Some time ago, I started working with a SaaS startup whose engineering team was drowning. Their backlog had 1,200+ tickets, some dating back to 2022. Engineers were frustrated, features were delayed, and no one even knew where to start.
This is so common in tech.
Most teams I advise face this at some point. The backlog becomes a monster no one wants to touch not because the work isn’t important, but because it feels overwhelming. And the longer you ignore it, the worse it gets.
Here’s how we fixed it without heroics, without burnout, and without losing critical work.
What Was Really Going On
When I dug in, I found three big issues:
- No one owned the backlog. Tickets just piled up with no clear process to review or archive them.
- Everyone was afraid to delete anything. “What if we need this someday?” was a common excuse.
- Engineers were rewarded for shipping features, not reducing debt. So the backlog kept growing.
“We had tickets from 2022 that no one even remembered why they existed.”
How We Fixed It (Step by Step)
Step 1: Archive the Old Stuff
We started by archiving every ticket older than 1 year (unless it was tied to legal or compliance needs).
Result: The backlog dropped from 1,200 to 350 tickets overnight.
Key insight: Most of those old tickets were either irrelevant or already solved. No one missed them.
Step 2: The 3-Month Rule
Next, we implemented a simple rule:
- Any ticket older than 3 months without activity got flagged for review.
Here’s how it worked:
- Product managers checked if the ticket still aligned with business goals.
- Engineers assessed the technical impact.
- Stakeholders decided: Keep, archive, or prioritize.
Result: We got the backlog down to <100 high-impact tickets in 6 weeks.
Step 3: Align Incentives
We tied 20% of engineering bonuses to backlog health metrics (like reducing old tickets and improving cycle time).
Why? Because if you want people to care about something, tie it to what matters to them.
Result: Engineers started proactively cleaning up the backlog instead of avoiding it.
Step 4: Automate the Boring Stuff
We wrote a simple Python script to:
- Auto-tag tickets older than 3 months.
- Generate weekly backlog health reports (shared in Slack).
Tools used:
- GitHub API
- A Dockerized script to run locally.
Result: Saved 5 hours/week in manual triage.
“The script didn’t just save time it made the problem visible. We couldn’t ignore it anymore.” An engineering manager on the team
What Changed After 3 Months
| Metric | Before | After | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backlog size | 1,200+ tickets | <100 tickets | 92% reduction |
| Cycle time | 14 days | 5 days | 64% faster |
| Engineer morale | Low (2.5/5) | High (4.2/5) | Survey results |
| Feature delays | 40% of sprints | 5% of sprints | Fewer missed deadlines |
Bonus Wins
- Better teamwork: Engineers and product managers started collaborating on priorities.
- Clearer focus: With fewer distractions, the team could focus on strategic work.
- AI-ready: A cleaner backlog made it easier to integrate AI tools (like GitHub Copilot) later.
What We’d Do Differently Next Time
- Start earlier. We waited until the backlog was overwhelming. Next time, we’d implement the 3-month rule from day one.
- Involve leadership sooner. Initially, only engineers were involved. We should have included product and business leaders earlier.
- Use AI for more than automation. We could have used AI-powered tools (like Jira’s AI features) to predict ticket urgency.
How You Can Apply This to Your Team
1. Run a Backlog Audit
- Action: Archive tickets older than 1 year.
2. Implement the 3-Month Rule
- Action: Review inactive tickets every 3 months.
- Template:
## Ticket Review Checklist- [ ] Is this still relevant to our goals?- [ ] Does this align with our 2026 roadmap?- [ ] Can we solve this with existing tools?
3. Align Incentives
- Action: Tie a portion of bonuses or recognition to backlog health.
- Example: “Reduce cycle time by 20% this quarter.”
4. Automate Reporting
- Action: Use a local Docker setup to generate weekly backlog reports.
- Code Snippet:
# Example: Auto-tag old tickets in GitHubimport requestsfrom datetime import datetime, timedelta# GitHub API setuprepo = "your-repo"cutoff_date = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=90)def tag_old_tickets():# API call to fetch tickets older than 90 days# Add "needs-review" labelpass
FAQ: Your Questions Answered
Q: Won’t archiving tickets lose important work?
A: We only archived tickets with no activity for 1+ years. Critical work was either already done or re-prioritized. No one missed the archived tickets.
Q: How did you get buy-in from the team?
A: We ran a retrospective showing how the backlog was slowing them down. The data spoke for itself.
Q: Can this work for remote teams?
A: Yes! We used asynchronous updates (Slack + weekly reports) to keep everyone aligned.
Final Thought: Technical Debt Is a Team Sport
This isn’t just about cleaning a backlog. It’s about:
- Creating a culture where engineers feel ownership.
- Using small, persistent efforts to drive change.
- Aligning technical health with business goals.
If your team is drowning in technical debt, start small:
- Archive the old.
- Review the rest.
- Automate the boring stuff.
“The best teams don’t avoid technical debt they manage it collaboratively.” Diamantino Almeida
Next Steps for You
- Pick one backlog to audit this week.
- Run a retrospective with your team
- Automate reporting with a simple script.
Need help? Reply with your biggest backlog challenge I’ll help you draft a plan.
About the Author
Diamantino Almeida is a tech leader, coach, and writer reshaping how we think about leadership in a burnout-driven world. With over 20 years at the intersection of engineering, DevOps, and team culture, he helps humans lead consciously from the inside out. When he’s not challenging outdated norms, he’s plotting how to make work more human one verb at a time.