INVEST in impediments
Impediment removal is one of the main tasks of a Scrum master. Everything that hinders the team from delivering customer value faster is an impediment. Very important but also very broad and a bit vague. How to remove these impediments?
It depends
Just like with the implementation of stories there is no simple answer. But maybe just like with stories we could also benefit from some form of grooming. We could try to refine our impediments before attempting to remove them.
INVEST
With user story refinement we can use the INVEST mnemonic. Story implementation get’s easier if we try to make stories that are Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small and Testable. Would this work with impediments? Let’s try.
Independent
Often impediments are complex problems to solve. The difficult ones are those with many dependencies, especially when they are outside team dependencies.
Example: We need a new service from a team that’s overloaded and we have to get on top of their list. Many dependencies because all the stuff that is above our service on their list will have to be moved out of the way for us.
Possible approach: Make a (mock) service yourself so you can move on and see when you can align with the other team.
Try to free your impediments from dependencies by focusing on getting things moving. So you can learn and get feedback as soon as possible.
Negotiable
Even more so than with stories this point is essential. Most of the time impediments involve other people, wether it is through active involvement or through their consent. It makes things easier if we still have some space to give and take.
Example: We need this new service by next Tuesday and it needs to do all of these things and it needs to be in production and and and.
Possible approach: See what they have to offer and take it from there.
Keep things as simple as possible. Elaborate in future iterations. Do you really need everything now or are you looking for an external excuse?
Valuable
Seems obvious that solving our impediment needs to bring us some value. But are we working on the most valuable impediment?
Example: We need this other team to do this new service for us.
Possible approach: Is this really the most valuable thing this team should be doing? And if it’s not what could we do ourselves?
We try to resolve impediments as fast as possible and preferably as soon as they occur. Now is always the best time. But for the ones that need more attention and can’t be fixed instantly we should work on the one impediment that is truly constraining us.
Estimable
I am not a big fan of estimating effort. It’s hard to get right and does not add much value in my experience. I would rather estimate the benefit of solving the impediment. Doesn’t need to be something fancy. Just a relative idea on the benefit it would provide if we would fix this. Relative from one impediment to the next. Ordering them according to expected benefit when solved. Thus prioritising without absolute quantification. Making things a lot easier.
Small
Maybe the most important one. Reduce you problems and you will …. reduce your problems. Don’t try to solve everything at once. Make problems as small as possible. Also some people will try and piggyback ride your problem and get attention for their problem. Don’t let this happen. It almost always complicates things.
Example: We need this new service!
Possible approach: Do you really need this new service? What do you specifically need from this new service? What do you really need? What can you absolutely not do without?
Fix the smallest possible thing and see if the impediment is gone.
Testable
We want to know when the impediment is solved so we can move on to the next one. For this reason we would like to know what succes would look like. And just as with stories it could be an important part of our common understanding.
Example: We need this new service!
Possible approach: What would our world/product look like if we had this new service? What could we do for our customers? What would they be able to do?
Be specific. Be customer focused. Paint the picture. Then communicate this as acceptance criteria. This is what we are looking for. If it can’t do this the test will fail and the impediment is not solved. But if it can we are done and can move on to the next impediment.
Try stuff
Maybe try to use the INVEST mnemonic. Try different approaches. Whatever you do, keep on trying. I will do the same.
