When the backlog is not monitored, it resembles a filled basket of papers from which an employee pulls a random task and takes it to work, even if it is outdated or has no value. Grooming or updating the backlog allows you to avoid this situation and form a direction so that everyone knows what is now a priority.
We share the nuances of grooming in software development and give a step-by-step guide for backlog meetings.
Process details
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The backlog is a list of tasks, and grooming (or refinishing) is a way of grooming the backlog. In a “groomed” backlog, tasks have clear requirements and priorities.
“When the backlog is in order, the team performs only the necessary tasks with quality and speed. When there is no order, the team works without direction or understanding of priorities, and business goals are not achieved. The company loses money on useless work: human hours are wasted, cloud machine resources are used, and other unplanned waste occurs.”
– Ksenia Filippova, product owner of SimpleOne SDLC
Backlog grooming goals and tasks
Backlog tasks can lose relevance, but with backlog grooming, the backlog can be kept up-to-date. When backlog tasks have clear priorities, the team understands what needs to be put to work soon and what can be put off until later.
The purpose of grooming is to bring clarity to product work.
The process of working on a product is continuous, so there are times when tasks become obsolete and priorities change. In order for the backlog to reflect the real state of affairs in the team, it is necessary to analyze each task.
Grooming Tasks – prioritize all tasks and decompose the big ones, estimate labor costs.
Meeting participants
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The backlog grooming meeting participants are:
- product owner or scrum master who play the role of facilitator;
- the team members who are working on the product;
How often to conduct
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The frequency of grooming depends on the needs of the team – you can groom regularly, e.g. once a week, or you can meet as needed when the backlog of tasks accumulates.
Step-by-step guide to backlog grooming
- Preparing for the session
Before a backlog meeting, it’s important to get all the organizational stuff out of the way: schedule the meeting, invite attendees, tell your colleagues why grooming is necessary if you’re doing it for the first time.
You also need to determine how much of the tasks you will work with at the meeting – it can be the entire backlog or a part of it, for example, only tasks related to a specific functionality.
- Prioritization of backlog elements
The discussion of tasks goes down the list from top to bottom. Each task should be prioritized and the most important ones, i.e. the most valuable to the customer, should be taken into work.
To clearly define priorities, you can refer to task prioritization frameworks, for example:
- MoSCoW (Must, Could, Should, Should, Won’t)
- RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort)
- ICE (Impact, Confidence, Effort)
- WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First)
- Kano’s model is a method that came from marketing. It helps to evaluate the emotional reactions of users to the functionality of a product.
- Detailing and refining requirements
Each task should have Acceptance Criteria and Definition of Done criteria in the backlog. Without them, the person responsible for the task will not be able to determine how to bring it to fruition.
For example, for the task “Add a filter by category” the following acceptance criteria can be formulated:
- the filter must contain all existing product categories;
- user can select several categories at the same time;
- when selecting a category, the list of products is updated without reloading the page;
- selected filters are saved when navigating the site.
- Task complexity assessment
Often teams estimate the labor intensity of a task based on their experience – working on previous tasks over time gives an understanding of how much time is needed to implement different types of tasks.
However, empirical assessment can be inaccurate, for example, when new tasks come up that the team has not encountered before. In such a case, ways to make a clearer estimate will help:
- estimation by time to complete;
- estimating by (Story Points).
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- Decomposition of large tasks
Some tasks in the backlog seem small at first glance, but can later turn out to be very extensive. For example, a team needs to add support chat to an application. The initial task may involve several very different processes: UI development, back-end implementation, notification system integration, testing. This is how one task in the backlog turns into two or more.
During grooming, it is important to calculate such tasks and decompose them, i.e. decompose them into smaller ones.
- Documentation of results
The results of the grooming need to be entered into the minutes, usually done by the facilitator or designated meeting secretary. Documenting the results allows you to articulate the outcome of the task discussion and track changes in the backlog.
Tools for monitoring the backlog
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Grooming is possible even if the team is not yet using a task tracker. In any business process, tasks are tracked in one way or another: online spreadsheets, lists, or even post-it notes on a whiteboard in the office. In a meeting with the team, you can go through them and analyze each one.
Task trackers make the team’s life much easier by helping to keep track of the product backlog. Grooming doesn’t require specialized system functionality – the ability to prioritize tasks, estimate labor costs, and link small tasks to epics is enough.
However, as the company grows, with more products in development, there is a need for a specialized platform not only for backlog management, but for the entire IT product lifecycle. As a company grows, the complexity of task management, team coordination and quality assurance grows – in this environment, IT Service Management (ITSM) helps build the structure and processes that support the effective management and development of IT services throughout the IT product lifecycle.
Interface of the backlog page in SimpleOne SDLC
“To take it to the next level, the team can implement a specialized system for software development management that includes integration of SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) and ITSM (IT Service Management). This will improve the quality of business processes, improve team coordination, and provide better IT product lifecycle management based on valuable user feedback.
– Ksenia Filippova, product owner of SimpleOne SDLC
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Experts talked more about the benefits of combining SDLC and ITSM within the SimpleOne platform at the webinar:FAQ: questions about grooming
We discussed key aspects of backlog grooming with Ksenia Filippova, Product Owner of SimpleOne SDLC. In this FAQ, you’ll find answers to burning questions about grooming, which helps teams keep backlogs in order and manage tasks efficiently.
How often to groom.
Grooming is done weekly or as needed, depending on the needs of the team.
Who should participate in grooming?
Scrum master, product owner – fulfill the role of facilitator.
Team members: developers, designers, product managers, etc. – participate in the discussion of each task.How to avoid backlog grooming procrastination?
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Grooming meetings have two risks:
- The team takes on too large a backlog to discuss, the grooming of which can drag on for hours or days. Solution: divide the backlog and work on it in parts, e.g. by defects or features.
- Instead of a rough estimate of tasks, the team discusses the details – right down to code development. Solution: assign a facilitator to determine which tasks the team will discuss and how much time it will take, e.g. 12 tasks for 5 minutes each.
What to do with tasks that keep getting put off?”
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If a task has been in the backlog for many months, it means that it is not important now. But you don’t have to delete it – a non-priority task can turn into a critical one at any moment. Hanging tasks can be blocked or sent to the archive to be returned when the team has all the resources to complete them.
How to analyze efficiency?
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Grooming has been effective if, based on the results, the team has a rough estimate of the task pool and a development roadmap. It is believed that a “groomed” backlog should always have tasks formulated for two sprints ahead.
How do I get started grooming?”
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You can start small: mark the highest-priority tasks on lists, assess urgency and labor costs. Gradually, these practices can be extended to the entire team so that everyone understands the value of a well-developed backlog.
Resume
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Regular backlog grooming provides clarity of work, allows for efficient allocation of resources and focus on the most valuable tasks.Properly organized meetings involving the entire team and using the right tools reduce time spent on irrelevant tasks, improve the quality of sprint planning, and speed up the release of product updates. As a result, the team can respond faster to market changes and user needs, which directly affects the achievement of key business metrics.
