Agile burnup charts, queue time, and dependencies

Melissa -

dependencies should be reflected in the prioritization of items in a backlog - if item B depends on item A, item B should be further down the backlog. You wouldn't assign points for the dependency as there's no effort or complexity related to the dependency, just timing. The same would apply for lags.

If the team has decided to use a Definition of Ready approach for pulling work items off the backlog, then they might have guidelines such as "Have all dependencies been satisfied?".

Kiron

If you are being truly agile, I would consider alternatives to rigorous deterministic planning methods.

When I consider agile principles such as: Working Software is the Primary Measure of Progress (also holds true for hardware), I question the need to have extremely precise metrics.

When I am striving to be efficient through reducing bureaucracy, I create metrics that support my explanation of what is behind them rather than expecting anyone who reads a chart understands everything behind it. For example, when using EVM, I always expect SPI to lag behind plan when it takes credit for work at completion rather than constantly updating percentage complete. By talking with the team and understanding the underlying situation, I can easily explain why showing slightly behind is exactly what we expect when performing to plan.

Our organization is trying out a hybrid approach, but we are slowly adopting some agile methodologies. That is what makes it hard to do a "truly agile" project here. We are also being held to pretty tight timelines and commitments. Once we commit to a date, they hold us to that, even though they also want to go "agile". That is what makes this a challenge. Any more advice on this would be appreicated!