CH-05
Content Added After Work Started
Content & History
Default severity: medium
Product BacklogProcessQuality
What it detects
Description was below the configured minimum length when the issue first transitioned to an active status — work started without a definition of what to build. first_active_date = changelog.find(status IN config.workflow.active_statuses, EARLIEST).date description_at_activation = field_value(description, AT first_active_date)
Detection formula
IF LENGTH(description_at_activation) \< config.content.min_description_at_activation // default: 50 chars THEN FLAGExamples in practice
- A team shows description was below the configured minimum length when the issue first transitioned to an active status while min description at activation is set to 50 chars.
- Example signal: Description was below the configured minimum length when the issue first transitioned to an active status — work started without a definition of what to build.
Suggested response
Protect narrative quality: write items before work starts and avoid late or empty edits.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
Description was below the configured minimum length when the issue first transitioned to an active status — work started without a definition of what to build. first_active_date = changelog.find(status IN config.workflow.active_statuses, EARLIEST).date description_at_activation = field_value(description, AT first_active_date)
Why it matters
When "Content Added After Work Started" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Protect narrative quality: write items before work starts and avoid late or empty edits.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Content Added After Work Started" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.