Epics are decomposed into User Stories and Workflows for Sprint

In Agile methodology, large bodies of work, known as Epics, are divided into smaller tasks called User Stories. These stories are tackled during Sprints, set periods for specific work completion and review. Workflows visualize the steps to complete these stories, facilitating incremental progress and efficient work management.

These workflows embody Agile principles like collaboration, transparency, and adaptability, enabling teams to plan, execute, and review their work within a sprint effectively. While adaptations and variations of these workflows exist depending on the specific Agile framework or methodology in use, they all aim to deliver incremental value to stakeholders through iterative development.

The Agile user story lifecycle involves the entire Agile team, including the Product Owner, Scrum Master, Scrum Team, and other stakeholders. It’s a collaborative journey where work items transition from one state to another, with progress shared among team members.

Let's consider a typical workflow to illustrate the entire Agile user story and Bug lifecycle.

Here’s a general workflow explanation:

New ??

• Product Owner breaks down Epics into User stories to be delivered by Teams and Identified bugs are entered where the Product Owner pulls in items.
• The User Story begins as a concept or idea, often originating from stakeholders, customers, or product managers.
• It is typically created in a digital tool or on a physical card and added to the product backlog.

Backlog Grooming ??

• The user story or Bug is ready to be reviewed by the Team that pulls in items. Before a User Story enters a sprint, it undergoes backlog refinement, also known as grooming.
• During refinement, you review the User Story, ensure it’s well-defined, and prioritize it based on business value.
• The team may break down the User Story into smaller tasks and estimate the effort required.

Ready for Planning ??

• User story or Bug is prioritized and considered to be Ready for planning by the team during product backlog refinement where you pull in items.
• In the sprint planning meeting, the development team selects User Stories from the refined backlog to work on during the upcoming sprint.
• The team commits to completing these User Stories within the sprint’s time frame.
• The team is prioritized by you until committed during sprint planning The definition of Ready needs to be met in this phase.

Committed to a Sprint ??♂?

• User story or Bug that is committed to a sprint where Scrum Master pulls in an item.
• The user story or Bug is committed to during sprint planning user story or bug remains committed until work begins on it during the sprint

In Progress ??

• Development of the User Story or Bug is conducted when a Team member pull the User story or Bug Once a User Story is selected for a sprint, it moves into the “In Progress” state.
• Developers and testers work collaboratively to implement the User Story’s functionality.
• Continuous integration practices ensure that code changes are frequently integrated into the shared codebase.

Code Review ??

• Code Review / Peer Review is conducted Most Agile teams incorporate a code review step where team members review each other’s code for quality and adherence to coding standards.

Ready for QA Feature Testing ??

• User story or Bug is placed into the QA Member queue and awaits readiness for QA Testing.
• During the “Code Review” phase, the QA Member conducts testing to ensure the User Story meets the specified requirements and functions as expected.
• Any defects or issues are identified, reported, and resolved by the development team.

QA Feature Testing ??

• QA member executes in-sprint testing, then assigns to Product Owner to execute User story or Bug approval.
• QA member pulls User Story or Bug and performs testing Items with issues were re-assigned to team members with comments Bugs re-tested and validated post which was assigned back to Team member

Ready for Review ??????

• After development and testing are complete, the User Story is marked as “Ready for Review.”
• It is then reviewed by you or other relevant stakeholders to ensure it meets acceptance criteria.

Done ?

• User story or Bug meets your definition of Done.
• In the sprint review meeting, the team showcases the completed User Stories to stakeholders.
• Stakeholders provide feedback, and you accept the User Story if it meets the acceptance criteria.
• Once a User Story is accepted during the sprint review, it’s considered “Done” within the context of the sprint.
• However, it’s not yet deployed to the UAT environment.

Ready for UAT ??

• User story or Bug is ready for UAT if applicable where the QA member pulls it from Done A user story is completed from the Product Owner's point of view.
• The User story is waiting for UAT.

UAT Testing ??

• If applicable UAT is conducted for the user story where the QA member who facilitates UAT pulls the user story into UAT Testing.
• Relevant Stakeholders perform UAT QA members push it to Ready for Prod after UAT pass

Ready for Prod ??

• The user story or Bug is ready for deployment to production from your perspective.
• Deploying the User Story to the Live environment is a separate process, often managed by you or a DevOps team.
• Deployment may involve additional testing in a staging environment to ensure there are no unexpected issues.

Deployed in Prod ??

• User story or Bug is deployed into a production environment by the DevOps team.
• The User Story is now deployed and accessible to end-users in the Live environment.
• Users can interact with and benefit from the new functionality or feature that the Product Owner implemented.

?? Conclusion

Agile methodologies emphasize continuous collaboration, iterative development, and the delivery of incremental value to end-users. The workflow ensures that each User Story goes through rigorous testing and review before being deployed to minimize the risk of defects and improve the overall quality of the product or software. Remember, this is a generalized workflow and it can vary based on your team’s specific Agile practices and tools.

I hope you discover it to be valuable.

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Thank you for dedicating your time to reading. Keep learning and enjoying the journey! ??

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Disclaimer: This post is written by the author in his capacity and doesn’t reflect the views of any other organization and/or person.

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