Two teams on a building-permit product keep blocking each other because intake, plan-review, and payment slices are ordered independently. How should the Product Owner use ordering to reduce that thrash?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
If the backlog is a pile of isolated parts, teams stand in each other's way like trucks at a one-lane bridge. Order work as thin permit journeys—intake through payment—so less waiting shows up. The Product Owner's sequence is a dependency tool, not just a wish list.
Full Explanation
At scale, Product Backlog order is one of the Product Owner's strongest levers for reducing cross-team dependencies. Ordering thin vertical slices that can be finished together beats component-by-component specialization that forces waits. Adding a project manager or equalizing item counts does not change the coupling created by a poor order. The Product Owner should sequence permit work to reduce thrash, then inspect whether waiting actually fell.