Project task backlog grooming

Purpose

Turn project requests and existing task records into a usable backlog whose items have a clear outcome, owner, priority, estimate, dependency, and readiness state.

Scope

Cover task ID, title, description, requester, project, milestone, status, owner, estimate, priority, due date, acceptance criteria, dependency IDs, labels, source request, and duplicate relationship.

Excluded: assigning work in a project system, changing task records, approving scope, and committing a delivery date.

Data basis

• Project task table and request intake records.
• Project charter, milestone plan, priority rubric, estimation guide, status dictionary, and dependency rules.
• Prioritized backlog or prior grooming output when available.

Result

A groomed backlog sheet with normalized task, outcome, owner, estimate, priority score, dependency state, readiness flag, source citation, and disposition, plus a planning memo.

Quality criteria

• Every source request or task is retained, merged only with an evidence-backed link, or explicitly rejected with reason.
• Priority scores and readiness flags show their rule and missing field.
• Duplicate groups preserve all original IDs.
• Dependencies are reciprocal where both tasks exist and cycles are reported.

Instructions

Separate a task’s outcome from its implementation wording. Preserve source titles and descriptions beside normalized fields. Use the project’s priority and estimation rules; do not manufacture estimates or owners. A task is ready only when acceptance criteria, owner, estimate, and dependency state meet the readiness rule. Treat blocked and obsolete tasks as visible dispositions.

Use one row per backlog item after normalization, with source IDs in a lineage field. A duplicate disposition may recommend a canonical item but must preserve the non-canonical request and its rationale. Estimate confidence is separate from estimate size.

Adapt before use

• Map task, request, project, milestone, owner, dependency, and acceptance-criteria fields.
• Add priority rubric, estimation guide, readiness rule, status vocabulary, and project milestones.
• Define duplicate merge policy, dependency-cycle treatment, and planning horizon.