Issue trackers often operate on a “push” model. In other words, you are assigned to work on piece of functionality because the person who is in front of has completed it and it now there. If you let it sit there, your manager or PM will get on your case because everyone knows it’s your turn. You are expected to expand your capacity to what is “pushed” to you.

Since I favor a pull system, I’d like to have statuses in the issue tracker that reflect the notion of “pull”. So if a BA completes a story, it is in a “Refined” state and remains in that state until a developer has completed it. It then goes into a “Developed” state and remains there until it is Done. What I like about this model is that it removes assignment from the picture and allows those managing the project to optimize by looking at the status of the stories. The idea is that this system will make the constraint stick out like a sore thumb.

Karl