Status Updates

What is a Status Update?

Status updates allow developers to share progress or partial solutions for GitHub issues that are still under development. While most issues are resolved through changes to the project's code base, status updates provide context necessary to understand how and why the team decided on those changes.

What Should a Status Update Include?

A status update should include:

• The developer's activity for the day, such as the following:
  • Research in the form of documentation, support tickets, related examples, etc.
  • Code snippets or pseudo-code to help communicate the direction of development
  • Acceptance criteria that have been satisfied to date
• Blockers that may be preventing progress with team members tagged for notification
• Next steps (required)

When to Post a Status Update

A status update is appropriate when:

• The developer is ending their work day but does not yet have a pull request ready to open.
• The developer made a key discovery that would immediately benefit the team.
• The initial story point estimate is increased due to complexity of the issue.

When NOT to Post a Status Update

A status update is not necessary when:

• The developer has already opened a pull request for the issue. In this case, the PR should effectively communicate the status.
• The developer just started the issue and has no significant updates to share.

Handling Blockers

When a blocker is documented:

• The developer writing the status update tags the team member responsible for removing the blocker.
• The issue is moved to the Blocked pipeline.
• Once the blocker is cleared, the issue is moved back to the Sprint Backlog.

Status Update Template

## Status Update

Today I...{summary of research/planning/development for the day}

### Blockers (optional)

- @kevinwhoffman - I need clarification on...
- 
- 

### Next Steps (required)

1.
2.
3.