Iteration Planning Meeting Logistics: Simple Checklist

Logistics Are Part of All Meetings

Planning meetings are not terribly glamorous.  They are, however, an important first step in effectively delivering value for any sprint or increment.  I have developed a simple checklist for preparing for a planning meeting (we will explore a simple process in the near future).  Agile planning events couple the discipline of saying what will be done and then delivering on that promise with the need to embrace the dynamic nature of development and maintenance.

 

Mommy, Where Do Backlogs Come From?

Agile reminds us that the focus of any set of requirements needs to be on an outcome rather than a collection of whats and whos.  Storytelling is a powerful tool to elevate even the most diehard requirements analyst from a discussion of individual requirements to a discussion of outcomes. The onion metaphor that is popularly used in agile planning (Cohn’s Planning Onion) can be used to describe the evolution of backlogs. Building an initial backlog is much like peeling through the layers of an onion to get to the core. There are many mechanisms for developing and maintaining the detailed backlogs, including: asking, observing, showing and all sorts of hybrids. Using the onion metaphor, the techniques we have explored in the past are the second layer of the onion. However, before getting to the center of the backlog evolution onion, composed of features, epics, and user stories, we need to understand the big picture.  Structured storytelling is effective tool to elicit a description of an outcome and nuances behinds that description, the outer layer in the backlog onion. The outside layer of the backlog evolution onion provides a strategic vision used for budgeting, change management and to provide context to guide the team or teams of teams as the development process progresses.

 

Scaling Agile: Goal Coordination Begins With Planning

Where are we going?

As we noted earlier in this theme, coordinating and synchronizing goals across multiple teams is not a new problem. Solving the problem at scale requires integrating specific steps into how work is being delivered.  Building coordination and synchronizing steps work best if they are part of activities that are naturally designed to consolidate and disseminate information, while also avoiding the construction-related steps. Identifying the steps to coordinate and synchronize goals is a first step in scaling Agile.  The size and complexity of the effort will contribute to the selection process.  For example, delivering functionality from two collocated teams will need less overt goal coordination than an effort with twenty teams spread across the globe.  Because adding coordination and synchronization steps into the workflow may feel like overhead to individual teams, care should be taken. However, well-executed coordination will provide a significant payback both for the team and to the overall effort. The Agile planning mechanisms that are excellent tools for coordinating and synchronizing goals include: