Track where time actually goes. Most teams discover something like:
• 40% planned work
• 35% unplanned work
• 15% interruptions
• 10% meetings
Once visible, you can fix the system.#Software #Dev #Agile #Smells
@dectentoo how do you fix the system? I mean, you won‘t achieve 100% planned work. You can‘t avoid interruptions completely and you can‘t get grid of all meetings, can you?
@afuerstenau I know what I meant in my head :-) “Fix the system” in an agile context isn’t about pushing individuals to work harder, it’s about improving the environment and flow of work, so teams can move to deliver value more predictably and sustainably.
@dectentoo What' s a realistic goal to strive for regarding planned work? 50%, 70%, 80%? If I "plan" to fix the upcoming bugs and reserve 10% of my capacity for it, is this planned work or unplanned work? 😉

@afuerstenau Scrum Master answer #1 "It Depends" 😜

It depends on the level of work and types of work, so @gdinwiddie picure is a good one.

If planned work is only 40%, your system is overloading the team

Fixes include:

More realistic forecasting
Explicit capacity allocation (e.g., reserving space for unplanned work)
Better stakeholder expectation management

And if you have time to take on other things, nice one, and readjust the forecast for the next time.

@dectentoo @afuerstenau
The nice thing is that making the situation visible tends to correct the unrealistic expectations. In my experience, those with unrealistic expectations tend to be the ones causing a lot of unplanned work and overhead tasks.
@afuerstenau @dectentoo Planned work only taking 40% of the effort might be completely reasonable. Perhaps there is a lot of high priority on-demand work.