3 Cs

By Miranda Dulin

Published in Glossary

October 03, 2023

1 min read

Definition of 3 Cs

The 3 Cs are an agile acronym representing the card, conversation, and confirmation elements needed for good stories.

Back of a vocabulary card for the term 3Cs

Example Sentence

The 3Cs guide teams in effectively managing user stories throughout development.

Discover Better Ways of Working

Subscribe and discover better ways of working. Piece together agile understanding with clarifying metaphors, curated resources, foundational terminology, and illuminating quotes, delivered monthly. Join now to start unpuzzling agile piece by piece.

Join Now

Significance

Understanding the 3 Cs is pivotal for agile practitioners, laying the groundwork for seamless communication, collaboration, and the delivery of high-quality, customer-focused outcomes. This aligns with the third value in the Agile Manifesto:

“Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.”
- Agile Manifesto

However, teams often treat User Stories as rigid contracts—strictly adhering to what’s outlined in a Jira ticket and resisting anything beyond.

Yet, the sixth principle in the Agile Manifesto underscores the power of face-to-face conversation for conveying information within a development team. Struggling with specific formats and completion requirements can hinder collaboration. Embracing the 3 Cs transforms User Stories from contractual obligations into collaborative tools. Rather than wielding them as punitive measures, teams using the 3 Cs view User Stories as vehicles for collective engagement, embodying the true spirit of agile collaboration.