What is Backlog ? This is an important term in project management and product development of enterprises. In addition, Backlog provides an overview, helping administrators grasp the requirements and work to be done. In the article below, let's explore with 1C Vietnam what Backlog is and the steps to manage Backlog professionally!

1. What is Backlog?

Backlog is understood as a list of unfinished, remaining or pending work, tasks, features or requests in a business environment, especially in the construction or manufacturing sector. Typically, Backlog is used to track and manage projects to ensure timely completion and no work is left behind.

A Backlog can be requests from customers, features to be developed, bugs to be fixed, problems to be solved or any tasks directly related to the project's goals. Accordingly, the tasks in this list will be arranged by priority, which helps managers focus on important tasks that bring high value to the business.

2. The role of Backlog in business

After understanding the concept of Backlog, businesses need to clearly understand the role of Backlog. Backlog in project management is a perfect method, helping managers clearly understand the progress and status of the project. A Backlog can bring necessary functions to businesses such as:

• Assignment of tasks

Backlog can list and arrange tasks clearly and according to priority. Therefore, managers will easily assign tasks to members in work plans.

• Provide a detailed plan

In addition, Backlog also has a consensus on the work items that the planning team needs to solve. With a backlog list, staff will be completely proactive in performing work and no longer worry about priority.

• Facilitate detailed product discussions

Not all pending tasks are complete and ready to be done. Sometimes managers will put tasks in the backlog at the end to indicate that they are not a priority and need further discussion. This allows team members to discuss issues that need to be resolved in more depth, which can help the team make more improvements to the process in the future.

3. Meaning of Backlog

In all fields and industries, Backlog is used to indicate the amount of work that is exceeding the ability to meet the needs of the business. Backlog can have positive or negative meanings depending on the specific situation such as: Project Management, Product Development and Product Management. Specifically as follows:

3.1 For Project Management and Product Development

• Identify business value: The Backlog will prioritize the most important requirements and features that benefit customers and businesses to achieve business goals.
• Ensure customer engagement: Backlog helps businesses interact with customers, listen to feedback to improve and meet customer needs.
• Improve Flexibility: The Backlog allows businesses to change and adjust requirements and tasks throughout the project lifecycle. Through this, businesses can adjust the Backlog to reflect the flexibility of tasks that need to be prioritized.

3.2 For Product Managers

• Requirements and Feature Management: The Backlog is where the product requirements are captured. This is where ideas from customers, teams, and stakeholders come together.
• Task planning and prioritization: The Backlog lists tasks in order of priority and business value, helping the Product Manager define the product scope and establish a clear implementation roadmap.
• Align with stakeholders: The Backlog is a powerful tool for discussing and agreeing with customers, the implementation team, and stakeholders on the product development plan.
• Track and manage progress: The Backlog creates an overview of the work progress, the Product Manager can track, update and adjust the Backlog to ensure the project is on schedule.

4. Full Contents of a Backlog

A Backlog typically includes information about the tasks, work, and requirements of a project. Here are five elements that a complete Backlog should include:

• Task List: List the tasks and requirements that need to be completed. Each task should be described specifically so that the reader understands the job requirements.
• Completion deadline: Businesses should clearly define a specific deadline for completing the work. This helps managers have a specific perspective on the project progress and easily prepare reports on the status of the project that needs to be completed.
• Performer: Includes information about the individual responsible for performing the work. This helps to clearly assign tasks and create personal responsibility in the project.
• Prioritize tasks: Each task in the Backlog must have a priority level. This helps managers know which tasks need to be completed first. Priority can be based on criteria such as value, impact, or necessity.
• Task Status: Shows the status of each task, including: Not started, in progress, completed or canceled. Tracking task status helps administrators manage project progress and understand which tasks need to be prioritized.

5. 5 steps to Backlog management for administrators

Backlog is where complex tasks are broken down into a series of specific steps, then assigned to team members. Here are the steps to help managers build a complete Backlog:

5.1 Step 1: Define the goal

Defining the goals and scope is the first step in implementing a product project. This helps ensure that the Backlog focuses on tasks that are directly related to the business goals. In this step, the administrator needs to collect information from stakeholders and determine customer requirements through the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the product?
• Who are the users of the product?
• How will the product be applied?
• When will the product be released?
• How much does the product cost?

Note that defining the product's goals and scope must be specific and measurable, and acceptable to most stakeholders.

5.2 Step 2: Set priority level

After listing the requirements and tasks to be performed, the administrator needs to set priorities and ensure that the most important tasks are performed first. Priorities can be determined using different methods. Some issues to keep in mind when setting priorities are as follows:

• Prioritization should be determined based on criteria that align with product goals.
• Priorities should be reviewed regularly to ensure they are appropriate to the situation.

5.3 Step 3: Determine the expected time

Requirements in the Backlog should be accompanied by an estimated timeline. This helps managers track progress, ensure that projects are completed on time, and effectively plan and manage the product development process. Some factors to consider when determining the expected timeline may include:

• The complexity of the job requirements.
• The ability of the team to perform.
• External factors such as release time, market time…

On the other hand, for the completion time factor, administrators also need to note that:

• Time must be determined appropriately to ensure that the project is completed on time.
• Completion times must be updated regularly to ensure project results are consistent with the actual situation.

5.4 Step 4: Allocate work appropriately

Once you have information about the Backlog tool, the administrator needs to divide resources and tasks according to the capabilities and experience of each member of the implementation team. Below are some issues to keep in mind when managing resources:

• Resources need to be allocated properly to ensure project completion on schedule.
• Tasks should be clearly divided to avoid internal conflicts.

5.5 Step 5: Monitor and adjust

Backlog management requires continuity and regular updates to specifically reflect changes in the project or product. Some activities that need to be performed when monitoring and adjusting the Backlog include:

• Track progress of task requirements and features.
• Update information on new customer requests.
• Update completion time and task priority.

6 Professional Backlog Management Methods

In addition to following the Backlog management steps above, administrators can apply the following simple methods in parallel to create and manage backlogs. Specifically:

6.1 Manage Backlog and tasks in the enterprise effectively with 1C:ERP

1C:ERP is a useful management solution, ready to be applied to all business operating models. Developed on a modern low-code platform, 1C:ERP is developed towards global businesses, featuring the ability to deploy 2 times faster than other solutions.

So what are the strengths of 1C:ERP in Backlog management? 1C Vietnam will list the following advantages:

• Open logic solutions help businesses master technology and software, avoiding dependence on suppliers.
• Support businesses to optimize workflow, manage backlogs, eliminate duplicate work, and require manual operations.
• Real-time work reporting system, administrators can easily create and adjust reports without needing to understand programming.
• Compatibility with all platforms, leveraging the existing platform of the business. Administrators can easily customize, expand, and optimize the digital transformation roadmap of the business.
• Quickly customize to specific business requirements, easily integrate with industry-specific solutions in the 1C ecosystem and stakeholders.
• Provides full work management features for immediate application to commercial, service and manufacturing operating models.

6.2 Excel Backlog Management Application

Excel is a simple way to create and manage backlogs for most small and medium sized businesses. Excel will help:

• Administrators can easily create to-do lists and organize them by priority. Highlight estimated time and task groups in columns and rows in the spreadsheet.
• Excel provides filtering, searching and sorting features, helping users easily manage and search for information.

6.3 Agile and Scrum Methods

Agile and Scrum are widely used frameworks in project development and management. Backlog in this method is managed in the form of Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog.

• The Product Backlog includes the product requirements and features that the business needs to implement.
• The Sprint Backlog contains the work to be completed in a particular Sprint.
• Scrum provides methods for prioritizing and managing the Backlog throughout the product development lifecycle.\

6.4 MoSCoW Assessment Method

MoSCoW is an acronym for four main components: Must-have, Should-have, Could-have and Won't-have. The MoSCoW method helps managers prioritize requirements in the Backlog based on urgency and importance.

• Must-have: Represents mandatory and priority tasks that need to be completed.
• Should-have: Represents important tasks that do not need to be completed immediately.
• Could-have: Represents tasks that could be performed if time and resources were available.
• Won't-have: Represents tasks that are not a priority or need to be eliminated.

6.5 Karban Method

Kanban is a method of visualizing work based on the Kanban board system. A complete Kanban board will be divided into columns representing each work status including: To-do, In Progress, Done...

• When dragging and dropping, tasks will be moved through the columns corresponding to whether they are in progress or completed.
• Supports Backlog management by allowing tracking and refining work by status or priority.

7. Some terms related to Backlog

Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog or Backlog Grooming are closely related to Backlog. These are terms used to refer to a list of tasks that need to be done and arranged in a priority order. Below are the specific characteristics of each type of Backlog:

7.1 What is the Product Backlog?

The Product Backlog is a list of tasks required to build a strategic plan in the project roadmap. The product backlog is responsible for informing the next tasks to ensure the project is completed on time. Items in the Product Backlog will include: User stories, bug fixes, and other tasks.

7.2 What is Sprint Backlog?

The Sprint Backlog is a collection of items that a product team selects from the Product Backlog to work on in a short period of time. The purpose of the Sprint Backlog is to provide a clear plan, helping teams align their work items during their planning process.

7.3 What is Backlog Grooming?

Backlog Grooming is a periodic event for product development teams that want to move quickly. The purpose of Backlog Grooming is to clarify and detail the backlog so that the development team can choose the items that are appropriate for the upcoming sprint.

The above article shares about what Backlog is and the steps to help businesses manage Backlog successfully. In general, each Backlog management method has its own advantages and disadvantages, managers need to choose the method that is suitable for the characteristics and requirements of the project being implemented. If your business needs advice and experience about the comprehensive business management solution 1C:ERP, please contact 1C Vietnam via hotline: 0247.108. 8887 for support!