The INVEST approach to product backlog items

hi my name is Chris G and I'm an AG coach today I will talk about invest invest is in aonic that helps us remember a good starting point for the definition of ready the definition of ready is a documented team agreement it defines the conditions that must be met for a product backlog item to be considered ready to work on by the team it's not a formal contract or approv gate but rather a set of guidelines that will help your team make a good tradeoff between minimizing risks and getting started creating and following the definition ready diligently can easily double the speed of an agile team that's because the team can stay focused on shipping working software not chasing down requirements for a real world example think of the Mis and plus or everything in its place concept used by chefs and cooking shows before they begin preparing the recipe they carefully organize and measure the various ingredients so they're immediately at hand while cooking a little careful preparation goes a long way so what's invest well I like to add a u in front for you invest but you don't have to U stands for user experience which includes everything from research wireframes mocks written content and even visual design now mature srim teams with dedicated designers can research design Code test and ship within a single twoe Sprint if you can't consider making user experience a prerequisite for development work beginning I means independent the backlog item should be self-contained in a way that there is no ins Sprint dependency on another backlog item N means negotiable until the Sprint formally starts the development team and product owner can negotiate on the nature and scope of the item once the Sprint starts the product owner should not materially change the acceptance criteria V means valuable a backlog item must deliver value to the stakeholders if you can't clearly artic calate the value for the work you shouldn't do it e means estimable the team must be able to estimate the size of the backlog item ideally using story points otherwise you won't be able to effectively manage your flow of work s means small ideally the backlog item should not take the team more than half a Sprint to complete t means testable the back lock item should include enough information to make test development possible for instance the coffee should be between 120 and 130° f is a clearer acceptance criteria than the coffee should be hot well now you know what invest is go create a definition of ready with your team