Are You Refining Your Backlog Enough (or Too Often)? - Mike Cohn
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Jul 2, 2025
Struggling with backlog refinement meetings? You're not alone! Discover how effective discussions can transform these gatherings from time sinks to productivity boosters. Key insights reveal the optimal frequency for meetings, whether once per sprint or weekly, to avoid overwhelming sessions. Tips on breaking down large items and ensuring clarity in stories help teams reduce surprises and deliver value faster. Learn the magic of structured approaches that keep your team prepared and energized for successful sprint planning!
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Limit Refinement Meetings to One Hour
Keep backlog refinement meetings to one hour per week per team to maintain focus and efficiency.
Use refinement meetings to clarify acceptance criteria, ask questions, and prepare stories for sprint planning.
insights INSIGHT
Purpose of Backlog Refinement
Product backlog refinement ensures stories are well understood and small enough for the next sprint.
It involves breaking down items, adding detail, estimating effort, and getting stories ready to avoid surprises.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Refine Weekly, Not Excessively
Perform backlog refinement once per week, ideally before sprint planning, to prepare effectively.
Avoid long, draining sessions by spreading refinement across weeks instead of one long meeting per sprint.
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Are You Refining Your Backlog Enough (or Too Often)? - Mike Cohn
Hi V. Lee,
Ever felt like your backlog refinement meetings are either way too long or painfully unproductive? You’re not alone. Backlog refinement can be a game-changer—or a time sink. The difference? How well you understand the purpose. So, let’s get clear.
Refinement is when a team and its product owner look at the top items on the product backlog to make sure each is sufficiently well understood and small enough to be brought into the next sprint. That means breaking down large items, adding detail, estimating effort, and generally getting your stories “ready” for the team to work on. Great refinement helps your team:
Avoid surprises during sprint planning
Reduce rework due to misunderstood stories
Deliver value faster, with fewer blocker
Once per sprint works well for teams that like fewer meetings. Keep in mind that the meeting will be longer, though.
Once per week can help avoid long, draining sessions—especially if your once-per-sprint meetings are creeping past two hours.
What Is Product Backlog Refinement? How Often Should You Do It? Most teams will either do a refinement meeting once per sprint or once per week.
What I don’t recommend is going beyond that. I’ve worked with teams in the past that were running 2–3 refinement meetings per week, each an hour or more. Unless your backlog is in serious disarray or your product is unusually complex, that’s overkill. And remember—refinement doesn’t only happen in meetings. It’s perfectly fine for a product owner and a few team members to huddle up outside the scheduled meeting to split a story or clarify details. Keep your refinement meetings focused, lightweight, and appropriately timed—and you’ll spend more time delivering value instead of just talking about it. That’s a great way to succeed with agile.
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