Once Themes and Initiatives have been created and vetted, we need to start breaking the initiatives down into initial Epics. It is important that the Epics are high value and meaningful to your customer base. In the A2F Framework, Business Stakeholders can directly enter initial Epics, and so can Leadership and Product Management. The intake of initial Epics should be centralized and use-friendly to your stakeholders. For example, Service Desk is a great add on to JIRA to solicit Epics via an intake form.

The A2F Framework recommends a Kanban system to prioritize and analyze initial Epics and other requests that are submitted by stakeholders. Below is an example of a Kanban system for analyzing Initial Epics, Tasks, and Defects.

Policy Policy Policy
Prioritized

Decided if Request/Defect needs to be expedited.
Request/Defect analyzed by Product/Leads/Ops and moved to the Backlog of the Team that will work on it.

Or

Request goes through Progressive Elaboration.
Determine Assignee.
Request/Defect resolved without going to the Implementation Team.

Or

Request is closed because the corresponding Epic goes into the Epic Backlog.
BACKLOG IN PROGRESS (5) CLOSED
     
     
     

Classes of Service:

  • Expedited
  • Defects
  • Requests (Initial Epics or Tasks)

Reporting:

  • # Tickets per Class of Service.
  • # Tickets Closed Per Month.
  • # Tickets Pushed To Team Backlogs Per Month.
  • # of Tickets Expedited.
  • # of Tickets Re-Opened.

Intake Form [Initial Epics]

  • Title*
  • Product/Platform [Drop Down]*
  • Description
  • Reported by*
  • Assignee
  • Attachment
  • Expedited [Check Box]
  • Business Value [Drop Down–Potential Revenue]*
  • User Value
  • Requested Delivery Date*
  • Watchers
  • Comments

Intake Form [Task Request]

  • Title*
  • Description
  • Reported by*
  • Assignee*
  • Select Your Station [Drop Down]*
  • Attachment
  • Re-Open [Check Box]
  • Expedited [Check Box]
  • Requested Delivery Date*
  • Watchers
  • Comments

Intake Form [Defect]

  • Title*
  • Product/Platform [Drop Down]*
  • Description
  • Reported By*
  • Assignee*
  • Attachment
  • Re-Open [Check Box]
  • Expedited (Valid Breaking News) [Check Box]
  • Steps to Reproduce*
  • Severity
  • Priority
  • Environment [Drop Down]*
  • Browser type and version*
  • Operating System
  • Not a Defect (checkbox)
  • Watchers
  • Comments

* Are Mandatory Fields.

Meetings

  • Blockers - Frequency is set by the Team.
  • Operations Review – Monthly for 90 minutes with all Teams.