“We have signed off the user stories! But the client keeps adding acceptance criteria during the sprint!” 😫
What the project manager doesn’t realise is that this is the definition of ‘Scope Creep’.
The Acceptance Criteria is what is used to estimate the requirement, especially when it tells us how we should approach the solution.
Look at the two Acceptance Criteria below:
(AC1) 𝘓𝘰𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘚𝘈, 𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯.
(AC2) 𝘓𝘰𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘚𝘈, 𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯.
I’d say those few words added into AC2 will have made a HUUUUGE difference in estimation and work required to build out the user story because it involves complex integration.
A project manager from a #SalesforcePartner was lamenting about how he didnt have a scope creep problem because the client has signed off (and locked down) all the user stories but apparently Acceptance Criteria is still open for negotiation!😨
Ok, that might be the case if it’s been agreed but you must realise that you need to re-estimate the requirement because that changes so many things.
There still seem to be a lot of confusion that ‘scope management’ means.
In the #Salesforce world where the word ‘agile’ is mis-used, mis-understood, and mis-managed especially in the partner ecosystem, just know that the Acceptance Criteria = Scope.
Master the art of writing Acceptance Criteria (and user stories and process maps). This will provide you the language and medium to align expectations on what it is you are building for the client and how it will address their needs.
For the #salesforceConsultant – delivering outstanding projects isn’t just about knowing how to build the coolest Salesforce feature.
It’s also about all the other important but boring and unsexy things too – like crafting strong user stories and acceptance criteria. 😐
Well it isn’t boring to me 😁 but I’m a unique intersecting in the Venn diagram of a #BadAssBA and a #BadAssPM! So don’t get me started on RACI matrices! 😆
#OnThePeiroll
#RequirementsGatheringIsAnArt
