Backlog Prioritization
Backlog prioritization, also known as Product Backlog refinement, is the process of cleaning up the list of requirements and ensuring that everything in it reflects the current reality and state of the changes that need to be made to the product. It usually involves a collaborative session between the Product Owner and the Scrum team, and occasionally other stakeholders. During this session, the participants will discuss the current position of the list and work through various questions that may arise.
This meeting doesn’t have to have a formal structure; in fact, different aspects may be addressed at different sessions, depending on what is considered the most valuable use of time at that point. For instance, one such meeting might be used to discuss the relative usefulness of particular requirements and a re-ordering of the items as a result. The following meeting might then be used to delve deeper into some of the user stories, and potentially decide to break some of them up if they are considered too complex to be completed within a single sprint.
The backlog prioritization meeting serves as preparation for sprint planning. By dealing with questions that may arise before the sprint planning meeting, the intention is that any issues and inconsistencies are clarified ahead of time, thereby reducing the load when it comes to planning. Besides the reduction in time at the planning meeting itself, it also gives the opportunity for the team to spot any missing information that still needs to be gathered, and it allows that data to be retrieved beforehand, rather than only being noticed during the planning and therefore causing further delay.
Recommended Further Reading
The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course: