Certified Scrum Product Owner®(CSPO) Product Backlog Management 1 Flashcards

Which of the following best describes a well-formed Product Backlog item ready for Sprint Planning?

Answer: It is small enough to complete within the Sprint, has clear acceptance criteria, and is understood by the Scrum Team

A Product Backlog item ready for Sprint Planning should be appropriately sized to fit within a Sprint, have clear acceptance criteria so the team knows when it's done, and be understood by the whole Scrum Team — not require sign-off from managers or full design specs upfront.

A Product Owner discovers that two high-value Product Backlog items have a technical dependency — Item A must be completed before Item B. How should the Product Owner handle this?

Answer: Order Item A above Item B in the Product Backlog so the Developers can address the dependency naturally

The Product Owner manages dependencies through ordering. Placing Item A above Item B ensures the Developers work on the prerequisite first. Dependencies don't require removal of items or escalation to the Scrum Master — they are a normal input to backlog ordering decisions.

How much time should a Scrum Team typically spend on Product Backlog refinement each Sprint?

Answer: No more than 10% of the Developers' capacity for the Sprint

The Scrum Guide suggests refinement should consume no more than 10% of the Developers' Sprint capacity. This keeps refinement lightweight while ensuring upcoming backlog items are sufficiently understood and estimated for future Sprints.

A Product Owner is managing a backlog with 80 items. Which approach to detail and estimation is most consistent with Scrum principles?

Answer: Items near the top of the backlog should be more detailed and refined; items lower down can remain coarser

Scrum embraces the concept of 'just enough, just in time.' Items near the top of the backlog (upcoming work) should be refined to a level ready for Sprint Planning, while lower-priority items can remain at a higher level of abstraction until they become relevant.

The Developers inform the Product Owner that a significant amount of technical debt has accumulated and is slowing down feature delivery. What is the most appropriate action for the Product Owner?

Answer: Add technical debt work as explicit Product Backlog items and order them relative to their impact on value delivery

Technical debt is legitimate work that affects the team's ability to deliver value. The Product Owner should represent this work as explicit backlog items and order them based on their impact on the product's long-term health and delivery speed — not ignore it or silo it outside the main backlog.

At the end of a Sprint Review, several stakeholders suggest new ideas that the team finds exciting. What should the Product Owner do with these ideas?

Answer: Add the ideas to the Product Backlog for consideration, then order them based on value relative to existing items

The Sprint Review is designed to inspect the increment and adapt the Product Backlog based on feedback. New stakeholder ideas are captured in the backlog and then ordered by the Product Owner based on value — the Product Owner neither automatically commits to them nor dismisses them.