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Feedback Wanted: Dependency Discovery Deck – A Gamified Approach to Managing Dependencies in Agile Teams

Last post 11:47 am March 15, 2025 by Ian Mitchell
1 reply
09:51 am March 15, 2025

Hi Scrum Community,

I've developed the Dependency Discovery Deck to help Agile teams uncover and address dependencies in multi-team environments. You can download it for free here: Dependency-Discovery-Deck GitHub Repository.

Why I Created This Deck? 
I noticed that some teams focused solely on developing Backlog Items but struggled to get their increments to production. Non-software tasks - like securing approvals from the workers' council or requesting test data early - were often overlooked, causing delays. To tackle this, I created this deck to help teams systematically identify and address such dependencies before they become blockers.

How I used it?

  1. Pair Up – During refinement, the Scrum Team splits into pairs, each receiving a set of cards.
  2. Filter Quickly – In a 3–5 minute timebox, pairs remove any cards representing dependencies that don’t apply to them.
  3. Cluster & Discuss – The remaining cards are clustered and discussed to uncover potential blockers or missing preparation steps.
     

My observation: In just a few minutes, teams surface dependencies that could slow them down or identify why a Product Backlog Item isn't yet ready for development.

 

The Dependency Discovery Cards


See here all Dependency Cards from a Miro Template Screenshot:


Screenshot of all Dependency Cards

Would love to hear your thoughts:

  • What do you think about solving the challenge with a card game?
  • What other types of dependencies should be included in the deck?

Looking forward to your feedback!

Here is the free template for the Miroverse as well

Thank you.

Nils

 


11:47 am March 15, 2025

I think it's helpful.

There is a danger, however, of organizations assuming that dependencies have now been dealt with because the card game was played.

I wonder what might be done to reinforce the penalty (e.g. technical debt) that would arise from ignoring the dependencies exposed. 


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