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Story 002 – PDCA Integration into Release Workflow

Status: COMPLETE
Priority: HIGH
Estimated Effort: [TBD]
Created: 2025-12-03
Completed: 2025-12-03
Last updated: 2025-12-03 (v0.2.2.8+1 – All tasks complete)
Version: v0.2.2.8+1
Code: E2S02

Overview​

Integrate the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle into the Release Workflow to enable continuous improvement, explicit verification, and structured reflection. This story adds the missing CHECK and ACT phases to complete the Document-Commit-Reflect pattern.

Goal​

Integrate PDCA cycle into Release Workflow to:

  • Add explicit post-commit verification (CHECK phase)
  • Add reflection and action on results (ACT phase)
  • Enhance PLAN phase with objectives and verification plans
  • Enhance DO phase with execution documentation
  • Create continuous improvement loop

Task Checklist​

  • E2:S02:T01 – Add CHECK Phase (Step 12: Post-Commit Verification & Reflection) ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.1+1)
  • E2:S02:T02 – Add ACT Phase (Step 13: Act on Verification Results) ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.2+1)
  • E2:S02:T03 – Enhance PLAN Phase (Add objectives and verification plans to changelog) ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.3+1)
  • E2:S02:T04 – Enhance DO Phase (Improve commit message guidance and execution docs) ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.4+1)
  • E2:S02:T05 – Create PDCA templates and examples ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.5+1)
  • E2:S02:T06 – Update RW workflow YAML and documentation ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.6+1)
  • E2:S02:T07 – Implement Task naming change (Txxx → Txx) ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.7+2)
  • E2:S02:T08 – Update Kanban docs to Txx standard ✅ COMPLETE (v0.2.2.8+1)

Tasks​

E2:S02:T01 – Add CHECK Phase (Step 12: Post-Commit Verification & Reflection)​

Input:

  • Current RW workflow (11 steps)
  • PDCA integration plan
  • Fix verification requirements

Deliverable:

  • Step 12 added to RW workflow
  • Verification workflow template
  • Reflection questions template
  • Updated RW execution guide

Approach:

  1. Add Step 12 to release-workflow.yaml
  2. Add Step 12 guidance to release-workflow-agent-execution.md
  3. Create verification workflow template
  4. Create reflection questions template
  5. Add examples of verification documentation
  6. Update validators to support verification status

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Step 12 added to workflow YAML
  • Step 12 execution guide created
  • Verification workflow template created
  • Reflection questions template created
  • Examples added to documentation
  • Validators updated to support verification

E2:S02:T02 – Add ACT Phase (Step 13: Act on Verification Results)​

Input:

  • Step 12 (CHECK phase) implementation
  • PDCA integration plan

Deliverable:

  • Step 13 added to RW workflow
  • Action workflow template
  • Changelog update mechanism
  • Process improvement documentation

Approach:

  1. Add Step 13 to release-workflow.yaml
  2. Add Step 13 guidance to release-workflow-agent-execution.md
  3. Create action workflow template
  4. Add changelog update mechanism for verified fixes
  5. Add process improvement tracking
  6. Add examples of action workflows

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Step 13 added to workflow YAML
  • Step 13 execution guide created
  • Action workflow template created
  • Changelog update mechanism implemented
  • Process improvement tracking added
  • Examples added to documentation

E2:S02:T03 – Enhance PLAN Phase (Add objectives and verification plans to changelog)​

Input:

  • Current changelog format
  • PDCA integration plan

Deliverable:

  • Enhanced changelog format with PLAN section
  • Objectives and expected outcomes fields
  • Verification plan field
  • Updated examples

Approach:

  1. Update changelog format to include PLAN section
  2. Add objectives field
  3. Add expected outcomes field
  4. Add verification plan field
  5. Update Step 3 (Create Detailed Changelog) guidance
  6. Update all changelog examples

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Changelog format includes PLAN section
  • Objectives field added
  • Expected outcomes field added
  • Verification plan field added
  • Step 3 guidance updated
  • Examples updated

E2:S02:T04 – Enhance DO Phase (Improve commit message guidance and execution docs)​

Input:

  • Current Step 9 (Commit Changes) guidance
  • Changelog language analysis
  • PDCA integration plan

Deliverable:

  • Enhanced commit message guidance
  • Execution documentation template
  • Language pattern guidelines
  • Updated examples

Approach:

  1. Update Step 9 (Commit Changes) guidance
  2. Add commit message language guidelines
  3. Add execution documentation template
  4. Add language pattern guidelines (verified vs unverified)
  5. Add examples of good vs bad commit messages
  6. Ensure commit messages match changelog intent

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Commit message guidance enhanced
  • Execution documentation template created
  • Language pattern guidelines added
  • Examples added (good vs bad)
  • Commit-changelog alignment ensured

E2:S02:T05 – Create PDCA templates and examples​

Input:

  • PDCA integration plan
  • All previous task deliverables

Deliverable:

  • PDCA workflow templates
  • Complete examples for each phase
  • Best practices documentation
  • Training materials

Approach:

  1. Create PLAN phase template
  2. Create DO phase template
  3. Create CHECK phase template
  4. Create ACT phase template
  5. Create complete end-to-end example
  6. Document best practices
  7. Create training materials

Acceptance Criteria:

  • All phase templates created
  • Complete end-to-end example created
  • Best practices documented
  • Training materials created
  • Templates are project-agnostic

E2:S02:T06 – Update RW workflow YAML and documentation​

Input:

  • All previous task deliverables
  • Current RW workflow YAML
  • Current RW documentation

Deliverable:

  • Updated workflow YAML with Steps 12-13
  • Updated workflow reference documentation
  • Updated README
  • Migration guide

Approach:

  1. Update release-workflow.yaml with Steps 12-13
  2. Update release-workflow-reference.md
  3. Update workflow README
  4. Create migration guide for existing projects
  5. Update all cross-references
  6. Validate workflow structure

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Workflow YAML updated
  • Reference documentation updated
  • README updated
  • Migration guide created
  • Cross-references updated
  • Workflow structure validated

E2:S02:T07 – Implement Task naming change (Txxx → Txx)​

Input:

  • Current Kanban policy documents specifying Txxx format
  • Task naming policy documents

Deliverable:

  • Updated Kanban policy documents with Txx format
  • Updated all examples in policy documents
  • Updated any code/scripts that parse Task IDs
  • Updated any validators that check Task ID format
  • Migration notes for existing tasks

Approach:

  1. Update policy documents to Txx format
  2. Update code/scripts to parse Txx format
  3. Update examples throughout documentation
  4. Document migration approach

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Policy documents updated to Txx format
  • All examples updated to Txx format
  • Code/scripts updated to parse Txx format
  • Validators updated to check Txx format
  • Migration notes documented

E2:S02:T08 – Update Kanban docs to Txx standard​

Input:

  • Updated Kanban policy documents (from T07)
  • Current Kanban documentation files

Deliverable:

  • All Kanban documentation updated to Txx format
  • All examples updated to Txx format
  • Task file naming conventions updated
  • Migration guide created

Approach:

  1. Update all documentation files to Txx format
  2. Update task file naming conventions
  3. Update templates and quick references
  4. Create migration guide

Acceptance Criteria:

  • All documentation files updated to Txx format
  • All examples updated to Txx format
  • Task file naming conventions updated
  • Templates updated if needed
  • Migration guide created

Dependencies​

Depends On:

  • Epic 2 Story 1 (RW Agent Execution & Docs) - Foundation for RW execution
  • Changelog language analysis - Language pattern requirements

Blocks:

  • Future RW enhancements requiring verification/reflection
  • Process improvement initiatives

Coordinates With:

  • Epic 3 (Versioning Framework) - Changelog format changes
  • Epic 4 (Kanban Framework) - Kanban update integration

Success Criteria​

  • ✅ PDCA cycle fully integrated into RW
  • ✅ CHECK phase enables post-commit verification
  • ✅ ACT phase enables reflection and improvement
  • ✅ PLAN phase enhanced with objectives
  • ✅ DO phase enhanced with execution docs
  • ✅ Templates and examples available
  • ✅ Documentation complete and portable

References​

  • PDCA Integration Plan: docs/architecture/standards-and-adrs/rw-pdca-integration-plan.md
  • Changelog Language Analysis: docs/architecture/standards-and-adrs/rw-changelog-commit-language-analysis.md
  • RW Execution Guide: packages/frameworks/workflow mgt/docs/documentation/Developer_Docs/vwmp/release-workflow-agent-execution.md
  • RW Workflow YAML: packages/frameworks/workflow mgt/workflows/release-workflow.yaml

End of Story 002