Q of the Week: What’s the most important item in a Working Agreement?

That is a difficult question to answer as different items may be more important depending on the team. One of the primary items that should be included in a working agreement is that only authorized work should be worked on by the developers. Authorized work can be defined as prioritized items contained in the Product Backlog. Another important entry to include in the agreement is that only the Product Backlog items that are “ready” for development are considered for the sprint. This includes ensuring that the items contain an acceptance criteria which increases efficiency. This will ensure that developers understand the context of the user story and complete it without the risk of needing a rework. Work can proceed with confidence once some of these items are in place in a working agreement and followed.