Backlog management and prioritization

A product backlog is never “finished.” It needs ongoing refinement to stay useful. The product owner prioritizes items by looking at business value, user impact, dependencies, and risks. Regular backlog refinement sessions help the team understand what’s coming and spot items that need more detail before they can be worked on.

There are different ways to prioritize. For example, the MoSCoW method groups items into Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have. A value vs. effort matrix shows which tasks bring the most value with the least effort, helping teams find quick wins. Weighted scoring models are useful when decisions involve many factors.^[1]

A healthy backlog mixes new features, bug fixes, improvements, and technical debt. It should not grow endlessly. Items that stay unprioritized for too long should be archived or removed. This keeps the backlog focused on creating near-term value and prevents wasted effort.