While using index cards and a wall can function just fine as a kanban or Scrum board, issue-tracking tools such as Jira can make it easier to manage a backlog, especially with a distributed team. But these tools are more complex to use and can add their own overhead to the process. You need to keep things simple.

There are many frameworks available to organizations that are maturing their agile process. However, some frameworks can help reinforce agile behaviors, while others can actually drive an organization to revert to waterfall habits. The right choice should be the methodology that allows teams to deliver their best work.

Project managers recommend how much should be invested to address various risks based on their understanding of project context, but the final decision about what to do and when those efforts are sufficient belongs to the sponsor. Risk management requires executive input, so sponsors need to see all risk data you have.