Backlog Refinement 101
Answering questions related to backlog refinement sessions.
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On to this week’s question!
Q: Hi Vibhor! Want to get your insights on backlog refinement sessions. I hear everyone suggesting grooming the backlog before Sprint Planning but it remains the most ambiguous part of Scrum. How to sell it to the team who sees no value in it?
Thanks for the question.
To understand “Backlog Refinement,” imagine that you and your family are planning a vacation for next year.
Backlog refinement is like researching and creating a list of potential vacation destinations (PBIs). You and your family (the team) work together to understand the requirements and expectations of the upcoming get-together (the Sprint). The family works collaboratively to break the requirements (everyone’s wants and needs) into realistic (allowed by the duration of vacation) and manageable chunks and then prioritizes those chunks based on various factors such as cost, time, and overall desirability.
This ensures that everyone is on the same page about what the vacation should look like and that the chosen destinations are well-defined and feasible.
Sprint Planning, on the other hand, is like creating a detailed itinerary for the vacation. Your family works together to select a subset of the prioritized destinations (user stories) to visit during the upcoming vacation (sprint) and then decides how (the day, booking tickets, who should lead) to visit those destinations for maximum fun.
In summary, backlog refinement is the process of defining and prioritizing the overall objectives of the product (Product Discovery), while sprint planning is the act of selecting a subset of those objectives and creating a (somewhat) detailed plan for achieving them during a specific timeframe (usually 2 weeks).
Is Backlog Refinement a Scrum event?
An event is a required meeting (according to the scrum guide).
Backlog refinement is not a Scrum event. It is a useful but optional exercise. It is optional because this exercise can be done as a part of the Sprint Planning meeting.
I would advise you not to get caught up with the technical jargon of the Scrum guide. Use whatever your “team” needs and discard the rest.
Who leads the refinement sessions?
The PO or Product Manager usually leads backlog refinement sessions. However, the Scrum Master or another team member can also take the lead occasionally.
The session leader takes on the following responsibilities:
Schedule the meeting, invite relevant participants, and ensure their attendance.
Keep the team focused on objectives and prevent off-topic discussions.
Move the conversation forward if the team gets stuck on a specific topic for too long.
Communicate essential information to the team after the session ends.
The lead makes sure that the meeting stays on track.
What are the best practices for PB refinement?
1. Frequency: Ideally, the refinement should be an ongoing activity, taking place throughout the Sprint. However, a dedicated refinement session can be scheduled regularly, such as once a week or once every two weeks, depending on the team's needs and the product's complexity.
2. Duration: Allocate a reasonable percentage of the team's capacity to backlog refinement, typically around 5-10%. For a 2-week Sprint, this may translate to 2-4 hours of refinement. It's crucial to strike a balance between spending enough time on refinement and not interrupting the team's focus on Sprint's objectives.
3. Attendees: The entire Scrum Team should be present during refinement sessions, including the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the Development Team.