TechPostsFromX on Nostr: Every so often I’m asked “How do I manage our huge backlog?” First of all, a ...

Every so often I’m asked “How do I manage our huge backlog?” First of all, a huge backlog is a red flag. Often, it would take years to go through everything on it, and by then, most of those items wouldn’t be worth doing. There are always new items, and those new items are always more important than what’s on there, so existing items get pushed down, and are never built. So, the first thing you need to do is limit the backlog size to the things you will do—a month’s work maximum, and even that is way too big for me. (I often work with no backlot at all.) As for the huge part, just throw everything out. Yes. Everything. The important stuff will come back very quickly.

To keep things under control from that point forward, you need to put a hard limit on backlog size. (Think of the backlog as a Lean ready queue; this is a simple WIP limit.) Literally nothing goes on unless something comes off, thereby freeing a slot. Engineering will open slots as it pulls work, but Product can add things to a full backlog by removing something from it. That means that the Product people need to think about value. Which thing on the backlog is lesser value than your thing? What will the person who put that allegedly low-value story onto the backlog say when they discover that you’ve replaced their item? Discussion will ensue, and that’s a good thing.


Source: x.com/allenholub/status/1862913450504048997