Since it has been asked for in english by Yves Hanoulle, this short post will be in english ;-)
I started this summer a very simple experiment.
I think that this should sound familliar to anybody practicing agile.
I had for year 2011 a kind of “Getting Things Done” list (as a matter of fact, it is a xmind map, much easier to group, split, … than an excel file).
Now I have also iterations, of 2 weeks. When I start an iteration, I select entries in my GTD list and I split them in concrete short term tasks (that I will be able to do in 2 weeks delay, knowing the fact that I am only working part time on my personal GTD), my sprint list.
Items in my sprint list are more concrete, more simple, don’t need long term thinking.
During my sprint, I take a greate pleasure checking items in the list to mark the fact that they are done. Or de-scoping them to further iterations.
If I find new ideas, I add them to the global GTD list, and I try not to change the scope of the sprint.
What is fun is to feel the power of having 2 level a granularity (PBL Items/Tasks) also for “personal” tasks.
Moreover, the use of a mind map is not innocent : it also helps to collapse items in order to hide their details and get a more synthetic view. Sounds like epics, no ?
It’s like a training where the trainer would ask you :
- Imagine you make a list of things to do this year.
- Detail them.
- Arrange them.
- Then select some of them for the next two weeks.
- Split them into concret tasks.
- Manage them
- Look at what you have done at the end of the sprint.
- Retrospect.
- Start the next sprint.
Except I do it for real.
And it works !
