Vestigial Activities

In biology Vestigial Organs are rudimentary anatomical structures that are retained in a species despite having lost their primary ancestral function. In agile we uncover ‘Vestigial Activities’ - tasks or steps that teams continue to perform without a clear understanding of their original purpose or relevance. This blog post explores the concept of vestigial activities in agile teams, their potential negative impact, and suggests strategies for identifying and addressing them.

Often steps are added to a process in response to a specific event or need. They also arise organically as part of the team’s retrospective process. In the short term these steps may add value and after a while they become ‘part of the furniture’; something the team has always done. Over time, as people come and go, the reasons for the step being added are forgotten as well as the specific problem being solved. If the activity is still quietly adding value this is well and good - but in many cases it could be actively impeding the team.

A pernicious form of this situation arises when attempts are made to ‘standardise’ processes across teams in large organisations. Although this is typically done with good intentions, it can inadvertently introduce a set of vestigial activities into the process. The original intent behind these activities becomes obscured, and teams may be hesitant to question or challenge the dogma of the “official” process.

So what’s to be done?

Process Ownership

Teams must own their process. I’m all for having organisational standards, principles and guidelines but at the end of the day the experiences and needs of a team are unique. Mandating a one-size-fits-all approach negates this reality.

This does not mean that teams can’t share ideas or good practices. Or even that you can’t have a default template to get new teams started. What you should be wary of is thinking that a single set of steps will work equally well for all teams in all situations.

Continuous Inspection and Improvement

Owning their process means more than just being able to add and remove steps as they seem fit. It means actively interrogating each step, identifying bottlenecks and striving to improve the overall process.

When steps are added or removed from a team’s process there should be a specific hypotheses associated with it and a time-box set. For example, a team may hypothesize that moving step X before step Y will increase velocity and reduce rework. They can then commit to running this experiment for a defined period, such as two sprints, before conducting a thorough review.

If the new step adds the expected value then it can be retained. If not adjust the approach and try again. Once the process has been optimised however it is critical that the team periodically revisit the process. Does each step make sense? Do we all know why this step exists? Are there clear entry and exit conditions from each step? It can also be useful to look at the process from a quantitative perspective - how long does a work item spend in each step? Do we limit the number of items in each step?

Conclusion

Vestigial activities can hinder the effectiveness and efficiency of agile teams. By recognizing their presence, taking ownership of the process, and actively interrogating each step, teams can identify and address these activities. Experimentation and time-boxing can help teams evaluate changes and continuously improve their processes. Agile methodologies thrive on adaptability, and by shedding vestigial activities, teams can optimize their workflows and deliver better results.