Is Product Backlog Refinement Mandatory?
Hi everyone.
I am preparing to take my Scaled Scrum assessment and am using the assessment on scrummaster.co.uk. His guide states that PBR is not mandated but when the question of "True or False - Product Backlog Refinement is a mandatory part of Scrum" come up, it says I get the answer wrong when I answer with False.
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks.
Product Backlog Refinement is Mandatory for Nexus, but not for Scrum.
Great! Thanks so much for the help.
Product Backlog refinement is a mandatory “part” of both Scrum and Scaled Professional Scrum. It is specified in the Scrum Guide and may therefore be regarded as a rule. The act of refinement must be managed as an event at scale, otherwise it is left to teams to self-organize as an ongoing activity.
It’s fair to describe Refinement as a mandatory event in Nexus but not in Scrum. However, this should not be seen to imply that refining the Product Backlog is optional in the latter case and may be elided.
If refinement/grooming is not mandatory, how do backlog items get to their “Ready” state to be available for Sprint Planning?
Usually we say that "MANDATORY" says it is a prescribed rule and must be enforced.
Scrum Guide only describes this activity, and recommends the upper limit of this activity, do not affect the development team's normal development work.
If the functional requirements of a product are simple, the product owner can write each requirement in a format acceptable to the development team. Or, the requirements are very, very clear, usually in the event of a product maintenance or an old system shift, where the product owner can have a clear grasp of each requirement. The product owner does not NECESSARILY need to perform Refinement activities.
However, if the product is developed together by multiple development teams(Nexus), this activity must be performed regardless of the specific requirements of the product. Its purpose is to deal with dependencies.
I used to work with a team that was transitioning from RUP to Scrum. Their product owner is the original system analyst. While using Scrum, their product backlog still uses the compose format of "Use Case."
The development team can still estimate the work that the next sprint can accomplish in terms of the team's energy when the sprint planning.
Product owners are also able to provide answers based on questions raised by the development team.
They can also deliver a DoD-compliant software increment before each Sprint ends.