Emergent Request

Emergent Request

Emergent Requests are issues that get created when a volunteer identifies a problem that does not fall within the scope of any existing tickets. It is a request for product management or leads to open one or more tickets that addresses the issue, and for it to get prioritized on to the project board.

Suggested Workflow

1. Member submits an Emergent Request

The process begins with a member identifying a potential problem, during or independently from their work on an active issue. Leads should be attentive about scope creep -- Emergent Requests are a useful way of documenting and processing problems that extends beyond the scope of the original ticket. When filling out the ER template, the volunteer may consider adding Recommended Action Items and Potential Solutions. These sections will likely get utilized by the PMs or Leads who will review the ER. Detailed answers will be very useful in progressing the ER. The ER should have the Discussion and Question labels, indicating that other members can contribute to the discussion with comments. The ticket can move to Questions once it is completely filled out.

2. PM or Lead Reviews the ER

Move the ticket to In Progress to denote the ER process is underway. The PM or Lead should be considering feasibility of the ER. If it is clear that there is no feasibility, explain this in a comment and the ticket can be closed as Won't Do. Consider writing a Decision Record If input is required from another PM or Lead, the ticket can be moved back to the Questions column, and the ready for ... label should be added. Repeat this until the ticket is closed as Won't Do or it can be progressed to the next step.
The ER progresses to the next step when PMs and Leads are able to produce action items that address the ER. Leave these action items in a comment and ensure the proper leadership has visibility of this comment. The ER can be moved to In Review if approval is needed.

3. ER Reviewed, Issues Created and Prioritized

The ER's reviewer should create issues based on the action items left on the ER. If applicable, an Epic can be used to track the relevant issues. The tickets can now be given the label ready for prioritization, and continues along the normal workflow. One of these tickets can be to write a Decision Record for the features or workflows added.

ER Resources

Ticket Template

• Issue: Emergent Request

All Emergent Requests

• ER: Codebase Formatting Standards #1872