Screening Entry Level

How do you keep a product backlog healthy and actionable? What does your refinement process look like?

Quick Tip

Regularly prune your backlog. If an item has sat untouched for six months, either prioritise it or delete it. A bloated backlog is not a roadmap - it is a graveyard of good intentions.

What good answers include

Strong answers describe a regular cadence: grooming sessions with engineering, pruning stale items, adding acceptance criteria, splitting large stories, and ensuring the top of the backlog is always sprint-ready. Best candidates mention the danger of an ever-growing backlog full of items nobody will ever build.

What interviewers are looking for

Tests execution discipline. PMs with messy backlogs waste team time in planning sessions. Those who maintain a clean, prioritised backlog enable smooth sprint planning and honest stakeholder communication.

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