Agile – User Story – Sprint Planning – 3 C’s
User Story – The three C’s Card, Collaboration, Confirmation. During a Sprint Planning meeting, the “3 C’s” are a helpful mnemonic used to ensure that each Product Backlog Item (PBI) selected for the Sprint is well-understood and ready for the Development Team to work on.
They stand for:
- Card:
- What it represents: The “Card” refers to the physical or digital representation of the Product Backlog Item. This is typically a user story, but it could also be a bug fix, technical task, or any other type of work.
- Importance in Sprint Planning:
- Visibility: The card makes the PBI visible to the entire Scrum Team. It provides a shared point of reference for discussion during the planning meeting.
- Conciseness: The card should contain a concise summary of the work to be done. This helps everyone quickly grasp the essence of the item.
- Starting Point: The card serves as the initial point of discussion. It prompts the team to delve deeper into the details and ensure a common understanding.
- Example: A physical index card with the user story written on it, or a row in a digital backlog management tool.
- Conversation:
- What it represents: The “Conversation” is the crucial discussion that takes place between the Product Owner, the Development Team, and sometimes stakeholders during Sprint Planning. This is where the details of the PBI are explored and clarified.
- Importance in Sprint Planning:
- Shared Understanding: The conversation aims to build a shared understanding of what needs to be built, why it’s important, and how it might be implemented.
- Clarification of Requirements: The Development Team can ask questions to clarify any ambiguities in the PBI description and acceptance criteria.
- Exploring Options: The conversation can involve discussing different approaches to implementing the PBI and identifying potential challenges or dependencies.
- Building Team Ownership: Active participation in the conversation helps the Development Team feel ownership of the work they are committing to.
- Outcome: The conversation should result in a clearer understanding of the PBI, potentially leading to refined acceptance criteria or additional notes on the card.
- Confirmation:
- What it represents: “Confirmation” refers to the agreed-upon acceptance criteria for the Product Backlog Item. These criteria define what “Done” means for that specific PBI and serve as the basis for verifying its successful implementation.
- Importance in Sprint Planning:
- Clear Definition of Done: Confirmation ensures that everyone has a clear and measurable understanding of what constitutes a completed PBI. This reduces ambiguity and prevents misunderstandings later in the Sprint.
- Testability: Well-defined acceptance criteria make it easier to test whether the PBI has been implemented correctly.
- Verification: At the end of the Sprint, the acceptance criteria are used to confirm whether the PBI meets the required standards.
- Example: Acceptance criteria might be phrased as “Given [a certain condition], when [an action is taken], then [a specific outcome should occur].”
In the context of Sprint Planning
The 3 C’s emphasise that simply having a description of a backlog item is not enough. The team needs to have a conversation to build a shared understanding, and they need clear confirmation (acceptance criteria) to know when the work is complete. By addressing these three aspects for each PBI being considered for the Sprint Backlog, the Scrum Team can:
Make more informed decisions about what they can realistically achieve in the Sprint.
Reduce the risk of misunderstandings and rework.
Increase the likelihood of delivering valuable and high-quality increments.
Therefore, the 3 C’s are a valuable tool during Sprint Planning to ensure that the selected PBIs are well-defined and that the Development Team has the necessary information to start their work effectively.