Keeping this blog precise and to the point, let me first focus on the term – “Grooming”. Grooming can be understood as a phenomenon which involves maintenance on a regular basis. In an Agile environment where the team comes across new user stories, it is imperative for the product owner to capture them in time.
A quick brush up on “Backlog” could be useful here. A Backlog in an agile environment is a single source which captures new requirements, enhancements, bugs, or changes pertaining to environment and systems in use. In simple language, it has all the activities listed down at one place which needs to be delivered by the team.
So, “Backlog Grooming” means maintaining the activity log on a daily basis. The key stakeholders here include Product Owner, Developers and Scrum Master to review the listed activities. Many companies also follow the practice of involving the client in this meeting to get their insights and approval in real time. The other reason which is a highlight is bagging the confidence of the client. The activities or user stories listed on top of the log hold maximum priority and are assumed to be delivered first. This review activity happens on a daily basis and is ongoing in nature.
Why do we need Backlog Refining?
Simply because the requirements either evolve or are dropped down on the basis of available resources and technical specification of the product backend. Other reasons to have backlog review is refining the necessary user stories. Backlog Grooming helps with gaining
- Adding of new user stories based on the newer requirement set
- Removing user stories that are not feasible or relevant
- Re-prioritizing user stories by allocating them points
- Breaking down of User stories which are a high priority to ensure delivery.
Tips to organise Backlog grooming meetings at your office:
- This meeting should be given equal preference as the Sprint plan meeting.
- It should have all the user stories in place ready to be discussed.
- The goal of the meeting should be well defined and shared with others.
- As the product backlog is referred to finalize the sprint plan, make sure the user stories are upated.
- The update in the backlog can be done after the meeting as per the discussion.
This activity brings improvement in terms of team collaboration and communication keeping alive the purpose of adopting agile methodology giving the new requirements from the client an opportunity to be considered for sprint planning. It enables the team to raise questions and clarify the requirements before sprint planning.
Another positive aspect of being a part of these meetings to understand the future perspective in terms of possible product development. It helps the business team to have a cutting edge while coordinating with clients with the project status and assures them that things are on the right track.
Do share your views and experience with me. Any more questions on this piece are welcome.
