In many agile teams, the backlog is a central tool for organizing tasks and features. However, over time, backlogs become overloaded and a big topic dump, losing their primary function: to help teams focus and continuously prioritize value-creating work. This talk proposes a radical new approach: "Delete your Backlog."
The concept of "Delete your Backlog" challenges teams to rethink the need to continuously maintain a massive backlog and instead focus on the most valuable tasks. Overfilled backlogs create psychological burdens, reduce efficiency, and often contain outdated or irrelevant tasks that no longer generate value. Instead, the approach advocates for radical prioritization and frequent feedback cycles.
This Talk will explain why drastically reducing a backlog can be beneficial so that architectural approaches like emergent architecture can bloom and support team agility. By reducing waste teams can react more quickly to changes and better meet customers' immediate needs.
Finally, the presentation offers practical tips for implementation: how can teams effectively clean up their backlogs? What tools and methods help improve backlog management? By focusing on value and continuous feedback, agile teams can boost efficiency and achieve better long-term outcomes.