The beginning of a Sprint and/or Release are exciting times, everyone wants to jump on every feature and story and get them done.
Mid-way through either though, we start to realize that we are not going to be able to deliver it all and now we are left with a bunch of half-completed work items.
It’s not a great feeling and it’s one Agile/Scrum is supposed to eliminate but still, there’s that pesky feeling we all have that “we can do it”. I know it, I get it all the time.
I was having this conversation with a project manager the other day who was looking at things from a feature level wondering how everything was going to be done and line up when I told them we had two choices.
- We cut our delivery in half and get what’s left done right and delivery that first half fully complete and able to use.
- We deliver Half of Nothing, which means, we deliver a lot of pieces of features, but nothing really usable and able to use.
Yes, there is something to be said here about planning, but also at making the hard cuts when things are going sideways in a project (as they are apt to) to always keep your eye on the ball and ensure that you’re delivering something and not Half of Nothing.
