Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Collect and analyze the issues…
SP 2.2 states:
Ta k e c o r r e c t i v e a c t i o n …
SP 2.3 states:
Manage corrective actions…
Agile teams commonly use daily standup meetings where the team lead lis-
tens during a go round of team members. The role of the team lead is to help
remove obstacles.
To f o rc e f o r m a l m i n u t e s a n d f o r m a l w r i t t e n a c t i o n i t e m s o n t h e s e b r i e f d a i l y
standup meeting would likely undo the value of these meetings. People
would be less likely to speak up because of the added burden of document-
ing the issues raised. At the same time, we do need feedback that these
meetings are achieving their intent and that issues are adequately being
addressed. This is an area where the CMMI helps us ask good questions,
ensuring the team meetings are achieving their intent. At BOND, I recom-
mended and they complied with the following:
Daily standup meetings are to focus on the real work going on, and meeting
minutes are captured in any updates to the task list. This is keeping with
Agile practices and the intent. With respect to action items, I proposed a
cri-
terion
as follows:
If an action coming out of a daily standup can be resolved before the next
daily standup, it does not need to be documented. However, the issue needs
to be raised again at the following standup to ensure it has been closed. Any
issue or action raised that cannot be closed within one day, or affects a stake-
holder outside the immediate group, should be written and captured in an
action item system.
Some companies have formal Action Item tools. Some Agile teams just place
actions on the work list like any other piece of work. How action items are
captured is up to each organization. I recommended that any action that only
affects the team to be handled through the team's task list only, and should
not require more formal documentation.
This is an area where some creativity is possible. Today with web tools such
as Wikis, many Agile organizations keep meeting minutes and task lists in a
very succinct open access form.
