Regardless of the approach you’re following, Agile or otherwise, refinement is a good practice to get the most out of your development. Derk-Jan de Grood provides pointers to turn this practice into a cornerstone of your team’s success, paving the way for more predictable, high-quality and impactful outcomes.
It’s Tuesday afternoon. On the 11th floor of an office in Amsterdam, a team gathers in a meeting room. After a brief check-in, they’re all eager to start their refinement session. Following a short discussion on priorities, they pick an item from the list to begin their elicitation. Opening the conversation, the lead developer says: “This item is all about… eh…” From that moment, the meeting starts to derail a little. Nobody knows exactly what was originally meant by the item and the description isn’t as clear as it appeared when it was entered into the workflow system a few weeks ago. Discussions diverge from their initial purpose – what’s truly needed and whether other items might be more urgent to address.
Is this familiar to you? It is to me. Many times, in multiple organizations, I’ve seen teams struggle with getting clear on what to work on. Refinement isn’t just a mainstream practice in Agile organizations; in non-Agile organizations, too, it’s key to have an understanding of what needs to be built and when something is good enough. Regardless of the approach you’re following, refinement is a good practice to get the most out of your development. That’s why I want to shed some more light on this practice and share a few tips on how to make the most of it.
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