Grooming is the first of many events that occur in Agile methodology. It is also crucial from the team’s perspective to understand real product requirements. PO explains them from the business level while Architects bring up the technical points. The better and the detailed grooming sessions, the lesser are chances for unknowns.
Its purpose is to boil down the requirements to a high-level design and a feasible solution. During grooming, Agile teams break the features into stories and split them further. After that, they perform estimation in story points, and the aim is to get to a reasonable estimate. It is also essential for the PO that he could provide enough work for the team to continue in the next 3-4 sprints.
The product owner mostly organizes these sessions as s/he first has to brief at a high level about the features. However, the Scrum master can also do that on behalf of the PO. He could even step ahead when the team wants some internal product improvements. For example – code refactoring, static code analysis fixes, increased code coverage, etc.
Grooming in Agile Teams
Let’s discuss grooming in more detail so that you can get more clarity on this concept.
Backlog Grooming/Refinement
We may also refer to grooming as refinement. It is one of the primary steps in Agile Scrum. PO does it to maintain the backlog and to generate work for the next sprints.
It is the activity where the PO and the team members discuss the items lying in the backlog.
The purpose of backlog grooming is:
- Filter the backlog to ensure it has relevant items.
- Assign priorities to the items present.
- Discuss each item in detail and get enough clarity from the test/development view.
It is a collaborative channel that begins at the end of one sprint. It ensures that the backlog contains work items that the team can pull in the next iteration.
Prioritize Product Backlog
Sooner or later, we have to refine all product backlog items. However, there are some with a higher priority, and hence, it needs prioritization. Such features require early grooming so that the team can pick them up in the next sprint.
Refining makes sure that adequate information is available to break the tasks down into subtasks. With proper understanding, SM can create a release plan and offer his commitment.
Grooming Benefits
Product Backlog refinement has many benefits that make it invaluable for the Scrum teams.
- It allows teams to review and rinse the product backlog.
- Team members can ask queries and resolve their doubts.
- It backs up the team to create a continuous understanding of new features and enables them to make a reasonable estimation by eliminating unknowns.
- PO and team agree with the work they can start from the next sprint.
- Product Backlog gets healthier by shuffling down items that do not add value to the upcoming sprint.
More Agile Resources
We wish that the above article would have left you with proper info to understand the idea of Grooming in Agile Scrum. If you are planning to work in an Agile model, then it is compulsory to know these terms.
Anyways, here are some articles that we’ve hand-picked for you. Please go through these and upgrade your knowledge.
- Agile Methodology
- Agile Interview Questions
- Manual Testing Tutorial
- Manual Testing Interview Questions
- Selenium Interview Questions
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