Sprint backlog

What It Means

The Sprint 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 is the 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 artifact that holds one Sprint's work. Under the 2020 Scrum Guide it has three parts: the Sprint GoalSprint goalThe single objective a Scrum Team sets for one Sprint, agreed at Sprint Planning, which gives the team a shared focus while leaving room in the exact work. See more, which says why the Sprint matters; the Product Backlog items chosen for it, which say what will be built; and an actionable plan for delivering them, which says how. It's a plan by and for the Developers, kept visible and updated as they learn during the Sprint.

How People Say It

• "Is that in the sprint or just on the backlog?"
• "Add a task to the sprint backlog for the test run."
• "We pulled too much in, let's talk to the PO about scope."

The Breakdown

How a Sprint Backlog comes together

1. At 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, the whole 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 agrees the Sprint Goal.
2. The Developers select Product Backlog items that serve it, talking them through with 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.
3. For each item, the Developers plan the work, often splitting it into pieces of a day or less.
4. Put all three parts where the team and anyone interested can see them.
5. At each 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, check progress against the goal and adjust the plan.
6. If the work turns out bigger than expected, agree a change of scope with the Product Owner and keep the goal.

Sprint Backlog or Product Backlog?

Short version to try today (Buhata's own example). For this week at home, write one goal at the top of a page, list the jobs that serve it, and break each job into steps small enough to finish in a day.

Where It Comes From

The Sprint Backlog is one of the three artifacts in the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. Its November 2020 edition added the Sprint Goal as its commitment, so the "why" now sits inside the backlog alongside the what and the how.

Good to Know

How the Developers turn items into finished work is theirs to decide under the 2020 Scrum Guide; nobody else tells them how. The guide describes the Sprint Backlog as a highly visible, real-time picture of the Sprint's work, detailed enough that the Developers can check their progress at the Daily Scrum. Items that aren't Done by the end of the Sprint go back to the Product Backlog.

Related Terms and Categories

• Sprint goal

  The single objective a Scrum Team sets for one Sprint, agreed at Sprint Planning, which gives the team a shared focus while leaving room in the exact work.

• Product backlog

  In Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team.

• 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.

• Daily scrum

  The 15-minute Scrum event where the Developers meet each working day to check progress toward the Sprint Goal and adjust their plan.

• Definition of done

  In Scrum, the formal description of the quality a piece of work must reach before it counts as part of the Increment.

• Burndown chart

  A chart of the work left in a sprint or project against time, showing whether a team is on pace to finish by the end date.

Productivity methods and focus