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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
Nils Hyoma
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

 

Ian Mitchell
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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