Managing Products with Agility · Topic 3 of 5
Product Backlog Management
Product Backlog management for PSPO I: what the Product Owner is accountable for, ordering, refinement, ready for selection, one backlog per product.
- 4 min
- The Product Backlog is emergent, ordered and the single source of work.
- The Product Owner develops the Product Goal, creates, communicates and orders items, and keeps the backlog transparent.
- The Product Owner can delegate but remains accountable.
What it is
The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product. It is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team. Effective Product Backlog management is a Product Owner accountability: keeping the backlog clear, ordered and transparent so the team always works on what matters most.
How it works
The Product Owner's accountabilities
Effective Product Backlog management includes:
- Developing and explicitly communicating the Product Goal.
- Creating and clearly communicating Product Backlog items.
- Ordering Product Backlog items.
- Ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible and understood.
The Product Owner may do this work or delegate the responsibility to others, but remains accountable.
Ordering
The Scrum Guide says the Product Backlog is ordered; it does not prescribe how. Product Owners commonly weigh:
| Factor | Question |
|---|---|
| Value | How much will this help customers or the organization? |
| Risk | Does doing it early reduce uncertainty? |
| Dependencies | Must something else come first? |
| Cost and size | How much effort is it compared with its value? |
| Learning | Will it test an important assumption? |
Stakeholders can influence the order by trying to convince the Product Owner; the decision is the Product Owner's.
Refinement
- Product Backlog refinement is the act of breaking down and further defining items into smaller, more precise items.
- It is an ongoing activity to add details such as a description, order and size. Attributes often vary with the domain of work.
- The Developers who will be doing the work are responsible for the sizing. The Product Owner may influence the Developers by helping them understand and select trade-offs.
- Items that can be Done by the Scrum Team within one Sprint are deemed ready for selection in a Sprint Planning event. They usually acquire this degree of transparency after refining activities.
- Refinement is not a Scrum event and the Scrum Guide sets no timebox for it.
Items near the top of the Product Backlog are usually small and detailed; items further down can stay large and vague until they are needed.
One product, one Product Backlog
| Setup | Product Backlogs | Product Owners |
|---|---|---|
| One Scrum Team, one product | One | One |
| Several Scrum Teams, one product | One, shared | One |
| One Scrum Team, several products | One per product | One, the team's Product Owner |
Multiple Scrum Teams working on the same product share the same Product Goal, Product Backlog and Product Owner.
What the Scrum Guide does not prescribe
The Scrum Guide does not require user stories, story points, acceptance criteria templates, a particular estimation technique or a particular ordering method. Teams may use these. Options saying Scrum requires them are wrong.
"Backlog grooming" is an old term. The Scrum Guide 2020 says Product Backlog refinement.
A worked example
A Product Owner has 400 items in the Product Backlog, many years old. Developers cannot tell what matters. Good management means removing items that no longer serve the Product Goal, ordering the rest, and refining the top items with the Developers so the next one or two Sprints have work ready for selection. The backlog becomes shorter, clearer and more transparent.
How the exam asks about this
- "Who is accountable for ordering the Product Backlog?" The Product Owner.
- "Who sizes Product Backlog items?" The Developers who will do the work.
- "When is an item ready for selection?" When it can be Done by the Scrum Team within one Sprint.
- "Four teams build one product. How many Product Backlogs?" One.
What to remember for the exam
- The Product Backlog is emergent, ordered and the single source of work.
- The Product Owner develops the Product Goal, creates, communicates and orders items, and keeps the backlog transparent.
- The Product Owner can delegate but remains accountable.
- Refinement is ongoing; Developers size; no fixed timebox.
- One product: one Product Backlog, one Product Owner, one Product Goal.
Separate backlogs for each team or each stakeholder on one product break transparency. Keep one ordered Product Backlog.
Common mistakes
The Scrum Master or a manager ordering the backlog. The Product Owner does.
Requiring story points or user stories. The Scrum Guide does not prescribe them.
Refining everything in full detail up front. Refine just enough, mainly near the top.
Check yourself
What is the Product Backlog?
An emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team.
Can the Product Owner delegate Product Backlog management?
Yes, but the Product Owner remains accountable.
What does Product Backlog refinement add to items?
Details such as a description, order and size.
Topic 3 of 5 in Managing Products with Agility
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