Template

Backlog refinement template

Go through what is coming next, make each item small and clear enough to start, and throw out what will never be done.

45 minutesFor Product owners and engineering teamsAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. What is new since last time5 min
    • Where did this come from, and who is asking?
  2. The next ten items, in order15 min
    • Is this still more important than the one below it?
  3. Too big: split it10 min
    • What is the smallest piece somebody could use?
  4. Unclear: what do we need to know10 min
    • What question has to be answered before anybody can start?
    • Who can answer it?
  5. Delete what we will never do5 min
    • Has this been here six months? Would anybody notice if it went?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

Reordered. Refund flow moves above the new report, after three support tickets this week.

Split. “Team billing” becomes: one invoice per team, then seats, then roles.

Deleted. Fourteen items older than a year.

Running it well

Ways to change it

Weekly, thirty minutesOnly the next five items, and one deletion pass a month.
Without the whole teamProduct owner and two engineers; everybody else reads the result.

When to skip it. When the next two sprints are already clear. Use the time to build.

Questions

What is backlog refinement?

A regular meeting where a team makes upcoming work clear and small enough to start, puts it in order, and removes what will not be done.

How often should a team refine its backlog?

Once a sprint for forty-five minutes, or thirty minutes every week.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

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