Backlog Management: Tips to Make Your Work Backlog Lean
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Backlog administration is a critical segment of project management because it can slow down or speed up activities drastically. According to the report, less than a third of all projects are successfully completed on time and on budget.
This mostly happens because backlogs are overloaded and packed with details that shouldn’t be there in the first place. In other words, quality backlog management is the only way to complete projects on time and deliver the right type of product.
We understand this is easier said than done, but there are ways to overcome the obstacle and run your projects smoothly. If you want to know how to achieve this goal, keep reading to learn seven tips to make your backlog lean.
Backlog Management Explained
Before we get into the specifics, we need to discuss the background of backlog management and explain how it works. By definition, a backlog is a prioritized list of tasks that teams need to work on within the scope of a project management strategy.
The two major components of a backlog are roadmaps and requirements. These are essentially to-do lists showing what and when needs to be done, while the most significant activities stay on the top of the task list. There are two basic ways to manage backlogs: iteration by iteration or continually.
Although it sounds simple, backlog management is not so easy because projects change and evolve over time. Gregory Solomon, a project manager at Essay Services Reviews, says a whole bunch of things can affect backlogs but notes that the main challenges are these:
- Overloading: Team members come up with fresh ideas every day, but they rarely ever filter suggestions and reject new proposals. For this reason, backlogs keep getting bigger.
- Too many details: Another way to oversize backlogs is to add too many details. When you try to describe everything, it is natural to make backlogs abundant.
- Poor product ownership: Product owners have a tremendous responsibility, but sometimes they don’t realize it and neglect the project in general.
