Requirements Maturation Flow 3: Achieving Readiness through Explicit Readiness Criteria
Part of the Requirements Maturation Flow Series
Ambiguous or incomplete requirements are a leading cause of delays, rework, and frustration. This problem becomes especially acute when:
- Teams are blindsided by overlooked external dependencies
- Work is blocked because an external party can’t meet a critical commitment
- Development begins before requirements are fully matured1
- Key stakeholder input was never captured1
- Developers don’t fully understand what’s being asked of them1
- Teams begin implementation without a fully defined Definition of Done2
At the root of all these issues is a single, solvable problem: Teams don’t have a clear, shared understanding of what “ready for development” actually means.
The RMF 3 Program fixes this by helping teams define—and consistently enforce—a unique, explicit Definition of Ready (DoR) for every work item.
What You’ll Gain from RMF 3
RMF 3 introduces a capability most teams lack entirely: a clear, enforceable Definition of Ready that’s tailored to the actual work being done.
Through guided practice, your team will:
- Define what “ready for development” means for each work item
- Prevent work from starting until all critical inputs are in place
- Identify and address missing stakeholder input, undefined behaviors, or external dependencies—before implementation begins
- Eliminate false starts and the rework that follows them
- Build confidence that each commitment is grounded in real readiness
These practices build directly on the shared understanding and clear Definitions of Done established in RMF 1 and RMF 2.
Program Details
Delivery Format: Training, coaching, and evaluation over 6 weeks (3 two-week sprints).
Participants
These roles are involved in shaping readiness criteria or gating work. The program includes required participants for effective adoption, along with optional participants who can add valuable input and support.
| Required | Work item authors and the members of the Scrum/development teams who will implement those work items, and their affiliated colleagues such as product managers, business analysts, engineering managers, and line managers |
| Optional | Affiliated colleagues in project/process management, and leadership or team-level process decision-makers in product management, process management, and software engineering |
Activities You’ll Complete in RMF 3
These hands-on activities are designed to help your team define and enforce a Definition of Ready in a sustainable, repeatable way. They’re structured to fit into your team’s current workflow—so you can build the capability as you go.
| Training | RMF 3 course |
| Coaching | RMF 3 coaching is provided during backlog refinement sessions, requirements collaboration sessions with stakeholders/clients, and Demo/Sprint Review events |
| Evaluation | Competency in the adoption of Synapse Framework™ RMF 3 evaluated using the RMF 3 Team Evaluation Worksheet |
| Certification | Once team has reached competency, team becomes certified in RMF 3 |
Participation in Meetings
The RMF 3 coach will work with your team for 6 weeks/3 two-week sprints to help them adopt the RMF 3 practices, during which the coach will:
- Participate in backlog refinement meetings and Sprint Planning events (or the equivalent thereof) to help them effectively create and use DoRs for each work item
- Participate in requirements collaboration sessions with stakeholders/clients for 4 hours per sprint, up to 12 hours to guide everyone to achieving the goals of those sessions and of the RMF 3 program
Capacity Impact
| Sprint 1 | 1 day of training, <½ day impact from coaching3 |
| Sprint 2 | <½ day impact from coaching3 |
| Sprint 3 | <½ day impact from coaching3 |
Prerequisites
Enablers
Footnotes
1 See the RMF 1 Program for more details
2 See the RMF 2 Program for more details
3 While most of the work done as a result of RMF 3 is actual work for the team (made visible instead of remaining hidden), there will be a small impact on their capacity for discussion and guidance. As the team becomes proficient, this impact becomes less until it disappears entirely.
