Aha! Develop: organize the program increment backlog into teams with a filter

The ideal workflow for a SAFe team is as follows:

• Define work (workspaces and teams): product and engineering define the work to be done

• Prioritize work (backlog management): work is groomed and assigned to the prioritized backlog

• Plan PIs (program board): teams assign work from their prioritized backlog into sprints

• Plan sprints (sprint planning): work is further refined and capacity finalized before starting the sprint

There’s a gap in this workflow at the PI planning step because there isn’t an easy way for a team to identify the work they have prioritized. The program increment backlog on the left displays a long list of all work assigned to the PI from all of the teams. A couple of changes be made to make this step easier:

• organize the PI backlog into teams (with one group for work that hasn’t been assigned to a team, but is assigned to the PI), and/or

• add a “Team” filter so each team can quickly isolate the work they need to plan