Late Enabler Discussions Are Blocking Your Agile Flow—Here’s How to Fix It

"Our enabler discussions always come too late. By the time we figure out what’s needed, we’re mid-quarter and firefighting instead of delivering value."

Sound familiar? Enablers—those technical, architectural, or systemic tasks essential for business functionality—are the unsung heroes of your value stream. When they’re ignored or discovered too late, delivery slows, teams get frustrated, and business goals are delayed.

But the issue isn’t just about enablers being late—it’s also about a lack of clear, actionable business requirements, mismanaged dependencies, and an absence of alignment between scope and delivery timelines.

Let’s break down the problem and, more importantly, how to solve it.

Why Late Enabler Discussions Cause Chaos

Enablers are foundational to delivering business outcomes, but they’re often treated as afterthoughts. The consequences are predictable and painful:

• Missed Business Outcomes: Business features often depend on enablers, like APIs, infrastructure updates, or data pipelines. If enablers are delayed, features are delayed.
• Disrupted Sprints: Dependencies across teams surface too late, leading to unplanned interruptions mid-sprint.
• Reactive Delivery: Teams are forced to reprioritize and patch solutions on the fly, causing chaos.
• Frustration Across Stakeholders: Business stakeholders are frustrated by delays, while technical teams feel overwhelmed by unrealistic timelines.

The Real Problem: A Misaligned Value Stream

1. Enablers Aren’t Visible: Without early identification and prioritization, enablers remain hidden until they become critical.
2. Dependencies Aren’t Managed: Cross-team or external dependencies aren’t surfaced or planned for, creating bottlenecks.
3. Scope vs. Delivery Discussions Are Avoided: Business teams often push for maximum scope without clear requirements or consideration of delivery timelines.
4. Risks Are Ignored Until It’s Too Late: Proactive risk management, such as using the ROAM framework, is neglected.

"Late enabler discussions don’t just delay delivery—they derail the entire value stream."

The Solution: Redesigning Your Value Stream for Early Alignment

To fix these issues, you need a structured approach to align business and technical teams early in the process.

1. Enablers Belong in the Value Stream

• Make Enablers Visible: Treat enablers as essential work tied to business functionality. Record them in the value stream alongside business features.
• Align Business and Technical Priorities: For every feature, clarify what enabler work is required to make it happen.
• Quantify Enabler Value: Help stakeholders understand the value of enablers in unlocking or enhancing business functionality.

"If it’s not in the value stream, it’s invisible—and invisible work doesn’t get done."

2. Business Must Take Ownership of Scope vs. Delivery

• Decide Early on Time vs. Scope: Business teams must determine what’s more critical—delivering within a specific timeline or delivering all planned features.
• Bring Clear Requirements to the Table: Ambiguity delays progress. Business teams should invest time in defining clear, actionable requirements early.
• Collaborate on Trade-Offs: Engage in discussions with technical teams about scope adjustments to align with realistic timelines.

"Agility requires tough conversations about trade-offs—scope, time, or quality. Avoiding them only increases pain later."

3. Manage Dependencies Across Teams

• Map Dependencies Early: During backlog refinement and pre-PI Planning, identify dependencies tied to enablers. These could include integrations, third-party systems, or cross-team deliverables.
• Plan Dependencies Into Sprints: Ensure that dependent work is ready before a sprint starts. Break dependencies into deliverable chunks to minimize risk.
• Establish Cross-Team Accountability: Assign clear owners for each dependency and use tools like shared Kanban boards to track progress.

"Dependency management isn’t just about coordination—it’s about aligning priorities and timelines across teams."

4. Incorporate Pre-Refinement Sessions

• What is Pre-Refinement? A preparatory phase before PI Planning where POs, architects, and technical leads collaborate to identify enablers and dependencies.
• Clarify Enablers Early: Ensure enablers are scoped and prioritized before planning starts.
• Prepare for Risks: Identify risks tied to enablers and dependencies so they can be discussed in PI Planning.

"Pre-refinement ensures you don’t just plan the what—you also plan the how."

5. Proactively Manage Risks with ROAM

What is ROAM?

• Resolve: Eliminate the risk by addressing it immediately.
• Own: Assign an owner to track and manage the risk.Accept: Acknowledge the risk and its potential impact.
• Mitigate: Develop a plan to reduce the risk’s likelihood or impact.
• Revisit Risks Regularly: Don’t stop at identifying risks during PI Planning. Continuously update your ROAM board as new risks emerge.

"ROAM turns risk management into a proactive, collaborative process rather than a last-minute scramble."

6. Fit Enablers and Dependencies Into Sprints

• Sprint-Ready Enablers: Break enablers into actionable tasks that can be delivered within a sprint.
• Allocate Capacity for Enablers: Dedicate a percentage of sprint capacity to enabler work to ensure it doesn’t fall by the wayside.
• Track Dependency Progress: Use visual tools to monitor dependency status during sprints and address blockers early.

"When enablers and dependencies are planned into sprints, teams can deliver predictably and with confidence."

The Bottom Line: Clarity and Collaboration Drive Value

"Enablers, dependencies, and clear requirements aren’t obstacles—they’re opportunities to deliver value more effectively."

When enablers are visible in the value stream, dependencies are managed proactively, and business teams collaborate on scope vs. delivery trade-offs, you unlock agility at its best:

• Faster, more predictable delivery.
• Aligned priorities across teams.
• A smoother flow of value to customers.