Product Backlog Refinement (grooming) Workshop

Overview

1-2 days (or 0.5 day, if a 1-week mini-Sprint)

In Scrum, 5-10% of each Sprint should be spent on refining (or 'grooming') the Product Backlog, with the Team and Product Owner. This is ideally done in a focused workshop. It is often done near the middle of each Sprint.

The activities include:

  • splitting large items (e.g., user stories)
  • detailed analysis of items (e.g., using acceptance test-driven development techniques, among others)
  • re-estimation of the Release Backlog (a portion of the Product Backlog)



Learning how to do Product Backlog refinement requires coaching-while-doing; it can't be effectively learnt in a classroom setting. In this workshop, the coach will facilitate the activities for a real product, while educating.

Methods of Education

primarily workshop exercises & coaching; some discussion, presentation, Q&A


Audience

For 1 product group -- teams and Product Owner.


Level

This is an immersive workshop. No prior knowledge is required, but the experiences and knowledge will extend from introductory to intermediate or advanced.


Prerequisites

none.


Objectives

This is not a course per se, but a product-specific workshop to refine the Product Backlog. Learning objectives include (but are not limited to):

  • agile estimating and planning
  • modeling with user stories
  • splitting large items (e.g., user stories)
  • Scrum Product Backlog refinement
  • prioritization in Scrum
  • acceptance test-driven development
  • specifications by example, expressed usually in tables
  • much more


Maximum Participants

For 1 product group -- teams and Product Owner. Up to 3 teams may participate if the workshop room is large enough.


Environment - Room, Tools, Texts

Read this: Workshop Environment - PBR


Text and Notes