In addition to making it easier to schedule releases and iterations, a well-prioritized agile backlog communicates everything your team intends to spend time on, even if the client won’t see it. Engineers can use this to set expectations with stakeholders and other teams, especially when they bring new work to you.
What is a Product Backlog? #
In Scrum, the agile product backlog is a list of all the features that must be included in the product, along with brief descriptions of each.
Scrum eliminates the need to spend significant time at the start of a project documenting all requirements. Typically, a Scrum team and its product owner begin the agile backlog prioritizing process by detailing everything that comes to mind. Typically, this agile product backlog is sufficient for the initial sprint. Then, when new information is discovered about the products and their users, the Scrum product backlog is encouraged to adapt.
Product Backlog VS Sprint Backlog #
As mentioned above, the product backlog is the list of all the tasks as well as user stories that need to be done for the project as a whole to be finished. Each item on a good product backlog is broken down into a series of stages that assist the development process.
While in the other hand, the sprint backlog is a part of the product backlog. The sprint backlog is made up of only the items from the product backlog that can be finished throughout each agile sprint. Think of it as the team’s instructions before they run their short sprint.
The sprint backlog will be based on how hard the project is, but the main idea is that the team should only work on tasks that can be finished during the sprint. Obviously, if the project is complicated, the sprint backlog could also get more complicated and longer.
While the product backlog changes over time, a sprint’s backlog does not. It is possible to make adjustments, but you must do so during the planning meeting for the sprint. Once everyone agrees, the items and steps needed to finish them are set for the whole sprint.
Types of Product Backlog #
The following categories of things are typically included in a standard Scrum backlog:
- Fixing bugs
- Add and improve features
- Technical work
- Acquiring knowledge
The Benefit of Product Backlog #
The items in your product backlog serve as placeholders for future discussions about different ways to achieve your goal. There is no need for a team to be fully prepared before adding a concept to the backlog. When a product backlog item is first added to a product backlog, it just has to include enough information to remind the team of the alternative they previously considered. When a team is about to begin work on a product backlog item, it is only necessary to provide a detailed description of that item.
The dynamic structure of a product backlog allows staff to collaborate their knowledge about the desired outcome and the various ways in which they can achieve it. Product backlog items do not require completion when a team begins work, so the team can begin with a basic idea and add more product backlog items as they gain experience.
If a product backlog item does not contribute to the desired outcome, a team can remove it from the backlog and move on to the next item on the list. This means that a team can prevent churning out unproductive products and instead focus on making real improvements.
Because of the limited information available, teams can use the product backlog to save time discussing the value of various options. A new concept might be added to the product backlog as a reminder for the team to research it. In this case, the product backlog item might be removed from consideration if the proposal fails to make progress toward the desired objective.
Common Pitfalls of Product Backlog #
There’s no need to confuse the product backlog with a list of requirements. It’s an entry point for product requirements information, however, it’s distinct from a requirements document in the following ways:
- Although required, product backlog items are insufficient to fully define the expected modifications to the product. Conversations about individual product backlog items and the supplemental information that a team chooses to capture about the product backlog item provide a thorough picture of the product.
- Unlike a requirement document, a product backlog item doesn’t promise delivery.
- When compared to a requirements document that is supposed to remain unchanged beyond a given point in time, the product backlog is always evolving.
The use of an electronic tool can influence a team’s product backlog management strategy if it is implemented before the strategy has been decided. For example, the team may get tangled up instead of deciding on a process that best suits their needs.
If a product backlog grows too huge, then it’s unable to efficiently manage it. If a team includes every possible solution to a problem, but never investigates them or removes the ones that won’t be implemented, this can occur.
Product backlogs can also become unmanageable if all large product backlog items are divided into smaller ones in advance.
Product Backlog Keeps The Team Agile #
Smart product owners maintain a trustworthy, shareable product backlog for their program.
Good thing stakeholders question priorities. By discussing priorities, everyone can align. These sessions develop a culture of setting group priorities and ensure everyone has the same program outlook.
The product backlog guides iteration planning. User stories, defects, design modifications, technical debt, client requests, retrospective action items, etc. should be in the backlog. Each iteration includes everyone’s work. Then, team members can communicate to the product owner about trade-offs before beginning an iteration.
Manage Your Product Backlog with FoxPlan #
FoxPlan helps agile teams plan sprints and manage their product backlogs. With FoxPlan’s multiple project views, agile teams can use the tools they like best, while other departments can get the features they need to do their work in the way that works best for them. All project views share real-time data, so there is a central hub that keeps everyone collaborating together.
You can use the Kanban board to keep track of your backlog. With this visual workflow feature, teams can keep track of their backlog on cards and then plan sprints together. As the production cycle is shown by the cards moving from one section to the next, managers can see what is going on. If there is a possible bottleneck, managers can quickly change how resources are used to get rid of it and keep players going forward.
When it comes to planning sprints or managing a backlog, agile teams require software like FoxPlan that is collaborative at its core. At the task level, comments can be made, and if you want feedback, you can just mention or tag them. Team members can also share documents with each other. All updates are sent out via email or in-app alerts so that everyone is always on the same page.
When building a product backlog and a sprint backlog, it is critical to have access to the appropriate tools in order to efficiently organize, prioritize, and distribute the tasks.
FoxPlan is a software for managing project that is hosted in the cloud and feature a real-time dashboard for monitoring the status of a project as well as kanban boards that allow teams to collaborate throughout sprints. Sign up for Free FoxPlan account today or contact our representative for FoxPlan live demo!
