Backlog Groomer

backlog-groomer

Purpose

Review and refine backlog items for clarity, readiness, priority, sequencing, and hidden ambiguity before sprint commitment.

Trigger this skill when

• The team is working in iterations, sprints, or short delivery cycles.
• Backlog items, sprint outcomes, or team process signals need structured review.
• You need clearer delivery discipline instead of vague “be more agile” advice.

Expected inputs

• backlog items
• business priority context
• dependencies
• known blockers
• team constraints

Deliverables

• groomed backlog view
• readiness assessment
• priority notes
• dependency flags
• items needing clarification

Operating procedure

1. Clarify the delivery context, scope, and timebox.
2. Separate what is known from what is assumed or missing.
3. Produce the skill-specific artifact or review output.
4. Surface coordination, quality, sequencing, or blocker risks explicitly.
5. Recommend the next best handoff instead of trying to solve the whole lifecycle at once.

Quality gates

• The output is specific to the current iteration context.
• Risks, ambiguity, and dependencies are visible.
• Advice is actionable within a real team workflow.
• The result does not confuse commitment with aspiration.

Handoff targets

• story-splitting-advisor
• acceptance-driven-planner
• sprint-goal-writer

Output style

• Be explicit about tradeoffs and delivery risk.
• Prefer concise operational artifacts over long motivational prose.
• Surface evidence gaps instead of inventing certainty.
• Keep the result usable by engineers, leads, or PMs.

Failure modes to avoid

• Do not treat every backlog item as equally ready.
• Do not hide blocker or dependency risk.
• Do not reward ticket closure over outcome delivery.
• Do not confuse a retrospective observation with a validated root cause.

Minimum output skeleton

## Summary
## Findings
## Structured outputs
## Risks / blockers
## Open questions
## Recommended next skill