Backlog Chaos: When Nobody Knows What's Planned For Q2

The Q2 Planning Meeting

Monday morning. Quarterly planning meeting.

CEO: “OK team, what are we shipping in Q2?”

Product Manager: “Let me check the backlog…”

Opens Jira.

Backlog: 537 issues

Available filters:

• Priority: P0 (12 issues), P1 (47 issues), P2 (89 issues), P3 (145 issues), P4 (244 issues)
• Status: To Do (412), In Progress (67), Blocked (38), Waiting (20)
• Labels: 87 different labels (urgent, bug, feature, tech-debt, nice-to-have, critical, MVP, v2, Q1, Q2, maybe, someday, etc.)

PM, overwhelmed:

“Uh… I have 537 issues here. I don’t know which ones are for Q2.”

CEO: “Don’t we have a plan?”

PM: “We marked some issues with the ‘Q2’ label, but…”

Filters by label “Q2”:

Result: 94 issues

CEO: “So we’re shipping 94 features in Q2?”

PM: “No, some are bugs, others are marked ‘maybe’, others depend on Q3 features…”

CTO: “Plus, half of these issues don’t have estimates. We don’t know how long they’ll take.”

CEO: “And what are the developers currently working on?”

PM looks at the 67 “In Progress” issues:

• 23 issues haven’t been touched in 2+ weeks
• 15 issues are marked “Blocked” but nobody knows why
• 12 issues were started but aren’t in the Q1 plan
• 8 issues are “urgent” that appeared last week
• 9 issues… nobody remembers why they were started

PM:

“Honestly, I don’t know exactly. The backlog is a mess.”

CEO: “So we can’t tell the board what we’re shipping in Q2?”

Awkward silence.

PM: “We’ll… clean up the backlog this week and get back to you.”

Spoiler: The backlog will never really be sorted. The chaos will continue.

The Problem Of Backlog Chaos

Most tech teams live with a chaotic backlog. An infinite pile of unstructured issues, with no clear plan.

The Five Symptoms Of Chaotic Backlog

1. Infinite Backlog (500+ Unsorted Issues)

The Scenario: Your Jira backlog contains 500+ issues accumulated over 2 years. Nobody knows what’s in it.

How it happens:

Year 1: Backlog starts with 20 issues. Manageable.

Year 1, Month 3: “Let’s add this idea to the backlog.” → 45 issues.

Year 1, Month 6: “The client requested this, let’s put it in the backlog.” → 89 issues.

Year 1, Month 12: “We can’t do this now, backlog.” → 156 issues.

Year 2, Month 6: “The backlog is at 347 issues. We should clean it up.”

Nobody cleans it.

Year 2, Month 12: 537 issues.

The Problem:

• ❌ Backlog becomes a landfill (everything goes in, nothing comes out)
• ❌ 80% of issues will never be done
• ❌ Impossible to distinguish “really important” vs “random idea from 2022”
• ❌ Cognitive cost: impossible to navigate 537 issues

Real Statistic:

In a survey of 150 tech teams:

• Average backlog size: 423 issues
• % of issues older than 12+ months: 62%
• % of issues that will actually be done: 18%

Result: The backlog is a graveyard of dead ideas that nobody dares to delete.

2. Nobody Knows What’s Planned (“When Is It For?”)

The Scenario:

Stakeholder: “Feature X, when is it for?”

PM: “Uh… let me check.”

Searches in the backlog.

Issue found:

• Title: “Implement feature X”
• Priority: P2
• Labels: feature, maybe, Q2, nice-to-have
• Assignee: None
• Sprint: None
• Estimation: None

PM: “It’s… in the backlog. Marked Q2. But I don’t know exactly when.”

Stakeholder: “Q2 starts in 3 weeks. Is it in the next release?”

PM: “Uh… maybe? I need to check with the team.”

1 week later.

PM (after discussion with team): “Actually, feature X is pushed to Q3. We don’t have capacity in Q2.”

Stakeholder: “But the label said Q2!”

PM: “Yes, but… priorities have changed.”

The Problem:

• ❌ No concrete plan (just vague labels)
• ❌ Impossible to know when an issue will be done
• ❌ Implicit promises never kept (label “Q2” ≠ commitment)
• ❌ Stakeholder frustration (“You always say Q2, but it never happens”)

Result: Nobody trusts the backlog. We live sprint by sprint, with no visibility.

3. Changing Priorities (“Urgent” Every Week)

The Scenario:

Monday, sprint planning.

PM: “This week, absolute priority: feature A.”

Team: “OK, we’ll start.”

Wednesday.

PM: “The CEO wants feature B urgently. Stop feature A, do B.”

Team: “But… we’re in the middle of A.”

PM: “Sorry, B is critical. We’ll resume A after.”

Friday.

PM: “Actually, VIP client requests feature C immediately. Pause B, do C.”

Team: “Seriously?”

PM: “It’s urgent.”

Next week, retrospective.

Dev 1: “We started 3 features, finished 0.”

Dev 2: “Because priorities change every 2 days.”

PM: “Yes, but… everything is urgent.”

The Problem:

• ❌ “Urgent” loses meaning (if everything is urgent, nothing is urgent)
• ❌ Permanent context switching (starting without finishing)
• ❌ No feature completed (everything is “in progress”)
• ❌ Team morale plummeting (frustration of never finishing)

Real Statistic:

Team analyzed over 1 month:

• 17 “urgent” received
• 4 “urgent” actually handled
• 0 “urgent” finished in announced sprint
• 13 “urgent” forgotten or reclassified after 1 week

Result: “Urgent” becomes noise. The team ignores urgent requests because they change too fast.

4. Blocked Issues Forgotten (“Blocked” = Graveyard)

The Scenario:

Dev: “I can’t make progress on this issue. It’s blocked by an external dependency.”

PM: “OK, mark it ‘Blocked’. We’ll come back to it.”

The issue is marked “Blocked”.

3 weeks later.

Nobody remembers the blocked issue.

3 months later.

Someone filters by “Blocked” in the backlog:

Result: 38 blocked issues

• 12 blocked by dependencies that no longer exist
• 9 blocked by people who left the company
• 7 blocked by decisions that were made (but nobody unblocked the issue)
• 10 blocked for vague reasons (“waiting for clarification” for 4 months)

PM:

“We have 38 blocked issues and nobody’s tracking them. Half could be unblocked now.”

The Problem:

• ❌ “Blocked” = oblivion (marked and forgotten)
• ❌ No systematic tracking of blockers
• ❌ Lost work (issues that could be unblocked remain in stasis)
• ❌ Waste (invested effort then abandoned)

Result: Blocked issues die slowly, without anyone noticing.

5. Backlog Grooming = Waste Of Time (“We’ll Sort It… Someday”)

The Scenario:

PM: “We need to do backlog grooming. The backlog is a mess.”

Backlog grooming meeting scheduled: 2 hours.

Meeting starts.

PM: “OK, we have 537 issues. Let’s start with the oldest.”

Issue #1 (created 18 months ago):

Title: “Add dark mode”

PM: “Do we still want this?”

Designer: “Maybe. But not priority.”

PM: “OK, we keep it in the backlog.”

Issue #2 (created 16 months ago):

Title: “Improve search performance”

PM: “Is this still relevant?”

Dev: “Yes, but it requires a big refactoring.”

PM: “When do we do it?”

Dev: “Not now. Maybe Q3?”

PM: “OK, we keep it.”

After 2 hours:

• Issues sorted: 23 out of 537
• Issues deleted: 2
• Issues clearly prioritized: 0

Dev:

“We just spent 2 hours for nothing. The backlog is still just as chaotic.”

The Problem:

• ❌ Ineffective backlog grooming (sorting without decisions)
• ❌ Fear of deleting (“we might need it someday”)
• ❌ No clear criteria (we keep everything “just in case”)
• ❌ Sorting solves nothing (backlog remains unmanageable)

Result: Backlog grooming becomes a useless chore that everyone avoids.

Why Backlogs Become Chaotic

Reason 1: Backlog = Infinite List Without Structure

The Problem:

Traditional backlogs (Jira, Linear, etc.) are flat lists:

• One column of 500+ issues
• Some filters (priority, labels, sprints)
• No grouping by objective or release

Result: Impossible to answer:

• “What are we shipping in Q2?”
• “Which features are related?”
• “When will this issue be done?”

Why it doesn’t work:

Because a flat list doesn’t reflect the reality of work:

• Work is organized by releases (deliverable versions)
• Issues are grouped by capabilities (high-level features)
• Planning is done by cycles (defined time periods)

But Jira/Linear don’t model that.

Result: Everything becomes a soup of disconnected issues.

Reason 2: “Everything To Backlog” = Endless Dump

The Problem:

Typical mentality:

• CEO idea → backlog
• Client request → backlog
• Bug found → backlog
• Technical improvement → backlog
• Random dev idea → backlog

Result: Everything goes into the backlog. Nothing comes out (except what gets done).

Why it’s toxic:

Because 80% of issues will never be done. But they stay there, creating:

• Cognitive noise (impossible to find the important in the pile)
• False promises (stakeholders think “in the backlog” = “will be done”)
• Guilt (“We should do all these issues but we never have time”)

Analogy:

The backlog is like a garage where we pile everything “just in case”. After 2 years, it’s so full we can’t even get in. But nobody throws anything away.

Result: The backlog becomes a permanent mental burden.

Reason 3: No Defined Capacity = Infinite Promises

The Problem:

PM: “We’ll do feature X in Q2.”

Q2 arrives.

PM: “Actually, we didn’t have time. We’re pushing it to Q3.”

Why?

Because nobody calculated the team’s real capacity.

Typical scenario:

Q2 = 12 weeks

Team’s real capacity: 10 weeks of effective work

• 2 weeks lost: holidays, vacations, meetings, urgent bugs, interruptions

Issues planned for Q2: 15 weeks of estimated work

Mathematical result: Impossible to finish everything.

The Problem:

• ❌ Planning based on hope (“we’ll do it all”), not reality
• ❌ No capacity limit (we accept more work than we can do)
• ❌ Guaranteed disappointment (we always deliver less than promised)
• ❌ Destroyed credibility (stakeholders no longer believe deadlines)

Result: The team promises too much, delivers little, and loses trust.

The Sinra Approach: Releases, Cycles And Capabilities

Sinra eliminates backlog chaos by structuring work by releases, cycles and capabilities instead of an infinite flat list.

The Concept: Releases → Capabilities → Issues

In Sinra, work doesn’t live in a chaotic backlog. It’s organized by releases.

Three levels of structure:

1. Releases: Deliverable product versions (v1.5, Q2 2025, etc.)
2. Capabilities: High-level features grouped in a release
3. Issues: Individual tasks under each capability

Result: Clear answer to “What are we shipping in Q2?” → “Q2 release with these 8 capabilities.”

Anatomy Of A Sinra Release

Let’s revisit the opening example.

Traditional Approach (Chaotic Jira Backlog)

Q2 planning:

• 537 issues in the backlog
• 94 issues marked with “Q2” label
• No idea of real capacity
• Impossible to know what will be delivered

Result: Total chaos.

Sinra Approach (Structured Release)

Step 1: Create release “Q2 2025”

Release description:

# Release Q2 2025

Objective: Improve user onboarding and data export.

## Team capacity
- 12 weeks (April-June)
- 3 full-time developers
- Real capacity: 10 weeks of effective work (2 week buffer for unforeseen)

## Target delivery date
June 30, 2025

Step 2: Define capabilities for Q2

Instead of a list of 94 issues, 8 clear capabilities:

1. Interactive onboarding (3 weeks estimated)
2. Improved CSV export (1.5 weeks)
3. Google SSO authentication (2 weeks)
4. Analytics dashboard (2.5 weeks)
5. Email notifications (1 week)
6. API webhooks (2 weeks)
7. Mobile responsive (2 weeks)
8. Database performance (1.5 weeks)

Total estimated: 15.5 weeks of work

Available capacity: 10 weeks

Immediate problem visible: Overloaded by 5.5 weeks.

Decision: Remove 3 capabilities (least priority) to Q3.

Capabilities kept for Q2 (after adjustment):

1. Interactive onboarding (3 wks)
2. Improved CSV export (1.5 wks)
3. Google SSO authentication (2 wks)
4. Analytics dashboard (2.5 wks)
5. Email notifications (1 wk)

Total: 10 weeks → Perfectly aligned with real capacity.

Step 3: Create issues under each capability

Capability “Interactive onboarding”:

• [ONBOARD-10] Design onboarding flow (3 days)
• [ONBOARD-11] Implement step 1: Welcome screen (2 days)
• [ONBOARD-12] Implement step 2: Profile setup (3 days)
• [ONBOARD-13] Implement step 3: First project (2 days)
• [ONBOARD-14] Add progress indicators (1 day)
• [ONBOARD-15] Analytics tracking (1 day)
• [ONBOARD-16] E2E tests (2 days)

Total: 14 days of work (≈ 3 weeks with buffer)

Step 4: Plan by cycles (2-week sprints)

Cycle 1 (wks 1-2 April):

• Capability: Interactive onboarding (phase 1)
• Capability: CSV export (start)

Cycle 2 (wks 3-4 April):

• Capability: Interactive onboarding (end)
• Capability: CSV export (end)

Cycle 3 (wks 1-2 May):

• Capability: Google SSO authentication

Cycle 4 (wks 3-4 May):

• Capability: Analytics dashboard (phase 1)

Cycle 5 (wks 1-2 June):

• Capability: Analytics dashboard (end)
• Capability: Email notifications

Cycle 6 (wks 3-4 June):

• Buffer / polish / bugs

Result:

• ✅ Clear plan for Q2 (5 precise capabilities)
• ✅ Capacity respected (10 weeks of work for 10 weeks available)
• ✅ Total visibility (each stakeholder knows what will be delivered)
• ✅ Realistic (no overload, no impossible promises)

The Three Pillars Of Sinra Planning

1. Releases: Group By Deliverable Versions

The Concept:

A Sinra release is a deliverable product version with:

• Target delivery date
• Included capabilities (high-level features)
• Defined team capacity

Difference with Jira backlog:

Example: Release “Mobile App v2.0”

# Release: Mobile App v2.0

Objective: Launch mobile app with core features.

## Included capabilities
1. Mobile authentication
2. Offline sync
3. Push notifications
4. User profile
5. Search

## Delivery date
August 15, 2025

## Capacity
2 mobile devs × 8 weeks = 16 weeks available
Estimated: 14 weeks of work
Buffer: 2 weeks

Benefit: Everyone knows exactly what will be delivered and when.

2. Capabilities: High-Level Features (Not Micro-Tasks)

The Concept:

Instead of 94 disparate issues, group work into capabilities (understandable features).

Capabilities = What the user sees, not technical details.

Examples:

❌ Bad (flat issues):

• “Add login button”
• “Create user table”
• “Implement JWT tokens”
• “Add password reset flow”
• “Design login screen”

✅ Good (capability):

Capability: User Authentication

• Description: Allow users to create account and login.
• Issues: The 5 technical tasks above.

Why it’s better:

Because stakeholders don’t think in terms of “JWT tokens”. They think in terms of “Authentication”.

Result: Clear communication with stakeholders.

3. Cycles: Defined Time (Not Infinite Sprints)

The Concept:

Sinra uses cycles to organize work in defined periods (2 weeks, 3 weeks, etc.).

Difference with Jira sprints:

Example: Cycles for Q2 Release

Cycle 1 (Apr 1-14): Onboarding capability (phase 1)
Cycle 2 (Apr 15-28): Onboarding capability (end) + CSV export
Cycle 3 (May 1-14): Google SSO
Cycle 4 (May 15-28): Analytics dashboard (phase 1)
Cycle 5 (Jun 1-14): Analytics dashboard (end) + Notifications
Cycle 6 (Jun 15-28): Buffer / polish

Benefit: Total visibility on the next 3 months (not just the next 2 weeks).

Real Example: Vertigo (SaaS Project Management)

Vertigo (12-person team, project management tool)

Note: Vertigo is a real company that we’ve anonymized under a fictional name to protect their confidentiality.

Before Sinra: Chaotic Backlog

Jira backlog state:

• 487 issues accumulated
• 73 issues marked “Q2” (but nobody really knows what will be done)
• 12 different priorities (P0 to P4, urgent, critical, high, medium, low, etc.)
• 0 visibility on what will be delivered and when

Problems Encountered:

Problem 1: Nobody knows what we’re shipping

CEO: “What are we shipping in Q2?”

PM: “Uh… we have 73 issues marked Q2, but I don’t know how many we can actually do.”

CEO: “So we can’t promise anything to the board?”

PM: “Not really, no.”

Problem 2: Changing priorities every week

Monday: “Feature A is absolute priority.”

Wednesday: “Actually, do feature B urgently.”

Friday: “VIP client wants feature C immediately.”

Result: Team started 3 features per week, finished 0.

Problem 3: Forgotten blocked issues

41 issues marked “Blocked”, including:

• 15 blocked for 3+ months
• 9 blocked for reasons that no longer exist
• 12 blocked with no documented reason

Nobody tracked them. They died slowly.

Problem 4: Useless backlog grooming

2 hours of backlog grooming per week.

Result: Sorted 20 issues out of 487. No decisions made. Backlog still chaotic.

Team morale: Exhausted. “We never know what we’re doing or why.”

After Sinra: Structured Releases

Workflow:

1. Create releases per quarter (Q2, Q3, etc.)
2. Define 6-8 capabilities per release (not 73 issues)
3. Calculate real capacity (10 effective weeks per quarter)
4. Plan cycles ahead (3-month visibility)
5. Abandon 80% of backlog (keep only what will be done in next 6 months)

Release Q2 2025 (example):

# Release Q2 2025

Objective: Improve collaboration and notifications.

## Capabilities (6)
1. Real-time collaboration
2. Improved email notifications
3. PDF report export
4. Mobile responsive
5. Slack integration
6. Performance dashboard

## Capacity
3 devs × 10 effective weeks = 30 weeks available
Estimated: 28 weeks of work
Buffer: 2 weeks

## Delivery date
June 28, 2025

Results (After 6 Months):

Metric 1: Visibility

• Before: “I don’t know what we’re shipping in Q2”
• After: “We’re shipping 6 precise capabilities on June 28”

Metric 2: Credibility

• Before: 30% of promises kept
• After: 95% of capabilities delivered on time

Metric 3: Focus

• Before: 3 features started per week, 0 finished
• After: 1 capability at a time, finished before moving to next

Metric 4: Morale

• Before: Team exhausted, frustrated
• After: “Finally we know where we’re going”

Metric 5: Backlog

• Before: 487 chaotic issues
• After: 47 issues (what will be done in next 6 months), rest archived

Lead Developer Quote:

“Before, every Monday we’d wonder ‘what’s the priority this week?’. Now we know exactly what we’re shipping in Q2, Q3. We can finally plan and finish what we start.”

Product Manager Quote:

“I can finally answer the CEO when he asks ‘what are we shipping in Q2’. Before, I’d stammer. Now I show him the release with 6 clear capabilities. He’s delighted.”

Jira Backlog vs. Sinra Releases: Comparison

The Five Signs Your Backlog Is Chaotic

Sign 1: You Can’t Answer “What Are We Shipping In Q2?”

If you have to filter 500 issues for 30 minutes to find a vague answer, your backlog is chaotic.

Sign 2: Backlog > 300 Issues

If your backlog contains 300+ issues, 80% will never be done. It’s a disguised graveyard.

Sign 3: “Urgent” Every Week

If you receive 3+ “urgent” per week that change priorities, nobody’s controlling the chaos.

Sign 4: Blocked Issues Forgotten

If you have 20+ issues marked “Blocked” for months, your backlog is a dump.

Sign 5: Backlog Grooming = Waste Of Time

If your backlog grooming sessions never reduce backlog size, stop wasting your time.

How To Use Sinra To Eliminate Chaos

Step 1: Create Releases Per Quarter

Action:

• Create Q2, Q3, Q4 releases
• Define target delivery date
• Calculate team’s real capacity

Result: Clear structure (deliverable releases, not infinite backlog).

Step 2: Define 6-8 Capabilities Per Release

Action:

• Identify the 6-8 most important capabilities for each release
• Estimate each capability
• Verify total respects capacity

Result: Realistic and achievable plan.

Step 3: Plan Cycles Ahead

Action:

• Organize capabilities by cycles (2-3 weeks)
• Assign capabilities to cycles
• See 3 months ahead visibility

Result: Team knows what to do for 3 months (not just 2 weeks).

Step 4: Abandon Infinite Backlog

Action:

• Keep only issues for next 6 months
• Archive the rest (“maybe someday” → trash)
• Accept that 80% of ideas will never be done

Result: Manageable backlog, not a dump.

Action Points: Exit Chaos

1. Create your first Q2 release. Define 6-8 clear capabilities.
2. Calculate your real capacity. How many weeks of effective work do you have?
3. Plan cycles ahead. Organize capabilities by 2-3 week cycles.
4. Archive 80% of backlog. Keep only what will be done in 6 months.
5. Communicate the plan. Show releases and capabilities to stakeholders.

The Key Point

Backlog chaos kills productivity.

Between 500+ unsorted issues, changing priorities, forgotten blocked issues, and impossible promises, nobody knows what will be delivered.

Sinra structures work by releases, cycles and capabilities.

Releases group, capabilities clarify, cycles plan.

The result:

• ✅ Total visibility (we know what we’re shipping in Q2)
• ✅ Promises kept (capacity respected)
• ✅ Stable priorities (no changes every week)
• ✅ Focus (finish what we start)
• ✅ Morale restored (team knows where it’s going)

You finally have a clear plan.

Your stakeholders thank you.

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