It’s dusty, possibly quite ugly and full of unopened boxes, but the site should be rolling along smoothly in a few weeks.

This post will briefly describe the categories, which correspond to those in use at the Agile Agreements site, and explain why they appear to make sense. Commentary is very, very welcome and if you can help build a better mousetrap, please let me know!

Further, community is exceedingly important, so suggestions on how to do this better as a whole are also welcome. No guarantee it’ll get done, but there is NO harm in asking!

The paradigm that I believe works for agile contracts was strongly suggested by Thorup & Jensen as one that focuses on values and trust, rather than rights and obligations. I would add, in addition to my 5 takeaways, that the objective of an Agile contract is that it is neither put in the cabinet never to be seen again nor a manifesto used to beat down the other party in the case of conflict.

Rather, it is a living, breathing working document that retains flexibility while at the same time fixing the commitments and values each party brings to the bargaining table.

Nothing here or published at Agile Agreements.com is to be taken s legal advice, and please recognize that parties to a contract are always expected to do appropriate due diligence and bargain in their own self-interest.

Categories in no particular order:

Sempai

Who can you turn to for big brotherly or sisterly advice? This category is for people who are good resources for informal Q & A coaching. We all need just one more Japanese term, and this one means “one who has gone before you on the path.”

Values

“This contract needs to be agile because it makes me feel good.” But why?

Risk

When does risk pass? These are key questions lawyers ask when drafting contracts. iterative contracts may make it easier to talk about that,–lets work on it!

Resources

Cash, bodies, time all of these are brought to the table. It’s not just about price.

Scope

How big is it? How does scope,–and scope change work in the agile environment? Do you need a kanban or kaizen kicker?

Vision

What is the shared vision that causes the parties to negotiate an agreement? How can that vision be protected in the event of disagreement?

Objectives

What do you hope to achieve? It’s rarely just “we want to get paid for work done.” Dig a little deeper!

Parties & Roles

Who is involved and what is the knock-on effect of this agreement?

Methods

Agile, lean, kanban, scrum…which agreements around methodology makes sense?

Experts

Celebrating all who can make contracts more agile. No ads, information.

Strategy

Fixed price, fixed scope, time-limited, requirements, test…