What is the concept? What is the aim? What are the activities? When should I have it? How long does it take? Who participates?
I am sure those are the questions that come into our minds when we first think about Grooming sessions.
Let’s go to the answers:
- Concept: To deepen/to detail the Product Backlog items.
- Aim: Keeping the Product Backlog neat.
- Activities which make up the Product Backlog (PB) Grooming:
- New Product Backlog Items (PBI) can be added or estimated.
- PBI can be reprioritized.
- Larger PBIs can be converted into small ones. And the small ones can be estimated and reprioritized.
- Larger = Does not fit into a Sprint / Small = Fit into a Sprint.
- Usually, you convert PBI that are on the TOP of the PB.
- I guess you can convert PBI that are going to be developed during the next 4 sprints.
- Acceptance Criteria for the PBI can be written. It is useful for providing references for testing.
- PBI can be deleted.
- P.S.: I have used “can” because a “Grooming product backlog session” cannot tackle all activities during each session, but it can. 🙂
- When: Before the Sprint (During the previous sprints)
- How long: For 2 week Sprint, 2 sessions of 1h30 each.
- Who participates: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team and anyone who can contribute.
All answers are in this video and the book which is available to you just below.
Questions 1, 2 and 3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXJuss2w39w
Questions 4, 5 and 6: Growing Agile: A Coach’s Guide to Training Scrum (page 42)
I hope I have helped you.
Do you have any questions? Leave your comment.