Agile Gotchas

This is a holding page.  Check It's A Delivery Thing Backlog for when it will be updated.

My team at the BBC came up with a list of the things which might upset the Agile process - Agile gotchas.  When I have sometime I will add suggestions for how to deal with them.

What do I do when ... ?

New high priority items are requested mid-Timebox.

Large number of tasks in Timebox Plan are not finished by end of Timebox

Team members are late for daily meetings or not engaged

Product Owner does not show up to Timebox Review or not engaged

Product Owner responsibilities with more than one person

Product development is running in parallel with operational demands on the team

Developers do not have time to write unit tests or get code reviewed

Estimates go up a lot during the Timebox

Meeting madness strikes

Planning to use a skilled resource over more than one Agile project

No walls are available to create Informative Workspace

(Key) Stakeholder does not show up to the Timebox Review, or not engaged

Developers do not work on what was planned during Timebox planning

no space to co-locate team

Task estimates aren't burning ('just 1 point left..' lasts for days)

Designers don't come to the daily meetings ('we'll come when it's relevant')

Certain tasks in the Timebox, e.g. sort our rack space, seem non-estimatable

Agile Project Manager is late for their own daily meeting

Team is not delivering potential shippable code at end of every Timebox

Backend code and front end code developed out of synchronisation (in one Timebox backend is written, next Timebox its front end)

Team does not engage properly with testers

Product Owner not setting proper Timebox goals or no goals at all (e.g. Finish All Work, Finish Entire product)