Which of the following practices might help the Product Owner minimize waste in developing and sustaining the Product Backlog? (choose the best two answers)

Question

Options

• AAvoid distracting the Scrum Team by maintaining newly gathered Product
• BHand off ownership of the Product Backlog to someone else.
• CRemove items from the Product Backlog that have not been addressed in a long
• DOnly fully describe Product Backlog items when it seems likely they will be

Explanation

Based on Scrum principles, the correct answers are C and D.

C is correct because removing long-unaddressed items from the Product Backlog directly eliminates waste - items that haven't been touched in a long time likely no longer reflect current priorities or business value, and maintaining them adds clutter and cognitive overhead during refinement.

D is correct because fully describing items only when they are likely to be worked on soon is a "just-in-time" refinement practice. Spending time elaborating on items that may never make it into a Sprint wastes effort, since requirements often change before those items are ever selected.

A is incorrect because the Product Owner is expected to collaborate with the Scrum Team on backlog refinement - isolating backlog work from the team undermines this and doesn't reduce waste.

B is incorrect because the Product Owner is explicitly accountable for the Product Backlog in Scrum; delegating ownership contradicts that accountability and doesn't address waste.

Memory tip: Think "trim and time it" - trim stale items (C) and time your detail work to when items are actually needed (D). Both reduce effort spent on things that may never deliver value.

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