Backlog

What it means

'Backlog' alone is a general term; the Scrum Guide specifically defines the Product Backlog (owned by the Product Owner) and the Sprint Backlog (owned by the Developers), each with distinct purposes and commitments.

A healthy backlog is emergent, not fixed: items are added, removed, and reordered continuously as the team learns, rather than being planned exhaustively at the start of a project.

Common mistakes

Backlogs that grow indefinitely without pruning become noise; regular grooming or archiving of stale items keeps the backlog a useful planning tool rather than a graveyard of old ideas.

Example

A stale backlog item from over a year ago is archived during Refinement since priorities have since shifted.