Extreme Backlog Cleaning

Declutter your backlog. Refocus your team. Ship what truly matters.

This Extreme Backlog Cleaning template helps product, engineering, and design teams clean out stale tasks, realign on business goals, and create space for high-impact, fresh initiatives. If your backlog has become overwhelming, confusing, or directionless, this collaborative Miro workshop will bring clarity, alignment, and renewed focus to your work.

Ideal for product managers, scrum masters, project owners, agile coaches, and cross-functional teams, this template is designed to guide you through a step-by-step process to assess the age and relevance of backlog items, prioritize user goals, and remove or restructure non-essential tasks.

Why Use This Template?

🔍 Reduce backlog chaos – Identify outdated, irrelevant, or low-value backlog items that drain team capacity.

🎯 Refocus on goals – Reconnect your team to the one goal that matters most right now, aligning all work behind it.

⚡ Move faster – Eliminate blockers and technical debt to accelerate delivery and reduce overhead.

📈 Boost momentum – Refresh your backlog with prioritized, user-centered tasks that drive product success.

👥 Collaborate in real-time – Facilitate meaningful team discussions that lead to informed decisions and shared accountability.

What’s Inside

• Toolkit for collaboration (timer, emoji reactions, and mood tracking)

• Visual framework for sorting backlog items into categories: Goal, Keep, Tidy, Plan

• Step-by-step guide with color-coded sticky notes to map goals, user journeys, blockers, and solutions

• Before & After view showing the evolution from traditional to lean backlog management

• Bonus tip: Share your strategy with your organization to avoid surprises and foster transparency.

Use Cases

• Sprint planning prep

• Quarterly roadmap review

• Technical debt clean-up

• Cross-functional team alignment

• Agile retrospectives

• Scaling backlog hygiene practices

Perfect For

• Product Managers

• Engineering Leads

• Agile Coaches

• Design Teams

• Cross-functional Teams

Give your team the clarity they need to focus on what matters. Try the Extreme Backlog Cleaning template today and take your agile workflow to the next level.