What are the Different Types of Backlogs

We have seen in my earlier blog that how the agile methodology evolved with the scrum and kanban frameworks. The scrum framework in agile software development is usually focused on prioritizing the items as per the functionality described in the product requirement document. Broadly it is known as the product backlog. The scrum framework works on these backlogs by differentiating it into two types.

• Product Backlog
• Sprint Backlog

Product Backlog:

This is a very high-level functionality description. Its most visible artifacts of the scrum. In another way, we can describe it as a prioritized features list by the product owner. The product backlog may not be stable always. It is evolving with new features or changes made by the product owner. As it is prioritized, the project manager needs to start planning with the first backlog in detail at a very initial stage of the project development. 

Typically the product owner and the whole team determine which functionality needs to deliver after one sprint.

The Scrum product backlog is comprised of four different parts. These are also included priority wise in the product backlog.

1. Features: A short description of each user story
2. Bugs: Here Bug is nothing but what user want in their product
3. Technical work:  Which environment a developer needs to work on. e.g. Upgrading developers machines with the latest O.S, any specific software needs to install, etc.
4. Knowledge Acquisition: Researching some script languages and making a selection of them.

Once the project manager finalized one sprint, the team recognizes the challenges in the development of the project and workout on each detail and assure the product owner, which item they can complete in one sprint. That’s how a sprint starts.

Once the sprint starts the status of the first item in the product logs moves to the sprint log. And the next item in the product logs comes on the first level of the prioritized list.

Sprint Backlog:

Once the team pulled out the first item from the product backlog, they start working on the sprint backlog. Again the sprint backlog is divided into smaller interdependent units and prioritized. It is more detail part of the functionality. The team discusses all the tasks in the daily scrum meeting. A sprint contains 4 units of the scrum. Usually, scrum meeting is addressed by a scrum master and all the team members and product owner are involved.

A scrum board that shows the 4 columns of the tasks, Sprint backlog, in-progress, completed, tested.

Once all the features are developed and tested in one sprint, it is ready to deliver at the end of the sprint.

That is how all the features go one by one in sprints and all the backlogs get handled by the end of the project and delivered successfully.