Requests come from everywhere: users, stakeholders, leadership. Without a plan, it’s easy to fall into reactive mode. A good backlog helps admins stay grounded. It’s your go-to place for capturing ideas, organizing requests, and moving your org forward with clarity and confidence.
In this post, we’ll discuss what a backlog actually is, how to start one, and how to keep it useful over time.
Salesforce has grown into so much more than a tool for managing sales. Today, it’s powering solutions across nonprofits, education, the arts, finance, and beyond. That means the role of the admin is evolving, too. More and more, we’ve seen Salesforce Admins from non-IT backgrounds putting their own industry know-how and operational expertise to work as their company’s go-to Salesforce problem solvers.
For me, that background was healthcare. When I hung up the white coat and made the switch from delivering patient care to building tech solutions to improve health outcomes, so much tech lingo was new and unfamiliar. One term in particular threw me off: the “backlog.” In the clinical world, “backlog” meant patients waiting too long for care, prescriptions past due to be refilled, or case files piling up on someone’s desk. It meant things were behind, or something was broken or neglected. It was a bad thing that needed to be finished, a metric that should be at zero.
So when I suggested a new feature in my first tech role and someone said, “That’s great for the backlog,” I was . . . kind of offended. I thought they were brushing me off, like it didn’t really matter.
Turns out, I had it all wrong. In product and system work, a backlog isn’t a junk drawer. It’s a list of possibilities and a way to keep good ideas from getting lost in the shuffle. A well-tended backlog gives you space to prioritize, collaborate, and build with purpose. For Salesforce Admins, that makes the backlog one of the most powerful tools you have to guide your org forward in a fair, mission-driven way.
A backlog is a running list of work your team might do in the future, from enhancement requests and process tweaks to bugs and new ideas. It’s not a to-do list. It’s more like a “might-do” list.
Think of it as a container for ideas that are worth remembering, even if you’re not ready to act on them yet.
Good backlog entries are specific and actionable. They often start with a verb and describe something someone could realistically pick up, like “automate thank-you emails for donations” or “review whether we still need the legacy Job Role field.” These give your future self (or your teammates) a clear starting point.
Entries like “reporting stinks” or “merge stuff”? Not so helpful. They’re too vague to prioritize or act on—and let’s be honest, you probably won’t remember what you meant 6 months from now.
When you’re managing a Salesforce org, it can feel like requests come in from all directions—a report here, a workflow there, a mysterious bug that only shows up on the third Tuesday of the month. Without a system to catch and sort it all, it’s easy to fall into reactive mode.
That’s where the backlog comes in. A solid backlog:
It also gives you a polite way to say, “Not now, but maybe later.” As an admin, that little phrase can be magic. It lets people know they’ve been heard and that their ideas matter. When users know there’s a process for capturing and reviewing ideas, even if they aren’t acted on right away, they’re more likely to trust the system and the people managing it.
Here’s a real example: On one project, someone suggested we start tracking unfinished fellowship applications. Great idea! But at the time, we were focused on launching the core app. We logged the suggestion in our backlog and moved on. Months later, when we started analyzing where applicants were dropping off, that idea turned into a simple change that gave us powerful new reporting insights.
Backlogs let you catch those future wins without losing focus today.
You don’t need to be a product manager or have a fancy tool. What matters most is building the habit. Even a simple backlog that you actually use will go further than the most sophisticated tool you forget about.
Here’s how to get started.
If you’re in a meeting and someone says, “Could we . . . ” or “What if . . . ”, you’re in backlog territory. Write it down with action words. Add a note about who mentioned it or what problem it solves. Don’t worry about making it perfect or writing it as a requirement on the first try. You can clean it up later.
Your backlog should be easy for your collaborators to see. That might include department leads, Salesforce champions, or project stakeholders. You don’t have to show every item to every user, but some level of transparency builds trust. It shows that ideas aren’t being ignored; they’re just waiting for the right moment.
You don’t need to spin up new software to start. Try one of these.
Make sure you’re aligned with your teammates or leadership about who contributes to the backlog and who helps prioritize. These conversations don’t need to be formal, but having some shared understanding up front prevents confusion later and further cements the backlog into a shared system of trust.
If your organization has a governance team, the responsibility for managing and prioritizing the backlog can be shared across that group. The key is consistency: Apply the same set of prioritization rules to every idea or feature so the process is fair and transparent. You might even dedicate a part of your regular meeting agenda to highlighting what’s new, what’s coming up, and what’s stalled on the backlog, so everyone stays aligned.
Schedule a recurring time, like monthly or quarterly, to review your backlog. Clean up duplicates and add missing context. Flag anything that’s ready for action. Bring in teammates who help set direction.
Not everything will make the cut, and that’s okay. When something gets dropped or deprioritized, note why. Some teams create a separate list or tab for “Archived” or “Parked” items, while others use a “Won’t do” or “Later” status. Whatever the method, the goal is the same: Track decisions as thoughtfully as ideas. Think of it like documenting the description on a custom field in Salesforce. You may not need the context now, but 6 months from now, when someone asks why that formula exists or why a field was hidden, you’ll be glad you wrote it down because you’ll have an answer that isn’t just based on memory. Backlog decisions will come up again, and future-you will thank past-you for leaving the breadcrumbs.
The backlog is also a record of how far you’ve come as an admin! Revisiting it regularly gives you a way to showcase the tough choices you’ve navigated and the impact of the work that did get prioritized. It can even double as a portfolio during annual reviews, helping you demonstrate not only the value you’ve brought as an admin but also the wins your team has achieved together.
Once you’ve got your ideas captured, how do you decide what to do next? Here are three methods that work well for admins.
Quickly sorts items into:
I’ve found MoSCoW is especially useful in early stage projects, or in those under pressure (like right before a go-live date or grant deadline) because it forces teams to get real about what’s essential and what can wait.
Gives you a score based on:
Each is given a score, typically from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). You could also customize the numbers a bit by using actual values for Reach, percentages for Confidence, and hours or weeks of work for Effort. Make sure every item is being evaluated in the same way and on the same scale. If you’re using hours of work for Effort for some backlog items but a scale for others, your backlog won’t be on an even playing field.
Then apply this simple formula: (Reach x Impact x Confidence) / Effort
It’s a great way to spot high-value, low-effort wins, especially when supporting multiple teams.
With this method, you define what matters and assign weights. For example:
This approach is super customizable and helpful for cross-team planning.
Many teams use a mix of these methods; for example, scoring with RICE to narrow the list, then applying MoSCoW labels for planning a major in-year update. Don’t worry about getting the math perfect—the point is to bring clarity and structure to the decisions you’re already making so you’re not just reacting to what’s loudest, flashiest, or most recent.
A backlog isn’t just a list. It’s a way to slow down, think clearly, and manage change transparently. Whether you’re a solo admin or part of a big team, a good backlog gives you room to pause, prioritize, and plan. It helps you hold space for work that’s valuable, even if it’s not urgent. A healthy backlog reflects the values of a healthy admin practice: clear documentation, honest prioritization, user trust, and strategic collaboration.
You don’t need a perfect system. Just a place to start, a way to keep it visible, and a habit of checking in.
If you’ve been carrying your priorities in your head or reacting in real time to every request, this is your invitation to try something different. Start your backlog. Your future self—and your users—will thank you.
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