What It Means
BacklogProduct backlogIn Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team. See more refinement is the work of making Product Backlog items smaller and clearer so a Scrum TeamScrum teamThe small, self-managing group that does the work in Scrum: one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers, typically 10 or fewer people. See more can pick them up with confidence. The 2020 ScrumScrumA lightweight framework, defined in the Scrum Guide, in which a small team delivers work in fixed-length Sprints of one month or less and adjusts after each one. See more Guide describes it as breaking items down and defining them further, adding details such as a description, an order and a size. It's an ongoing activity rather than one of Scrum's events, so teams fit it in wherever it helps, including during Sprint PlanningSprint planningThe Scrum event that starts each Sprint, where the whole Scrum Team agrees why the Sprint is valuable, what can be done in it and how the work will get done. See more.
Try It: Refine One Big Item Step by Step
One example item from a family's home backlog, refined in the order the Scrum Guide's description suggests.
Start: one big, vague item
"Get the house ready to sell." Too big to finish in one Sprint and too vague to plan.
Break it down
Split it into smaller items: repaint the hallway, fix the porch step, clear the garage, deep clean the kitchen.
Add a description
Say what finished looks like: "Hallway walls and trim painted, furniture back in place."
Size it
The people who'll do the work estimate each item. In Scrum that's the Developers' call.
Order it
The Product Owner puts the items in order, so the most valuable, best-understood ones sit at the top, ready for Sprint Planning.
Step of 5.
How People Say It
- "Let's refine the top ten before planning."
- "That story's way too big, split it."
- "Can we sit down Wednesday and size these?"
The Breakdown
How to run a refinement session
- The Product OwnerProduct ownerThe one person on a Scrum Team accountable for maximizing the value of the product and for managing the Product Backlog, including the order of its items. See more brings the items nearest the top of the Product Backlog.
- For each one, ask whether it could be finished within a single Sprint (a test that's Buhata's own suggestion). If not, split it.
- Add enough description that anyone on the team knows what finished looks like.
- Let the Developers who'll do the work size each item. The Product Owner can help them see the trade-offs.
- With what the team learned, the Product Owner updates the order.
- Stop when the next Sprint or two has enough clear, sized work at the top, which is also Buhata's own rule of thumb.
What changes during refinement
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| One large item | Several smaller, more precise items |
| A title only | A description of what done looks like |
| No size | A size from the Developers |
| Loosely placed | A clear position in the order |
Short version to try today. Pick the biggest, vaguest item on your to-do listTo-do listA written list of the tasks you plan to do, checked or crossed off as each one is finished. See more and split it into pieces you could each finish in a day or two.
Where It Comes From
Refinement comes from the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, which describes it as part of managing the Product Backlog. The November 2020 edition, the current one, calls it Product Backlog refinement.
Good to Know
The 2020 Scrum Guide doesn't set a meeting or a timebox for refinement. As Buhata's own suggestion, a short weekly session midway through a Sprint keeps the top of the backlog ready without eating into the Sprint's work. Sizing stays with the Developers: a Product Owner who assigns sizes has taken a decision the guide leaves to the people doing the work.
FAQ
Is backlog refinement a Scrum event?
No. The 2020 Scrum Guide describes refinement as an ongoing activity, and the Scrum events are the Sprint, Sprint Planning, the Daily ScrumDaily scrumThe 15-minute Scrum event where the Developers meet each working day to check progress toward the Sprint Goal and adjust their plan. See more, the Sprint Review and the Sprint RetrospectiveSprint retrospectiveThe last Scrum event of each Sprint, where the Scrum Team looks at how it worked and picks the changes most likely to make it more effective. See more.
Who takes part in backlog refinement?
The Scrum Team. The Developers who'll do the work size the items, and the Product Owner helps them understand the trade-offs and keeps the order.
Is backlog refinement the same as backlog grooming?
People often say "backlog grooming" for this work. The current Scrum Guide's term is refinement, so that's the word to look up when you check what the guide says.
Do It in Buhata
Tasks, Team Space and Calendar
Add a weekly refinement session to the Calendar in your Team Space, and split each big item in Tasks into smaller entries with a clear description of what finished looks like.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Product backlog
In Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team.
- Product owner
The one person on a Scrum Team accountable for maximizing the value of the product and for managing the Product Backlog, including the order of its items.
- Story points
A unit agile teams use to estimate the relative effort of a piece of work, weighing its size, complexity and uncertainty rather than hours.
- User story
A short description of something a product should do, written from the point of view of the person who needs it, often in the form "As a, I want, so that."
- Sprint planning
The Scrum event that starts each Sprint, where the whole Scrum Team agrees why the Sprint is valuable, what can be done in it and how the work will get done.
Sources
Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, The 2020 Scrum Guide (scrumguides.org); Scrum.org, "Product Backlog Refinement"; Scrum.org, "What is a Product Backlog?"
- scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html
- scrumguides.org/docs/scrumguide/v2020/2020-Scrum-Guide-US.pdf
- www.scrum.org/resources/product-backlog-refinement
- www.scrum.org/resources/what-is-a-product-backlog
Last updated .