When applying an Agile mindset, you should consider the value of each task that you are asking the Agile team to complete. Agile often brings value concepts into play and determining the value of tasks is one way to achieve this. Is the task you are asking the team to do considered value-added or non value-added. Sometimes folks have a hard time wanting to separate tasks into value and non-value because it highlights the non-valued tasks folks are doing. However, if you really want to know, then you must do this (typically at the Product team level).
Keep in mind that in Agile, value-added tasks refer to only those tasks that are directly related to building the product and that your customer values. This would primarily include user stories and the attributes of this work related to the “done” criteria (e.g., incrementally designed, developed, built, tested, etc.) in order to complete the user story. On the other hand, non value-added tasks are those tasks that do not contribute directly to building the product. This may include administrative related tasks, training, all-hands and other status meetings, writing status reports, spending time on correcting defects, tasks related to correcting technical debt (like refactoring), and other tasks not directly related to building the product.
A good practice in Agile (e.g., value capture metric) is to capture all related work a team does in a sprint (as backlog items) to understand what are really value-added tasks vs the other tasks that we do. For each story or backlog item, assign it an attribute of either “value-added” or “non-value-added”. You can track this on a sprint basis (or release basis) or trend it over time (from sprint to sprint). Below are some examples:
Chart 1: Value of work per Sprint (can be rolled up to the release level)
Chart 2: Value of work per Sprint (at the detailed level)
Chart 3: Value of work from Sprint to Sprint (Trend line)
The big advantage of this type of metric is that it helps you 1) be aware of the value and non value related work that your team is doing and then 2) it allows you to make adjustments if you want to get to a more value-added stream of work. While this may force you to make some tough decisions (what is value-added and what is not), it will be worth it in the long run to get your team more productive and focused on the value-added work for your customers. This can help you on your Agile journey!
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