Sprint backlog

The sprint backlog:

• is a wonderful mechanism for making work visible to allow team members to quickly adjust plans and allocate or reallocate work as time progresses;
• should only contain work that is:
  • directly required to build the planned product, hence creates value;
  • aligned with the sprint goal;
  • requires collaboration;
  • can be done by more than one person;
• is not a to-do list.

The sprint backlog should not contain a team member’s personal work, hence should not be turned into anyone’s personal to-do list. So, create a personal flow board for work that:

• is not directly related to the sprint goal;
• does not require coordination;
• can only be done by you.

Hilarious work items include:

• “Get my car washed.”
• “Go to lunch.”
• “Attend retrospective.”

Infant teams may have more fine-grained items flowing over the board, but should quickly up the ante to only include value creating collaborative work.