In this post, I will cover Product Backlog Refinement (PBR). I will also introduce a few additional terms, which will be covered in greater detail in future posts.
Scrum.org describes PBR as the act of adding detail, estimates (i.e. relative sizing), and order to items in the Product Backlog. It’s an ongoing process in which the PO and team collaborate on the details of Product Backlog items.
PBR is all about incrementally refining and helping the team meet the Definition of Ready for the priority Stories in the upcoming sprint. It helps the team gain a shared understanding of the work to be done, and how it aligns to the team’s Purpose and Objectives & Key Results (OKRs).
Each member is responsible for achieving the right outcome. The PO for building the right thing; the team for building the thing right.
To validate assumptions and test hypothesis, it is important to use empirical evidence: usage data, feedback, etc.
PBR is also used to define Acceptance Criteria, which are the conditions that a product must satisfy to be accepted by a user/customer/stakeholder.
Time spend on refining is typically <10% of the team’s capacity. Backlog items can be updated at any time by the PO. At my employer we recommend meeting once or twice per Sprint.
This article was originally posted on LinkedIn.
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