Can a Scrum Team work on 300 tickets Backlog?
Indeed, clearing the Product Backlog tickets is the Scrum Team’s responsibility! Product Backlog tickets are the leftover work items that continue to the next Sprint after one Sprint ends. General PBI tickets include Epics, User Stories, Specifications, Bugs, and Change Pull Requests. So what happens when the Scrum Team has to deal with 300+ Backlog Items? Is it really possible to handle so many backlogs within one sprint? Let’s find out!
Is There Any Limit Of Maximum Allowed Work Item?
An Agile Product Owner supports the Scrum Master in Sprint Planning and developing User Stories for the Developers and Testers to work on. The work items focus on the Product Goal and project objectives. Based on that, the Scrum Team adds timeboxes on each work item. But there is no default limit of the maximum allowed User Stories or Work Items in one sprint! Depending upon the team’s work capacity, the Scrum Master can assign N number of tickets Backlogs to the teams. In case the Scrum Master is using a Kanban Board, the default allowed limit is 500 work items. So, assigning 300+ Backlog Items to the Scrum Team is possible!
How Can Scrum Team Handle 300+ Tickets Backlog?
The main plan is to do Product Backlog refinement. It is a continuous updation process that allows the Scrum Team to handle actionable Tickets Backlog easily. It also helps in the upcoming Sprint Planning. Consequently, the backlog refinement process aligns all team activities toward a common Product Goal. It provides complete answers to the What, the Why, the How, and the Who queries regarding handling the upcoming tickets backlog in the Sprint. As a result, the Certified Scrum Master becomes capable of handling the team’s capacity to commit to future deliverables.
Here are some effective Product Backlog refinement techniques that the Scrum Team can follow!
Team Capacity Planning For The Sprint:
The Scrum Master must focus on Capacity Planning to efficiently handle the Agile Scrum project activities. Here are the following activities that get decided through the Team Capacity Planning:
- Explain to the Scrum Team the deliverable Story Points they must accomplish within the active sprint.
- Decide a suitable sprint duration (a minimum of 2 weeks for each sprint).
- Stretch sprint objectives so that the Developers know precisely what they will be developing.
- Confirm the availability of each team member for the sprint.
- Define team productivity goals as per the Product Strategy.
Team Capacity Planning considers the Scrum team’s capacity to commit to a 300+ Tickets Backlog. Depending upon the team’s availability and power, the Scrum Master can divide the User Stories among the team members to work on. This optimizes the team’s bandwidth with better anticipation of future challenges, thereby improving team reliability.
Use Labels To Manage Ticket WorkFlow:
The Scrum Team can utilize the labels feature to manage the ticket workflow. The various types of levels that can be used include:
- New Work Item
- Product Backlog Item
- Sprint Backlog
- Needs Refinement
- Complete/Resolved
Using the above labels or tags, it becomes easier for the Developers to perform Agile project activities that are still pretending or in progress. This is an easy method to track down tickets that new immediate attention and work on those User Stories on priority.
Make Predictable Estimation:
Product Backlog refinement is only possible when the Product Owner precisely performs the task/effort estimation. It isn’t only about how many team members are there to handle the 300+ tickets Backlog. It’s about how much time it can take to complete one ticket and how much effort needs to be put into completing the Sprint Backlog.
Estimating Product Backlog Item (PBI) serves one purpose: Understanding the current project status and aligning all team members on the same page. The Scrum Team clearly understands how much needs to be done within the given timeframe. If there are any blockers on the road, the team members can collaborate to find a resolution.
No Need For All Hands On Deck:
It’s not necessary for all team members and Developers to participate in the Product Backlog tickets refinement activities. The Certified Scrum Product Owner must perform the backlog refinement activities on behalf of the entire Scrum Team. It also helps set the Product Roadmap that all team members can follow.
Summing Up The Scrum Team’s Contribution:
If the Scrum Team has to handle a 300+ tickets Backlog, then the professionals can accomplish the Product Goal by refining Product Backlog Items continuously. Make it a crucial part of Sprint Planning. Backlog Item Refinement leads to a better understanding of the active work items. Based on that, the Developers can plan the product builds and push the changes in production. In general, the refinement process provides answers to the following questions:
- What Work Items are no longer relevant?
- Should the Sprint Backlog Items be moved to the next sprint?
- What work items does the Scrum Team need to split?
- How to update the work items with new information?
- What are the capacity estimations?
- Which work items have high priorities?
With proper Sprint Planning and clear Product Vision, the Scrum Team can handle 300+ ticket Backlogs and finish the Work Items one by one!
Reference
- https://www.scrum.org/forum/scrum-forum/55109/ticket-lifecycle-according-scrum
- https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/product-backlog-refinement-how-succeed-scrum-team
