The value density of the items being worked on

This section of the portal is for supporting the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant Workshop (DAVSC), currently under development. Discussions on the pages here will take place on the Disciplined Agile LinkedIn group.

 

Back to Dealing with Complexity by Creating a Bias For Simplicity 

Why look at this

In general we want to maximize the value delivered. The best way to do this is to work on delivering what will provide the greatest value. This also enables working on the smallest item. This is one of the reasons using Minimum Business Increments (MBIs) is so important. When items larger than an MBI are worked on, the less important work delays the delivery of the more important work.

Symptoms that your work items are not totally highest value

  • Not all of the requirements being worked on are needed for value to be delivered
  • No conversations about what can be delivered earlier have taken place.

What causes this

Common causes are:

What we want to achieve

Using the appropriate blend of MVPs and MBIs. MVPs when new products are being investigated, MBIs when existing ones are being extended.

Common solutions

  • use MBIs to have smaller batches coming in

Other simplicity factors that are directly related to this one

  1. The value density of the items being worked on
  2. Batch size of work
  3. How workload relates to capacity
  4. The value creation structure of the organization
  5. Effectiveness/efficiency of the value streams
  6. Visibility of work and workflow 
  7. Quality of the product
  8. Culture of the organization

This chapter was an excerpt from FLEX for the Disciplined Agilist: FLow for Enterprise Transformation (online book). It has been edited to fit into the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant workshop. The Table of Contents for the book is here.