Responding to change means accommodate changes (product backlog items) in the Agile Software not in the sprint backlog after done with sprint planning.

What if we need to accommodate some urgent tasks within the Agile software Development? What if some tasks come up which directly don’t contribute for creating a potentially shippable product? What if there is some user stories which are not estimable in story points like training, research work, analysis etc.?

Many thought leaders talk about these types of work and suggest some solutions.

1) Ken Rubin, Principal Consultant at Inn solution, LLC co-author of book "Succeeding with Objects: Decision Frameworks for Project Management” suggests to take buffer of team capacity says:

“Keep in mind, that a team’s capacity for any given Agile software development should take into account planned time off, product backlog grooming, any training or work on other projects, and so on. Don't forget to leave a reasonable buffer to address uncertainties.”

2) Create miscellaneous task swim mentioned by Mike Cohn, one of the contributors to the invention of the Agile software development methodology.

“Create miscellaneous task swim lane in task board. The Miscellaneous row is essentially the story less tasks. The Miscellaneous row holds things like “update the build server.”

I do not normally recommend that a team estimate these items in story points such that they would earn any points toward velocity by completing these tasks. Tasks in the miscellaneous row are usually tasks that enable the team to perform the other work (or to perform it better or faster).”

3) In the similar line, we Agile Coaches of Xebia India, use bucket story (Cheese block) to handle uncertainties.

Author Bio:-
The author of this artilce is sharing his experiences of agile consulting services in software services solutions.