Draft a process for observing and resolving unplanned work within our existing ceremonies

[sgibson91]

Context

In order to understand the unplanned work that arises, we need to start having conversations about it! This issue tracks updates to our ceremonies to explicitly add checks for unplanned work and make space for those conversations to happen.

Definition of Done

• Stand-up format updated to include a check for unplanned work
• Iteration planning meeting format updated to include a check for unplanned work during reviewing of the "Done" column
• Documentation updated to reflect these additions
• Run this process for at least 1 sprint and gather feedback

[Gman0909]

I'll give my take, and defer to @haroldcampbell and the rest of the team on further refinements.

The ideal number of unplanned tasks during any given sprint is Zero. Real life however, seldom cares about what's ideal.

Therefore, whenever someone gets asked to do something that was not planned, I suggest the following process:

• Determine if the task is time critical
• If yes, determine if the time window for executing the task falls within this sprint
• If the task is time critical and needs to be delivered within this sprint, add it to the Committed or In Progress column of the P&S board, ang tag it with the "Unplanned" property.
• If the task is time critical but can wait until the next sprint, add it to the Refined or To be Refined column of the P&S board, and raise it as a priority for the next sprint at the next P&S Iteration Planning session.
• If the task is not time critical, discuss it with the Product group to run it through the standard prioritization process, and feed back to the requester as to its decided status, where appropriate.

Best practices when handling unexpected work requests:

1. It's ok to say "no" or "not now" when appropriate. When in doubt, don't commit there and then, and escalate with the appropriate product manager. "Let me get back to you" is not a failure mode, it's a perfectly legitimate way to handle a request.
2. It should be the responsibility of the person bringing in the unplanned work to make sure the work is discussed and prioritized.