Backlog Grooming
Backlog grooming is an Agile project management practice where the product owner and development team regularly review, refine, and prioritize items in the product backlog. It involves breaking down large user stories, estimating effort, clarifying requirements, and removing obsolete items to ensure the backlog is ready for upcoming sprints. This process helps maintain a well-organized and actionable list of work, facilitating smoother sprint planning and execution.
Developers should engage in backlog grooming to ensure clarity on upcoming tasks, reduce ambiguity during sprint planning, and align technical implementation with business goals. It is particularly useful in Scrum or Kanban frameworks to prevent bottlenecks, improve estimation accuracy, and foster collaboration between product and engineering teams. Regular grooming sessions help teams adapt to changing priorities and deliver value more efficiently.