Work Decomposition

Why Work Decomposition Matters

Large stories and epics hide complexity, dependencies, and risk. When we break work into smaller increments, we:

• Reduce assumptions - Defining testable acceptance criteria exposes questions early
• Limit hope creep - We know within a day if we bit off too much
• Enable pivoting - Less sunk cost means easier course correction when requirements change
• Improve predictability - Consistent delivery of small items builds trust with stakeholders
• Reset expectations - What we thought was “small” is often massive once we see what small really is
• Increase quality - Smaller changes are easier to review, test, and validate
• Reduce risk - Less code in flight means less to go wrong

The Cost of Large Batches

Working in large batches creates significant problems:

• Long cycle times - Weeks or months instead of days
• Late discovery - Problems found after significant investment
• Estimation difficulty - Can’t accurately predict completion
• Wasted effort - When priorities change, large batches must be abandoned
• Context switching - Waiting on others while work is incomplete
• Integration conflicts - More changes mean more merge conflicts
• Delayed feedback - Can’t validate assumptions until work is complete

Target: Stories Delivered in < 2 Days

All completed work should go from “In Progress” to “In Production” in less than two days. This forces:

• Clear, testable acceptance criteria
• Reduced scope per story
• Better decomposition techniques
• Faster feedback loops from production

Work Decomposition Practices

The following playbooks help teams deliver smaller batches:

Getting Started

Start here if you’re new to work decomposition:

1. Definition of Ready - Establish when work is ready to start
2. Behavior-Driven Development - Create testable acceptance criteria
3. Story Slicing - Break large stories into smaller deliveries

Advanced Techniques

Once you’ve mastered the basics:

4. Task Decomposition - Break stories into smallest deployable changes
5. Contract-Driven Development - Enable parallel development with API contracts
6. Spikes - Handle uncertainty through time-boxed research

Planning & Alignment

For product and program-level work:

7. Defining Product Goals - Align team efforts to measurable objectives
8. From Roadmap to User Story - Break down multi-team initiatives
9. Work Breakdown - Overall decomposition strategy

Common Problems with Work Breakdown

Teams often struggle with:

• Stories without testable acceptance criteria - Can’t verify when done
• Stories too large - 5-10 days of work or more
• No Definition of Ready - Work starts before it’s truly ready
• Work refined too far in advance - Requirements age like milk, not wine
• Dependencies on other teams - Creates waiting and coordination overhead
• Horizontal slicing - Database story, API story, UI story (all must deploy together)
• Technical stories - “Update framework version” with no user value

See CD Roadblocks: Work Breakdown for detailed solutions.

Best Practices

Do:

• Break stories vertically (fully functional slice across all layers)
• Include acceptance criteria before starting work
• Deliver stories independently without coordinating with other stories
• Use concrete examples to clarify requirements
• Get feedback early and often

Don’t:

• Create separate frontend/backend/database stories
• Start work before acceptance criteria are clear
• Batch stories for “efficiency”
• Use story points on defects or spikes
• Adjust points after work is complete

Related Topics

• Development Cycle Time - Measure time from start to production
• Branching Strategy - Integrate small changes frequently to trunk
• Limiting WIP - Finish work before starting new items
• Definition of Done - Ensure work meets quality standards

Success Metrics

Track these to measure improvement:

• Average story size (should trend toward 1-2 days)
• Stories completed per week (throughput)
• Percentage of stories meeting Definition of Ready
• Number of stories requiring rework after starting
• Development cycle time (start to production)

Further Reading

• Story Splitting Flowchart - Visual guide to slicing techniques
• Example Mapping - Collaborative technique for exploring requirements
• INVEST Criteria - Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable
• Elephant Carpaccio - Exercise for practicing vertical slicing