Value based extreme programming

Agile methods, such as Scrum and extreme programming, are not known for carefully tracking to time and cost estimates. On most projects, schedule slips are common and cost increases are predictable. At the end of every iteration, some of our stories get dropped, usually due to reasons such as "the story took longer than what we expected", or "we didn\´t find out scope X about the story until we were in the middle of the iteration". Every slip and increase reduces total business value delivered and project overruns force other high-value projects to be delayed or canceled. Together these costs cause a large negative value impact that could be avoided. Agile needs a better way to measure total value delivered in relation to cost. Agile methods must encourage accountability for on-time delivery and scope, based on value and cost. What is missing in most agile implementations is a value-based feedback mechanism involving shared responsibility between the customer and the team. This experience report describes how one company addressed these challenges and the lessons learned: it explains how we achieved on-time delivery, assisted customers in selecting high value features, provided shared responsibility, and facilitated individual team member empowerment. All the practices used are presented in pattern format