Work entry, in its simplest form, is the steps needed for work to be triaged to ensure that it is the right work, that it is ready to be worked on, and the priority of the work. A simple work entry process for a Scrum team includes the following steps:
- People write stories, ideas, or requirements of varying quality,
- Those items are evaluated and cleaned up,
- Updated, well-formed stories are added to the backlog (become product backlog items – PBI),
- Once on the backlog, PBIs are prioritized (and re-prioritized), and
- In time, PBIs are pulled into a sprint.
A team’s work entry process is only one step in a value flow. Work entry gets a piece of work to the front door, after which planning, building, and delivering the PBI has to occur. However if too much work is forced into the team, or the wrong work is available, or if the team is constantly interrupted by higher priorities, delivery will suffer. This is not the step to mess up.
There are numerous common patterns of behavior for bringing work into a team. One is the gold standard and the rest are a series of compromises. The patterns are:
- Prioritized, Single Point of Entry
- Prioritized Pull with Prioritized Incident Push
- Front Door Pull, Back Door Push
- Prioritized and Unprioritized Push with Incident Flow
- Free For All
We begin with the two bookends’ the single point of entry and the free for all scenarios.
Prioritized Single Point of Entry 
In the single point of entry scenario, a team’s work funnels through a single person (usually with support and advice) that prioritizes the work based on a set of criteria. In agile, this is the process a product owner follows to work a backlog. The team pulls the work from the backlog as capacity is available to start and complete work with minimal delays. This is the gold standard for work entry at the team level.
This work entry process is useful for avoiding five of the 8 causes of work entry problems:
✓ Difference in goals
✓ Need outstrips supply
Pay practices
Project v Product Perspective
✓ Urgency/importance dichotomy
Class of services
✓ Control
✓ Yes’itus
Delivery Pattern: Priority Order (close to first in, first out)
Ability to Deliver: Predictable
Free For All
In the free for all scenario, each person on the team sees themselves as a free agent out to maximize the perception of their individual utility so they accept work as they see fit. Work is either pushed to the team or individuals or individuals pull work without This is the worst-case scenario for work entry. This approach solves none of the 8 causes of work entry problems and is always a reflection of deeper issues in the organization.
Delivery Pattern: Unpredictable
Ability to Deliver: Inconsistent
Next the middle three!
