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Backlog and Product Owner tasks

Last post 03:35 pm September 3, 2020 by Daniel Wilhite
6 replies
02:09 pm September 2, 2020

Hello everybody :)

I need your help for a simple question : Should we include the work of the Product Owner in the backlog?

The product owner spends time writing user stories, sometimes making models, writing specifications. Should we include them in the backlog? And if so, how? User story? Simple task? Should we also estimate them? Sounds consistent to me, but how? Planning poker, for example, makes sense as a team, but not alone.

 

Thanks a lot for your feedback :)


04:53 pm September 2, 2020

What would be the reason for doing this?

If it's about tracking and reporting work done, I'd want to know why it's important to track this, and I'd look for possible dysfunctions that might make this a desirable option. Maybe there's an emphasis on utilization, rather than the delivery of value.

 

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Some Scrum Teams might consider it helpful to visualize their entire workflow (including refinement) on a Kanban board. This might form part of a continuous improvement process, where the Scrum Team inspects the flow of Product Backlog items and based on what it observes, might take actions in order to improve.


06:39 pm September 2, 2020

The product owner spends time writing user stories, sometimes making models, writing specifications. Should we include them in the backlog?

Could the Product Owner sensibly prioritize this work in relation to other items on the backlog, and by means of doing so, better optimize value delivery?


08:39 pm September 2, 2020

I need your help for a simple question : Should we include the work of the Product Owner in the backlog?

No, the Product Backlog lists requirements, desires, and changes needed in the product. The time spent and the techniques to create the Product Backlog don't need to be in there.

As stated above, what would be a reason to do so?


12:58 am September 3, 2020

Should we include the work of the Product Owner in the backlog?

Which backlog?

I believe the Product Backlog should describe the product, not the process.

Adding these activities to the Sprint Backlog may only make sense if writing the specification of the PBIs of the running Sprint happens during the same Sprint. That is literally operating at the edge of chaos, isn't it?


03:12 pm September 3, 2020

Hello !

Thank you all for your answers.

Indeed the initial need was to quantify the time spent by a Product Owner on a project (given that he is not a full time Product Owner). But I am aware that it should not be done that way. I will proceed otherwise.

Thank you again for your answers :)


03:35 pm September 3, 2020

Why would tasks be included in a Product Backlog for anyone?  The section of the Scrum Guide that describes the Product Backlog begins with this statement:

The Product Backlog lists all features, functions, requirements, enhancements, and fixes that constitute the changes to be made to the product in future releases

Which of those items would tasks actually address?  

You stated that 

The product owner spends time writing user stories, sometimes making models, writing specifications.

Those are activities I would consider part of refinement.  Just as you would not identify all of the activities the Development Team accomplishes to refine stories that are in the Product Backlog, neither should you for the Product Manager. 


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