In an agile environment, all work done needs to be directly related to the needs of stakeholders. Stakeholders request or “pull” work from the team, and they do this by defining prioritized work packages. The team needs some way to know when they have completed a work package, so both work packages and iteration tasks need to have testable acceptance or success criteria. The team collaborates with the stakeholders to determine what needs to be done to successfully complete a work package.

Based on the acceptance criteria, tests are described or created. Ideally, these tests are created before or simultaneously to any work that is done on the work package or task. Any work done is done only to make the tests succeed – no speculative (wasteful) work should be done. The team members should carefully avoid the belief that they can predict work that needs to be done if there is no test for that work.

Tests can be informal, formal or even automated depending on the environment and the type of work being done. Tests can be questions or measurements and their expected results. A test can also be a procedure to follow and the results of that procedure. If the environment supports it, automating tests can be an excellent investment for reducing waste. In an ideal environment and work domain, tests can fullfil all the attributes of an ideal test.

Test driven work has two solid benefits: it helps ensure close collaboration between the team and the stakeholders, and it helps eliminate the waste of unnecessary work. Thus it supports the three agile work disciplines of Empower the Team, Amplify Learning and Eliminate Waste.

In software development, where Test-Driven Work is very sophisticated, there are a number of excellent testing tools and resources.