How many product backlogs should be created for a large product with multiple teams?

For a large product that involves multiple teams, the most effective approach is to maintain one shared product backlog. This practice ensures that all teams are aligned and have a unified understanding of the product vision, priorities, and requirements. A single product backlog facilitates collaboration and coordination among the teams, as it provides transparency regarding what tasks are pending, in process, or completed, regardless of which team is working on them.

Having a singular backlog helps in minimizing confusion and potential misalignment that could arise if multiple backlogs are created. It allows for better prioritization by the Product Owner, who can make informed decisions based on the overall product health and strategic direction. It also prevents the risk of teams becoming siloed in their work, ensuring that dependencies and integrations between different parts of the product are managed effectively.

In contrast, creating separate backlogs for each team divides the focus and can lead to inconsistencies in priorities, while having multiple backlogs for different modules may complicate integration efforts and hinder overall progress. Additionally, establishing as many backlogs as necessary for team coordination can lead to unnecessary overhead and complicate the workflow, making it challenging to maintain a coherent vision for the product.