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How to measure product backlog

Last post 09:02 am October 12, 2017 by Ian Mitchell
8 replies
05:44 am October 10, 2017

Hi,

I have some 100+ features in my product backlog, how can i measure it how much job size or SP's work is present. Any ways to find. This is my entire product backlog some items i might take some years later.


05:45 pm October 10, 2017

If you want to estimate how much work is in a Product Backlog, wouldn’t it be best to ask the Development Teams who are likely to do  it?


04:36 am October 11, 2017

Correct but i don't know which team is going to take this items and when.


06:31 am October 11, 2017

how can i measure it how much job size or SP's work is present

In your opinion who should do it ? If you know answer to that then there you go :-)

some items i might take some years later.

Very Interesting!! Why do you think these items will still be relevant some years later ?


02:02 pm October 11, 2017

I agree with Ian, the Dev team should be the deciding factor for sizing and estimation. Also, is there any way to break down these huge items into a few smaller tasks? I know that depends fully on the individual backlog item but I have seen with the scrum teams I've worked on that initially an item is measured at 100+ but through further discussion it was able to be broken down into 2 or 3 different items. Something to consider for sure.


04:19 pm October 11, 2017

One way to get rough, high level estimates is to teach the Development team relative T Shirt sizing and Affinity Grouping. 

Keep in mind that early on the team knows the least about what they are building, so forecasts are not very accurate Through inspection and adaption, and progressive enhancement of the Backlog items and estimates, you can take the learnings and adapt your release plan over time.

Plan to re-plan!

 


05:03 pm October 11, 2017

Mirroring Chris' statement as well. T shirt sizing works very well. When I was at Harley, our scrum teams changed it from T shirt sizing to models of the bikes. So a small would be a Sportster, Medium a Dyna, Large was a Softail, XL was Touring, and XXL was CVO (the super expensive custom baggers). This made it fun and relatable since it correlated with the product and was well known by the Dev Teams. I wanted to call that out because I've heard from some SM's that say their Dev Team doesn't do well with T shirt sizing but changing it to be related to the product of their company really helps. 


07:08 pm October 11, 2017

+1 Curtis.   Thank you for that observation.


09:02 am October 12, 2017

Correct but i don't know which team is going to take this items and when.

Estimates by their very nature involve uncertainty. To get the best current estimate regarding the size of the Product Backlog, what forecast can be made about the kind of team or teams which are likely to do the work? Do they have previous experiences which they might be able to draw upon?

For the level of uncertainty to be reduced, how might the likelihood of a suitable team doing the work be made more certain?


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