One of the most important tasks – but unfortunately one of the least popular – for product managers is organizing the backlog. Staying on top of a multitude of ideas is the only way to continually filter up the best for development. But when pushed back and back this maintenance can spiral out of control.

Our least favourite tasks are generally the ones we need the most discipline for. That’s why we’ve put together a few tips for helping you tackle your product backlog in a manageable, and even therapeutic way.

Step 1: Your Routine

Pick a regular time to prune your backlog. We do it once a month – so pick a date and time of day (we recommend a full morning or afternoon) that’s the least likely to get pushed around by other *urgent* needs.

Step 2: The Cull

This is your turbo-charged attack on your backlog. You’re aiming for a quick, but thorough scan of all ideas to remove or merge irrelevant and duplicate entries. We recommend doing this to an inspirational, powerful playlist.

Step 3: Find the Holes

Identify the ideas that are held in stasis because they are missing information. As this is a monthly activity, pay close attention to those ideas you know you haven’t touched during the past month. This might be business case, user case or even a simple detailing of what problem the feature should address.

Step 4: The To-Do List

Once you’ve identified everything that needs attention, don’t just leave it there. From the ideas you’ve selected create follow-up tasks and add them to whatever to-do list you already manage. Make these specific and realistic so that you don’t find yourself picking out and noting down the same unfinished backlog chores next month too.

Step 5: Self-Satisfied Celebration

As well actually cracking on with that to do list – we recommend making your backlog prune all the more worthwhile by rewarding yourself at the end! When backlog day comes around, make sure you’ve got a treat stocked in the office that you can congratulate yourself with when you finish.

This exercise was taken from the ProdPad Handy Guide for Product People. Sign up for a free trial and request your own copy for plenty more tips and tricks for great product management.

The post Good Housekeeping: Pruning the Product Backlog appeared first on ProdPad :: Product Management Software.