What is "backlog grooming" in Agile methodology?

Backlog grooming, also known as backlog refinement, is a vital practice in Agile methodology that involves the ongoing process of organizing and prioritizing the product backlog. This process ensures that the backlog is up-to-date, well understood, and contains items that are properly assessed for priority.

During backlog grooming sessions, team members discuss upcoming items, clarify requirements, and make estimations, ensuring that the highest priority items are prepared for upcoming sprints. This proactive approach helps maintain focus on delivering the most valuable features and tasks first, aligning with Agile principles of customer satisfaction and responsiveness to change.

The other options do not accurately encompass the concept of backlog grooming. For instance, defining project scope pertains more to the initial stages of a project rather than the continuous adjustment and prioritization of tasks within the backlog. Assessing team performance focuses on evaluating how well the team functions over time, and reviewing completed tasks relates to retrospective activities rather than ongoing backlog management. These aspects are separate from the regular upkeep and prioritization of the product backlog that backlog grooming addresses.