产品代办列表梳理的艺术

Summary of "How Much Detail Should Be in the Product Backlog?" by Stephanie Ockerman

Introduction

Stephanie Ockerman, a Scrum.org certified Professional Scrum Trainer, addresses a common question in Scrum training and coaching: "How much grooming should be done to the Product Backlog and how detailed should it be?" She emphasizes that grooming is a continuous process and should be adapted to meet the unique needs of different products and teams.

Product Backlog Grooming According to the Scrum Guide

The Scrum Guide describes Product Backlog grooming as the act of adding detail, estimates, and order to items. It does not specify how to groom because requirements and opportunities continuously change. Over-grooming can lead to waste and delayed value delivery.

The Goldilocks Principle for Grooming

Ockerman suggests applying the Goldilocks Principle, which encourages finding the balance that is "just right" for the team. This involves experimenting and adapting through inspection and adaptation to minimize waste while reaping sufficient benefits.

Benefits of Product Backlog Grooming

Ockerman lists six benefits of Product Backlog grooming: increased transparency, clarified value, breaking down into usable increments, reducing dependencies, improving predictability, and integrating learning.

She provides starter questions for each benefit to help teams assess whether their grooming practices are excessive, insufficient, or just right.

• Increasing transparency helps stakeholders understand the product plan.
• Clarifying value allows the development team to understand and meet business needs.
• Breaking down PBIs into usable increments affords flexibility and ensures the delivery of "Done" increments.
• Reducing dependencies prevents delays and maintains momentum.
• Predictability assists in communicating release expectations with stakeholders.
• Integrating learning adapts the Product Backlog as new insights are gained from user feedback and evolving features.

Integrating the Goldilocks Principle

Teams should discuss grooming practices during Sprint Retrospectives and decide how to adjust their process. The Goldilocks questions help balance the benefits against the waste of grooming, pushing teams to find what works best for them. Teams must consider frequency, participants, level of readiness, methods of communication, and maintaining a big-picture focus without getting lost in details.

About Stephanie Ockerman

Stephanie is known for her passion for teaching, servant leadership, and facilitating valuable product and service delivery. She combines training and coaching through her business Agile Socks LLC to enhance people's skills and impact. Her blog AgileSocks.com reflects her thoughts on Scrum, agility, and life.

Translated by Ella Yao and verified by Lance Zhang.

【运营团队案例分享】非研发团队跑迭代，能落地吗？（实践篇）

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