What is Product Backlog Grooming and Why it is Critical

What is Product Backlog
Grooming and Why it is Critical
by Samer Fallouh
https://by.dialexa.com/what-is-product-backlog-grooming-and-why-is-it-important

Dialexa
We are on a mission to make every
company a great technology company.
We work with organizations to define
and execute digital transformation
strategies to improve business
operations and customer experiences.
Our services include:
• Multi-Year Technology Roadmap
• Platform Engineering
• User Experience Design
• Custom Software Development
• Hardware Prototyping /IoT

The new product
development
process can be
messy and
unwieldy if it's not
managed
carefully.Get the full write up of this slideshare at
http://by.dialexa.com/what-is-product-backlog-grooming-and-
why-is-it-important

In agile projects, product backlog grooming
is the key to making sure that projects stay
on track.
Get the full write up of this slideshare at
why-is-it-important

In this post, we share what it is,
best practices for effective backlog
grooming meetings and how it
makes for better (and easier)
sprint planning.
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WHAT IS BACKLOG GROOMING?
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Backlog is defined as the full set
of user stories not in the current sprint
that defines the remainder of the
project's scope. Get the full write up of this slideshare at
why-is-it-important

When that happens, the status of individual user
stories can become unclear, the team can lose focus
on important tasks and they may have trouble
estimating the time and resources needed to
complete items, and the project completion date can
slip.
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Enter the product backlog grooming
meeting, which is basically a
meeting between the project
manager and customer point of
contact in which the
participants break the backlog down
into user stories and reprioritize
them.
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You may also hear it
referred to as a product
backlog refinement
meeting or story time
session,
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but whatever the
terminology, the
purpose is to discuss
the current backlog
list and offer
suggestions for
improving it, which
may take the form of:
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Writing new user stories, a process we outline
in the post, Our Approach to Developing User
Stories.
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Refining and
reprioritizing
previously
written user
stories and
breaking them
down into
smaller stories,
if needed.
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Redefining
acceptance
and testing
criteria.
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Reviewing time
and personnel
estimates for
individual backlog
items, utilizing
what we've learned
from completed
sprints.Get the full write up of this slideshare at
why-is-it-important

Adding new product features, then
prioritizing and estimating them.
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Looking more extensively into
the total backlog to enable
long-range technical and
project planning.
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Take special note of the last
item: long-range technical and
project planning.
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Many project managers limit
grooming meetings to tasks
related to the next sprint, but we
believe that approach misses an
opportunity to keep a project
that's in good shape running well
in subsequent sprints.
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For example, the meeting can be useful in alerting
product owners of possible challenges and obstacles
down the road, keeping the team on track and ahead
of schedule.
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BACKLOG
GROOMING BEST
PRACTICES
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Timing is Critical
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At Dialexa, we normally hold
the backlog grooming
meeting 3-4 days after the
start of a sprint (around a
week before the next sprint in
our typical two week sprints),
and the meeting typically
follows a demo of the prior
sprint's deliverables.
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As the project status is then
fresh on participants' minds,
the client is familiar with
recent project progress and
gaps prior to discussing the
backlog. Get the full write up of this slideshare at
why-is-it-important

The meeting should leave the team feeling familiar with the
product backlog and with a clear understanding of the goals for
the next sprint.
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At the end of each
sprint, we do a sprint
planning meeting to
verify there are no major
changes to the backlog
and decide the expected
content for the next
sprint.
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This allows the development team to start the
next sprint with confidence.
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Plan for Success
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Implementing well-managed meetings
will improve the overall speed and
efficiency of the sprint planning meetings
that follow, helping to boost commitment
and product familiarity.
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It's important to clearly
state expectations
upfront for what needs
to be accomplished
during the meeting and
have a set agenda.
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This puts everyone in the same mindset, saves valuable time and
keeps the meeting flowing smoothly. Sometimes these recurring
meetings can get tedious so a well-run meeting will make all the
difference.
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The goal here is for all attendees to leave the meeting
with a clear understanding of what is left for project
completion and the upcoming sprint goals.
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Right Folks, Right
TimeGet the full write up of this slideshare at
why-is-it-important

Attendees
should include
the project
manager, the
customer point
of contact and
key individual
development
team
members, if
required.
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A well organized backlog grooming meeting
can save the time of valuable development
resources.
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Some companies limit
customer participation, but at
Dialexa, the customer is a
part of the team and we
teach them the dance that is
an agile project.
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We have found that educating and
partnering with our clients in a transparent
way is key to reducing surprises and
increasing understanding of all involved.Get the full write up of this slideshare at
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FINAL THOUGHT
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There's no question that backlog grooming
meetings are a critical step in improving the
speed and efficiency of your agile project,
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greatly reducing scope creep and increasing
team grasp of project deliverables. Adhering
to the best practices above can ensure that
you get the most of backlog grooming
meetings.
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To learn more about how
Dialexa solves problems, read
our approach to the new product
development process for
software.
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PROPERTY OF DIALEXA LLC ©2017 - CONFIDENTIAL & PROPRIETARY
Thank You
Doug Platts
doug@dialexa.com
If you are looking to undertake a
digital transformation initiative,
contact Dialexa today and see
how we can help make your
company a great technology
company.Get the full write up of this slideshare at
http://by.dialexa.com/what-is-product-
backlog-grooming-and-why-is-it-important

What is Product Backlog Grooming and Why it is Critical

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What is Product Backlog Grooming and Why it is Critical