If a Scrum Team uses Product Backlog refinement, when should it occur? (choose the best two answers)

Product Backlog refinement is an ongoing, collaborative activity, not a formal event or a separate phase. The Scrum Guide clarifies that it is the act of adding detail, estimates, and order to Product Backlog Items. This is performed by the Product Owner and the Developers during a Sprint to prepare items for future Sprints. It is a continuous process that happens as needed. While it's ideal to refine items in advance (Option C), it must be done within the current Sprint if the backlog is not sufficiently ready for upcoming work (Option E). The guide suggests this activity should consume no more than 10% of the Developers' capacity.

A. The Scrum Guide defines Sprints as contiguous events. A new Sprint starts immediately after the previous one concludes, leaving no time "between Sprints."

B. The Scrum Team (specifically the Product Owner and Developers) is accountable for refinement. Scrum does not define a "Business Analyst" role within the team.

D. The concept of a "Sprint 0" is not part of the official Scrum framework. Scrum begins with the first Sprint, which is expected to deliver a valuable Increment.

1. Schwaber

K.

& Sutherland

J. (2020). The Scrum Guide. Scrum.org. (See section: "Product Backlog"). The guide states

"Product Backlog refinement is the act of breaking down and further defining Product Backlog items... This is an ongoing activity... The Developers who will be doing the work are responsible for the sizing." The allocation of up to 10% of Developer capacity implies this occurs during the Sprint.

2. Al-Saqaf

W.

Staron

M.

& Örtqvist

D. (2016). On the Nature of the Product Backlog in Large-Scale Agile Development. 2016 ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM)

Ciudad Real

Spain

pp. 1-10

Article 39. In section IV-A

"Refinement Process

" the paper notes

"Refinement is a continuous activity that happens throughout the sprint to make sure that the requirements are ready for the next sprint." (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2961111.2962623)

3. University of California

Berkeley

School of Information. (Courseware for INFO 290). Agile Project Management. Course materials frequently emphasize that backlog grooming (refinement) is a continuous

in-sprint activity necessary for a healthy product backlog and smooth sprint planning

not a pre-project phase like "Sprint 0."