How is Business Justification Assessed and Confirmed in a Scrum Project?

Business justification is first assessed prior to a project being initiated and is continuously verified throughout the project lifecycle. The following steps capture how business justification is determined:

In the first step, business justification for a project is typically analyzed and confirmed by the Product Owner. It is documented and presented in the form of a project Business Case prior to Initiate phase and involves considering the various factors specified in section 4.4.1. Once documented, the Product Owner should create a Project Vision Statement and obtain approval of the Project Vision Statement from the key decision-makers in the organization. Generally, this consists of executives and/or some form of a project or program management board.

Here is a video on business justification in Scrum projects: 

http://www.scrumstudy.com/watch.asp?vid=593

In the second step, as and when the decision makers approve the Project Vision Statement, it is baselined and considered as the business justification for the project. The business justification is validated throughout project execution, typically at predefined intervals or milestones, such as during portfolio, program, and Prioritized Product Backlog Review Meetings and when major issues and risks that threaten project viability are identified. This could happen in several Scrum processes including Conduct Daily Standup and Groom Prioritized Product Backlog. Throughout the project, the Product Owner should keep the business justification in the Project Vision Statement updated with relevant project information to enable the key decision makers to continue making informed decisions.

In the third step, the Product Owner confirms the achievement of organizational benefits throughout the project, as well as upon completion of the User Stories in the Prioritized Product Backlog. Benefits from Scrum projects are realized during Demonstrate and Validate Sprint, Retrospect Sprint, Ship Deliverables and Retrospect Project processes.

The following diagram summarizes the steps to determine business justification.

Business Justification and the Project Lifecycle