The parking lot in Agile

A shared experience growing up in America is spending time with your teenage friends doing absolutely nothing.  We called the activity “hanging out.”  We would hang out in abandoned buildings, remote locations in the wilderness, and friends' basements.  The only requirement was the absence of adults and plenty of free time.  For many American adolescents, the destination of choice was the parking lot of a local shopping center or strip mall.  Today, I want to discuss one of the more misunderstood places in Agile - the parking lot.  

The term “parking lot” is not mentioned in the Scrum guide.  It is a practice that popped up over the last twenty years to prevent discussion in the Daily Scrum from diverting attention from the sprint goal.  In my discussion on the daily scrum, I said it was up to the scrum master to facilitate the discussion and divert the more detailed conversations into the parking lot.  

As the name parking lot implies, it is a place to host temporary discussions about topics over a finite period.  When you run down to the shopping center, you plan to leave your car in the lot for a short time so you can leave quickly when you finish shopping.  The metaphor should apply to conversations.

A 'parking lot' discussion is characterized by its ad-hoc nature, limited scope, and clear purpose.  It often arises when there's a lack of knowledge or context,  with team members seeking answers to specific questions.  These questions can be addressed quickly, often by another team  member, outside the formal meeting context, making 'parking lot' discussions efficient and effective.  

The parking lot often has a limited goal, so it should focus on enough information to keep work moving forward.  For instance, “Where is the contract for the API, and is it strongly typed?” is a perfect parking lot discussion item.  “How are we going to make this web application sticky enough to gather all of the customer's personal information,” could drag on for days and should include more than just a brief discussion.  Finally, parking lot discussions should have a purpose.  Parking lot discussions should provide education, information, and meaning for team members; otherwise, they are wasteful.  

A parking lot, by its nature, is a transitory place.  You park, share information, and move on.  The parking lot is not where you should gossip, loiter, or create a general nuisance.  The business has plenty of opportunities for that kind of mischief.  So use the “parking lot” discussion to help your agile practice.  You will be glad you did.  

Until next time.