Spike

Primer on the OpenAgile Process

Teams will occasionally want to allocate time for specific tasks which have no specific artifacts or benefits other than some knowledge for the team. They are however, necessary for the advancement of the knowledge of the team.

Spike
A short duration, time-boxed allocation of time for the team to research or investigate a specific idea or possibility which is then shared with the team to determine it's future value.

A spike is a term commonly used in Extreme Programming* Teams which is it's origins.

The intention of an Agile Cycle is to allow the team to agree on the amount of work which can be accomplished.

There may be occasions where a team member will need to do some specific type of research or testing of a hypothesis where there may or may not be any tangible results. The idea is more of a Research and Development concept.

As Open Agile considers Learning to be a fundamental part of the process, there needs to be an allocation of available time for the team for these processes.

It should be recognized that based on the needs of the team and the company, there may be two different types of Spikes needed.


 * The Spike is necessary for the currently planned cycle


 * The Spike will be optional to complete in the current(upcoming) cycle

Some important factors to consider when the team decides they need to allow a Spike into the Cycle Plan include:


 * Should not be assigned to an individual and should be selected in the same fashion any other task is selected during the cycle.
 * Should be time-boxed. If your team is using Story Points, assign a relative value of Story Points based on the teams' usual velocity.
 * The time used for the Spike should not necessarily be counted into your regular Team Velocity as the results may or may not have value to the project other than knowledge. Discuss this in your team.
 * The results of all information obtained should be shared with the team to determine it's value and future direction. The person who volunteered for the Spike during the cycle should not make the sole determination of it's value.