When Do You Start Work?

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In this episode of Definitely Maybe Agile, Peter Maddison and David Sharrock explore the critical question: "How do we know when work is ready to start developing?" They discuss the challenges of translating business requirements into technical implementation, the importance of having the right people in collaborative discussions, and practical approaches to defining "ready" work. Peter shares recent experiences with organizations struggling with this exact problem, while Dave highlights how trust between business and technology teams impacts the handoff process. They explore visual collaboration techniques, the concept of "full kit," and practical ways to determine if work is truly ready to begin.

This week´s takeaways:

1. Revisit and reinforce your work definition process regularly, as changing roles and organizational shifts can erode even the most robust systems over time.
2. Use the "full kit" concept as part of your definition of ready, and be willing to say no to work that doesn't meet these criteria.
3. Work is ready to start when it's the team's top priority, has a clearly defined problem to solve, and the team can confidently estimate it within their typical delivery range.