Too much refinement wastes time

TL;DR; Too much backlog refinement wastes time, while too little causes confusion and delays. Aim for just enough detail so developers can start work confidently without needing constant clarification. If Sprint Planning is about making commitments rather than figuring things out, your refinement process is working well.

Published on 29 April 2025

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/2GV6voRFhjH

Too much refinement wastes time. Too little refinement leads to chaos. The key is knowing where to draw the line.

Scrum teams often fall into one of two traps:

Refining everything too soon – spending hours detailing work that might never happen.
Not refining enough – arriving at Sprint Planning with backlog items that are vague, oversized, and full of unknowns.

The goal isn’t perfection—it’s readiness. Your backlog should be refined just enough that developers can confidently pull work into a Sprint without endless clarification.

It’s about finding the Goldilocks zone: Not too much, not too little. Just enough.

How do you know if you’ve found it? Your Sprint Planning should be focused on commitment, not discovery.

Also published on: LinkedIn

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

Our Happy Clients

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.