Your User Stories Are Too Big: Yes, They Are!
When a user story is too big, it is harder to understand, estimate, and implement successfully. Some teams break the “business story” into “technical stories” but this generally doesn’t help because most or all of the technical stories need to be completed before there is anything meaningful for the stakeholders. There is a better way. Chris Sims teaches four simple yet powerful techniques for breaking big stories into smaller stories that are meaningful to stakeholders and deliver incremental business value. For each of the four techniques, Chris models the technique and then gives delegates time to work in small groups to write and split stories. Chris concludes with a debriefing in which he answers questions and explores when each technique is most appropriate. In his years of agile coaching, Chris has never found a real-world story that could not be split using at least one of these techniques.
The founder of Agile Learning Labs, Chris Sims is a Certified Scrum Trainer, agile coach, and recovering C++ developer who helps organizations improve their productivity and happiness. Chris coauthored two best-selling scrum books—The Elements of Scrum and Scrum: A Breathtakingly Brief and Agile Introduction—and has published more than fifty articles on agile topics. More of his writing can be found on the Agile Learning Labs blog. Before starting Agile Learning Labs, Chris made a living in roles such as ScrumMaster, product owner, engineering manager, project manager, software engineer, musician, and auto mechanic. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisSims.