Value-Driven Planning Brings Context to Iterations

Agile planning includes more than just task-based planning before each iteration. It’s the value-driven planning associated with the product and the releases that truly boosts the efficiency/effectiveness of the team. Who […]

planAgile planning includes more than just task-based planning before each iteration. It’s the value-driven planning associated with the product and the releases that truly boosts the efficiency/effectiveness of the team.

Who builds an agile plan?
In most cases, the product owner (or product owner team) facilitates planning with the team. The product owner does not build plans in isolation. The product owner views agile planning as a collaborative, interactive, ongoing elicitation process.

What does an agile plan look like?
Successful agile teams usually consider multiple planning views including iteration planning, release planning and product planning. Iteration plans are task-based, but product plans and release plans are structured by increments of value. When value drives agile planning, teams understand the connections between iterations. They also understand how each iteration brings value to the product as a whole.

Using collaborative facilitation skills, the product owner elicits answers to questions like: What will we deliver first? What pieces offer the most value? What pieces offer the most risk? What pieces of incremental value should be done in what order, to maximize value and minimize risk?

How is an agile plan managed?
Product owners expect product, release and iteration plans to change. They evaluate and update all three plans frequently based on new information (internal or external) from the team, stakeholders, and users. They engage the team on a regular basis (maybe daily) and repeatedly facilitate shared understanding around the same risk/value/timing questions used to create the initial plans.