The sprint backlog belongs solely to the

If you have read the 2020 Scrum Guide, most people notice that it has shrunk from 19 pages in 2017 to 14 pages in 2020. The Sprint Backlog section is one of those that has been reduced. I believe this was to make room for the Sprint Goal. Scrum Guide 2017 “The Sprint Backlog is the set of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus a plan for delivering the product Increment and realizing the Sprint Goal. The Sprint Backlog is a forecast by the Development Team about what functionality will be in the next Increment and the work needed to deliver that functionality into a “Done” Increment. The Sprint Backlog makes visible all the work that the Development Team identifies as necessary to meet the Sprint Goal. To ensure continuous improvement, it includes at least one high priority process improvement identified in the previous Retrospective meeting. The Sprint Backlog is a plan with enough detail that changes in progress can be understood in the Daily Scrum. The Development Team modifies the Sprint Backlog throughout the Sprint, and the Sprint Backlog emerges during the Sprint. This emergence occurs as the Development Team works through the plan and learns more about the work needed to achieve the Sprint Goal. As new work is required, the Development Team adds it to the Sprint Backlog. As work is performed or completed, the estimated remaining work is updated. When elements of the plan are deemed unnecessary, they are removed. Only the Development Team can change its...

The Sprint Backlog creates clarity and helps the team know what to focus on during each Sprint. Since Sprint Backlog items are often documented in a digital tool with their status – to do, doing, done – other stakeholders can also refer to it to get a real-time picture of what the team plans to accomplish during their Sprint and the current status of their work. You can think about the Product Backlog as a map, with many attractive locations you could visit, but not in one trip (your Sprint). For each trip, you need to pick one destination (your Sprint Goal). To get there, you need a route (the Sprint Backlog) and turn-by-turn instructions (the work items comprising it, but also the user stories and acceptance criteria that make up your tasks). Common updates to the Sprint Backlog are adding or removing tasks from user stories and updating progress on task completion. When specific stories or other substantial work items cause unforeseen challenges, developers and the Product Owner may collaborate to adjust its scopeas long as it does not affect the Sprint Goal. Your Sprint Backlog is an essential Scrum artifact that you will set and refresh every cycle. Still, it’s only effective when you understand its purpose and follow other Scrum practices – setting a clear Sprint Goal, refining the Product Backlog, and giving ownership of the Sprint Backlog to the development team.

The Sprint Backlog is, ultimately, a plan for the Sprint. The development team executing work inside of a Sprint creates a Sprint Backlog. The creation occurs during the Sprint Planning. The central question is, how does this work get done? The Product Owner presents a list of Teams can benefit from the Sprint Backlog because it gives them a direction on a day-to-day basis and keeps the group on track. Scrum does not require you to create tasks (though most teams will do this anyway). On a daily basis, teams meet to see if they are on track, comparing their completed work against their original plan. One metric coming out of the Sprint Backlog is the When you use tools, such as a burndown chart, you understand quickly when the team is falling behind, if you need to adjust the plan for the Sprint, and communicate expectations to the Product Owner. Another positive aspect is that teams are able to identify if they are ahead of schedule or behind schedule (and may need to put in additional work for the Sprint). Every situation is different, but the Sprint Backlog drives opportunity and execution, provides a visual to help the team know if they are on-track, and helps to manage expectations. How Often Should It Be Updated? The Sprint Backlog should be updated daily. Typically, items are in an overall Product Backlog. Teams will take those items and break them down into tasks. The tasks should be achievable in less than one day. If you are falling behind, having the tasks broke...

As an agile team, developing a productive workflow can be incredibly difficult. There are various tasks your entire team has to align on in order to get things done quickly, and as priorities change, it can be hard to stay focused on your overall goals. Moving as one unit requires your entire team to be in agreement on what that goal is for each Sprint, what activities will help you achieve that goal, and which members of your team own the prioritization of your Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog. At times, it can feel like a hail storm of activities with one new item piling on top of another. If you aren’t clear on what’s up next, you’ll either be scrambling to get it all finished or be sitting ducks waiting for a new task to come in. Either way, if you don’t find that consistent flow, productivity will tank and your team simply will not meet its goals. So how do you ensure things are in a constant flow, always moving forward at the right pace? Short answer: keep your Sprint Backlog tight. What is a Sprint Backlog? According to Put simply – the Sprint Backlog is a subset of the Product Backlog (which is the entire list of items your team wants to accomplish in the product). It is your Product Backlog Items (PBIs) that are forecasted specifically for that sprint. While the PM owns the Product Backlog, the development team is consulted when deciding 1) the goal of the sprint and 2) the specific PBIs that will help achieve that goal. For example, let’s say a team wants to sh...

• • • • • • • • • • • • • Broaden your product management knowledge with resources for all skill levels • The hub of common product management terms and definitions • Quick access to reports, guides, courses, books, webinars, checklists, templates, and more • Watch our expert panels share tricks of the trade in our webinars • • • What is a Sprint Backlog? A sprint backlog is the set of items that a cross-functional product team selects from its product backlog to work on during the upcoming sprint. Typically the team will agree on these items during its sprint planning session. In fact, the sprint backlog represents the primary output of sprint planning. Sprint Backlog vs. Product Backlog: What’s the Difference? The You can also think of the product backlog as a tactical, task-level breakdown of the strategic plan outlined in your With that in mind, a sprint backlog is a much shorter list pulled from the items on the product backlog — specifically, those items the team identifies during a Here are a few key takeaways about the distinction between sprint backlogs and product backlogs, and how the two work together: 1. Sprint backlog items should be taken directly from the product backlog. 2. While the product backlog can be changed frequently at any time, according to the always-changing realities in an organization or in the market, the sprint backlog should remain as fixed as possible throughout the duration of the sprint. 3. The product team should conduct regular 4. The...

In this article, I will look at the myth that has grown around the Sprint Backlog being a commitment of the work that will be delivered in the Sprint. If it is not delivered the team must justify to the Product Owner or manager playing that role why they have not delivered all the agreed work. Let’s review the Scrum Guide and consider this, and consider what it says the Sprint Backlog is: • A set of Product Backlog Items that form a plan to realize the Sprint Goal. • A forecast of functionality in the next increment. • A forecast of the work required. • An artifact to make visible all the work the Development Team has identified as necessary to meet the Sprint Goal. As you read further you can see that it states the Development Team updates the Sprint Backlog regularly. If new work is identified and required, it is added and if work is deemed no longer necessary it is removed. The Sprint Backlog is not a fixed list of work to be done, it is a living plan by the Development Team on how it will meet the Sprint Goal. It needs to be flexible, and the Development team and the Product Owner have to be able to discuss the work in the Sprint Backlog. This is necessary so that the overall Sprint Goal, which is the true aim of the Sprint, can berealized. This element, which has evolved to equate the Sprint Backlog with a committed plan, is linked to the disconnection in the understanding of what a work estimate is actually intended to do. That doesn’t mean there is no commitment; af...

Follow Experienced product manager and product owner with a demonstrated history of working in the Omni channel and digital tools. Skilled in product management, digital strategy, roadmapping, business strategy, and user experience. What is a sprint backlog and how to prioritize it (with examples) June 28, 2022 6 min read 1812 You can’t plan for everything that will occur during a sprint, but creating a detailed, well-prioritized sprint backlog can go a long way toward positioning your team for success. In this guide, we’ll break down the elements of a sprint backlog, demonstrate with real-world examples how to create one, and outline some tips and best practices to help you optimize the way your team works during a sprint. Table of contents • • • • • What is a sprint backlog? A sprint backlog is a list of items for the product team to work on during a sprint. The highest-priority items from the product backlog are added to a sprint backlog if the team chooses to work on them during the sprint. As the name suggests, the sprint backlog is created during sprint planning. What does a sprint backlog contain? Several factors contribute to creating a sprint backlog, including team velocity, any existing impediments, available resources, dependencies, etc. The sprint backlog should contain straightforward tasks for developers to work on during the current sprint. The backlog also includes stories that describe the high-level user value of the product and detailed tasks that break...

During a conversation about sprint backlog with a scrum master in a meetup event, He said he had to order the Sprint Backlog by priority. I mentioned that the Scrum Guide talks about an ordered product backlog, not a prioritized one, and it does not talk about prioritizing or ordering the Sprint Backlog. With a vague agreement, we ended the discussion that the sprint backlog is “ordered” Which seemed to be a weak resolution of the discussion. How often have you heard people refer to the Sprint Backlog as a prioritized list? Should the development team be allowed to work on the user storeys according to the priority order of the Product Backlog of those user storeys? At first, the answer to these questions might seem simple and obvious, but in this post, I am going to explore that are Sprint Backlogs “prioritized”, “ordered by priority” or “ordered by importance”. Prioritizing vs Ordering? Although order and priority are linked, they are not the same and knowing the difference and why people concentrate on each other will allow organizations to use scrum guide more effectively. According to the something that you think is more important than other things and should be dealt with first.”. Also, in the the way in which people or things are placed or arranged in relation to each other.”. Based on these definitions, we can say the priority is about values, and order is about how to work. However, at first glance, though, prioritization seems more sensible, but the values that b...