In Scrum, should multiple teams working on the same product maintain separate Product Backlogs?

In Scrum, it is essential for multiple teams working on the same product to maintain one unified Product Backlog. This practice ensures that all teams have a clear and shared understanding of the product's priorities and objectives. A single Product Backlog facilitates coordination and alignment across teams, promotes transparency, and helps avoid duplicate efforts.

When all teams are referencing the same backlog, it allows for systemic planning and scheduling, as well as fostering collaboration. Each team can interact with the same set of features, user stories, and tasks. This unified approach reduces the risk of conflicting priorities and ensures that the product evolves in a cohesive manner, refocusing on delivering maximum value to the stakeholders.

Maintaining separate backlogs for each team could lead to misalignment of goals, hinder collaboration, and complicate integration efforts, making it less effective as teams would not have a holistic view of the product development progress. Thus, having one Product Backlog is not just a best practice, but a fundamental principle of Scrum that supports effective teamwork and product delivery.