Uncommitted Tasks sneaking into Scope during execution

Owned by Katsiaryna_Subach
Last updated: Jan 17, 2022 by Aleksandr Bogush
1 min read

Activities which have not been planned ahead are happening during Committed Tasks (Sprint or release scope) execution

Examples

  • In Outsourcing: Sometimes customers tend to make a direct unmanaged contact with the team participants and make them do something outside the scope.

  • In Product Development: Product Owner (or stakeholder) adds tasks to a running Sprint without negotiation with Delivery Manager.

Why is it dangerous?

  • Causes loss of predictability on team's commitments

  • Causes loss in productivity of the team because of unexpected context switching

  • Causes unneeded late negotiations with DM on sprint end

  • Removes responsibility for sprint commitment from Delivery Manager

Discovered by combination of metrics:

Velocity: Committed vs. Completed, when team does not meet commitments to deliver sprint backlog due to extra work being brought as not planned overhead 

Sprint Plan Change, when significant amount of scope is being removed or added during active iteration 

Lead and Cycle Time, when increases due to the fact that team switches to extra activities outside of the current work in progress 

Reaction/Resolution Target Fulfillment, when SLAs are not being met due as team switches to other tasks / requests not following priority and targets in time 

Throughput, if Throughput decreases by smaller percentage than increase in Cycle Time

Recommendations: 

  1. Enhance Sprint execution

  2. Introduce or enhance change management process

  3. Introduce or enhance communication plan