simple explanation using a shopping list as an example

We are planning a trip to the store using the MoSCoW methodology to use a real example to understand how to form a backlog, whether it is possible to take urgent tasks into a closed sprint, and why the backlog cannot be filled 100%.

Hi! My name is Sergey @Zooboy — Team Lead of the Payments team at Moneta. Once upon a time, I understood from my own experience what a good backlog should look like, and now, using the example of a simple action — going to the store — I will tell you how to make a list of tasks so as not only to distribute them wisely, but also to save resources.

A bit of theory: what is a backlog and why is it needed?

A backlog is a list of tasks or requirements that have not yet been completed or implemented, but have potential value. It is typically used to manage work tasks and prioritize a team's work.

Backlog is needed for:

1. Planning. All tasks that need to be completed are stored here. This helps the team understand the scope of work, estimate the time and resources needed to complete each task.

2. Prioritization. The tasks in the backlog can be sorted by priority so that the team always knows where to start working first.

3. Tracking progress. By moving tasks from the backlog into the workflow (in progress, completed, etc.), you can track their progress and see what from the list has not yet been done.

In addition, the backlog serves as a source of ideas for future projects or improvements.

How the backlog is formed

There are various methods that a product team can use to create a backlog, including:

1. Interviewing stakeholders to identify their needs and expectations for the product.

2. Market and competitor analysis to identify trends and opportunities for product improvement.

3. Creating user stories to describe the functionality and requirements of a product.

4. Conduct planning poker sessions with team members to assess and prioritize tasks.

5. Using the MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won't) technique to determine the importance of tasks and their priority in the backlog.

These methods help the team develop a backlog that reflects user needs, ensures the product is competitive in the marketplace, and is achievable within available resources.

Backlog Formation Methodologies

There are many backlog formation techniques that help determine which tasks or requirements should be included in the backlog. For example:

1. Brainstorming. The team comes together to freely express all ideas and requirements that can be added to the backlog. These ideas are then analyzed and filtered.

2. Moscow Requirements (MoSCoW). Tasks are divided into four categories: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have.

In this technique, the percentage ratio of tasks is usually as follows, but it can vary depending on the task:

3. Scrum Planning. The team and product owner discuss and estimate tasks that can be added to the backlog. The tasks are broken down into epics and user stories, which helps to refine them and estimate the scope of work.

4. Feedback from users and customers. Helps identify what features or improvements should be included in the backlog.

To avoid running out of resources or working to the point of exhaustion, it is better not to fill the backlog to 100%, but always leave a reserve of 10-15% freedom. This will help you always have the ability to quickly connect to solving critical tasks.

The methodology for forming a backlog depends on the specifics of the project, team and product, so you can often find a mixture of different approaches to achieve the best result.

Making a shopping list using the MoSCoW method

You can write many clever letters and words, but in practice people listened and forgot. There is nothing that you would like to catch on to and try. When communicating with colleagues, friends and acquaintances, I often try to give examples from real life, so that there is a desire to try it on yourself and check the result.

Let's take the MoSCoW methodology as a basis and try to make a shopping list using it – the same backlog, but in everyday life.

1. Make a shopping list.

• Must have — we’ll put the most necessary things here: water, cereals, vegetables, etc. This will be 60–70% of the total backlog volume.

• Should have (preferably) — let's say these are personal hygiene products and household goods: powder, paper, bags. Let's spend 20-30% of the backlog volume on these tasks.

• Could have (if possible) — products that we may need, and they are on sale. For example, these are pelmeni at a discount. It would be reasonable to leave 10% here.

• Won't have (it doesn't matter) — here we put what will actually bring only pleasure: soda, snacks, some small stuff. We will leave 5% of free space (maybe 0%).

2. We close the list before the hour “X” – this will be our backlog.

Important: Once you close the list, do not make any edits or changes to it.

3. Take the goods strictly according to the list and do not grab everything in a row. It is important to develop a rule for yourself: what you entered, you bought. In the future, this will allow you to more clearly approach the formation of the real backlog and take into account various factors.

4. If you forgot something, add it to the list for the next trip, but don’t take it now.

Let's now consider such a trip to the store using a real example and set a budget of 1000 rubles.

Example #1

Shopping list (I will write with the average price):

Total: 1000 rubles. We filled the backlog 100%, and everything seems fine, but what happens next? We walk around the store and realize that we forgot something. For example:

1. Pasta sauce 1 pc. — 145 RUR.

2. Seasoning 1 pack. — 45 rub.

3. Mayonnaise (where would we be without it) 1 pc. — 86 RUR.

We get an increase to the backlog of 276 rubles, and we have a budget limit. The price of the current list has increased because we were unable to correctly compile the backlog. In life, these are small amounts, but in business they are quite large.

A spontaneous increase in the backlog will require an adjustment of resources, it will no longer be possible to complete a critical task, and this may entail financial losses.

Example #2

Let's take the list from the first example, but we'll only take what's in it. What will that give?

We write everything we forgot to buy or write down in a new list — this will allow us to develop the right approach to backlog evaluation. But even this example is not ideal, since the current backlog has no room for urgent unplanned tasks (that same 10–15% air). We have spent all the resources and budget — the probability of financial losses is still high.

If we continue the story about going to the store, let's simulate the following situation: you took exactly one thousand rubles with you and spent everything to zero, and then your spouse or relative calls you and asks you to buy medicine.

You don’t have a single ruble in your pocket anymore – you won’t be able to fulfill this request, although you realize its importance.

Or, let's say, at a higher level of planning, you didn't take into account that the car was running out of gas. And on that very day when you have no money, it runs out – now you can't get home.

Similar situations can happen in business. If you have worked or work in a bank or fintech company, you have probably heard about regulatory requirements. If your backlog is 100% full, you will not be able to meet the requirements of regulatory authorities in a short time.

This may entail a large fine or even blocking the business in some cases. Of course, you can perturb the backlog, but time will still be lost – losses are inevitable.

Example #3

Let's consider forming a list or backlog with a reserve:

Here we decomposed the backlog by priorities and found out that one liter of soap will be enough for us, and Snickers is not needed at all. Then we get 17.5% (175 rubles) of freedom in the backlog. We transfer new tasks to a new list taking into account the resource and the allocated budget. We have some energy left to complete urgent tasks.

The store's marketing is designed to sell you more than you planned to buy. Sale items always have bright price tags, and the cashier insistently offers to take chocolates at a discount, so the temptation to deviate from the list is great.

The same thing happens at work. There will always be a task that your colleague will ask you to take on now, because it is urgent, important, fast or something else, but everything needs to be done literally yesterday. As a rule, the task is only subjectively urgent and can well wait for the next sprint.

We have a rule in our team:

1. If the system fails or a critical bug appears that prevents it from working, we start working on it immediately; we have 10–15% of resources for this.

2. There are requirements from supervisory authorities with deadlines for implementation, and they fall under the “here and now” – we take them into work immediately within the same 10-15%.

3. Colleagues come with an urgent task – we add it to the backlog of the next sprint if the task does not fall under points 1 and 2.

Personal example and conclusions

Going to the store used to be fun for me. I would come and buy everything. The average bill was 12 to 15 thousand for two adults. I would buy chips, sodas, and many other things that I actually only needed in the moment. All of this increased the final bill.

Once I was advised to keep track of my finances and train myself to work from a list. At first it was hard, I always wanted to buy something. But after a month, working from the correct backlog of purchases, I reduced my average bill by 3 thousand and stopped buying unnecessary things and products.

You ask: “And if you already wanted to buy cola in the store, you won't take it?” I won't take it if I didn't put it on the list.

I shop once a week. Therefore, we multiply 3 thousand by 4 weeks and by 12 months. We get a net savings of 144 thousand per year.

I can say the same about work processes. When I was just starting out in product development, my backlog was a big trash bin, where everything was added. As a result, the budget was exceeded due to a lack of resources, my team and I couldn’t take on important tasks and suffered losses.

But after a while, I learned to decompose incoming tasks, always keep a budget and resource reserve of 10–15%, set priorities and do long-term planning.

All this led to the fact that each backlog gave ~10% budget savings. The resource was not overloaded, there was always a reserve for additional, urgent tasks. So I was able to build a good throughput of my team and, most importantly, was able to reduce the percentage of employee burnout due to overload.

Share in the comments what difficulties you encountered when creating a backlog and whether knowledge about the backlog helps you to put your daily affairs in order?