Fast-lane TODOs/ Kanban — Scrum hybrid
This post is part of 101 ideas for agile teams.
Context
There are frequently ad hoc requests for the team that make a forecast for the Sprint impossible.
Action
Reserve a percentage of the team capacity (for example 10%) for working on ad-hoc tasks or user stories. The product owner may use this time for unplanned items that have to be finished as soon as possible without having to cancel the Sprint. After finishing a task, every team member is obligated to first take an item from the fast-lane before he or she continues working on the regular Sprint backlog items (until the reserved time is used up). If the reserved time is not enough to finish the ad-hoc items then the PO can either cancel the Sprint or postpone the ad-hoc tasks to the next Sprint. A Kanban board is a good way to visualize this kind of work because Kanban is optimized to reduce cycle time.
What you gain
You can keep the benefits from Sprint planning and release planning.
The team can still commit to a Sprint goal.
How to strengthen
You should invest your effort into reducing ad-hoc tasks.
Risks
Inefficient work on fast-lane stories because they are not planned in the context of the other stories, and not discussed in the team.
Product Owner misuses fast-lane to quickly get some features done.
Please help me improve this idea by providing feedback.
More ideas at 101 ideas for agile teams
Many thanks to bbv Software Services for making this blog post possible.
