then prioritized and organized the backlog into sprints. The first sprint consisted of 7 issues with a sprint goal of "Deliver a functional messaging app that allows users to create accounts, send and receive private messages, and block unwanted messages". I estimated story points to the different issues in the backlog according to the amount of work required for each.

Scrum Ceremonies: To ensure that the project progressed smoothly, I held regular Scrum ceremonies. These included a sprint planning meeting with the team, daily standup meetings, sprint review meetings, and sprint retrospective meetings. During the sprint planning meeting, the team planned the work of the sprint and revised the sprint goal and backlog to ensure everyone agreed. The daily standup meetings were held once per day and lasted for 15 minutes each. The purpose of these meetings was to inform everyone quickly of what was going on across the team and to plan the work of the day. During the meetings, each team member answered questions on what they completed the previous day, what they planned to work on that day, and any blockers they were experiencing. I viewed the burndown chart during the sprint to track the total work remaining and to project the likelihood of achieving the sprint goal.

The sprint review meeting was held to inspect the increment on the project and brainstorm on what to do next by collaboratively updating the product backlog. The team answered questions like "Did the team meet the sprint forecast?, Was there work added or removed during the middle of the sprint?, Did any work not get completed within the sprint?, If so, why?". The sprint retrospective meeting was held after removing the blockers and meeting the sprint goal. The team inspected itself, its processes, tools, and team interaction, and identified areas of improvement that were added to the next sprint backlog. Questions like "What did we do well during the sprint?, What could we have done better?, What are we going to do better next time?" were asked and answered during this meeting.

Conclusion: As a product manager, I applied my analytical skills and ensured all tasks were done by the end of the sprint, and the sprint goal was met. By holding regular Scrum ceremonies, I was able to keep the project on track and ensure its successful completion. Through the development of FlowChat, I gained valuable experience as a product manager. First, I learned the importance of careful planning and organization, especially when dealing with a backlog of user stories. Prioritizing and breaking down user stories into sprints helped me to manage my team's workload more effectively and ensured that we achieved our goals within the desired timeframe.

Additionally, I gained experience in the use of Scrum methodologies and ceremonies, such as sprint planning meetings, daily standups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives. These ceremonies helped me to stay on top of the project and monitor its progress, as well as identify and address any issues or blockers that arose during the development process.

Overall, the experience of developing FlowChat taught me how to be a more effective product manager by providing me with practical, hands-on experience in the various aspects of software development. I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to applying the skills and knowledge I have gained to future projects.