Backlog Grooming Definition Of Ready

Backlog refinement is an ongoing process therefore it s not restricted to an event but considered an activity.

Backlog grooming definition of ready. What s more it leverages the creativity of the dev team creates shared understanding and ownership and reduces the amount of story related questions during a sprint. This tends to naturally lead to worksbale stories. Perhaps you may consider the definition of ready is an integral part of the backlog refinement activity instead of using the definition of ready as a sequential and phase gate checklist. The best way to ensure that the high priority product backlog items are ready is to work on the backlog together with the development team.

This activity occurs on a regular basis and may be an officially scheduled meeting or an ongoing activity. The team must understand the done criteria and what tests will be performed to demonstrate that the story is complete. Grooming the product backlog should ensure that items at the top of the backlog are ready to be moved into a sprint so that the development team can confidently commit and complete them by the end of a sprint. Nothing slows down your efficiency more than a backlog that is full of ambiguous poorly defined user stories that the development team have never seen before.

The team must be able to determine what needs to be done and the amount of work required to complete the user story or pbi. In an organisation with several scrum teams it s not as important that they have a shared definition of ready as it is that they have a shared definition of done. What is the definition of ready. The list varies but potential items include.

Some scrum teams formalize this idea by establishing a definition of ready. Having a definition of ready means that stories must be immediately actionable. This information can be fed back into the product backlog via backlog grooming and planning sessions and the definition of ready updated through sprint retrospectives. Just as a definition of done is used to create alignment across a delivery team on what it means to be done with a backlog item the definition of ready provides clarity to a product owner or product owner team on what it means to create ready backlog items.

Regular backlog grooming sessions also help ensure the right stories are prioritized and that the product backlog does not become a black hole. Efficiency grooming ensures the items at the top of the backlog are ready for delivery in your upcoming sprints. Backlog grooming also called refinement is the process of getting the story ready. What criteria is included in a definition of ready.

Ready stories should be clear concise and most importantly actionable. In my post agile analysis i discussed the benefits of getting analysis of user stories completed before starting work on them compared to some of the risks with leaving the analysis until later. Backlog refinement formerly known as backlog grooming is when the product owner and some or all of the rest of the team review items on the backlog to ensure the backlog contains the appropriate items that they are prioritized and that the items at the top of the backlog are ready for delivery.