8/7/2019 Release Planning Guide

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Release Planning Guide

What Is It?The purpose o release planning is

to commit to a plan or delivering an

increment o product value.

Who Does It?Release planning is a collaborative eort

involving these roles:

n ScrumMaster - acilitates the meeting

n  Product Owner - represents a general

view o the product backlog

n Delivery Team/Agile Team - provide

insights into technical easibility and

dependencies

n Stakeholders - act as trusted advisors as

decisions are made around the release

plan

 Beore We BeginBeore getting star ted, release planning

needs:

n A ranked product backlog managed by

the Product Owner

n

Input rom the team about overallcapabilities, known velocity and technical

impacts

n High-level vision and market/business

objectives

n An acknowledgment o whether new

product backlog items may be needed

Materials Neededn Posted purpose and agenda

n Organizing tools: working agreements,

parking lot, communication/logistics

plan, issues and concerns, dependencies

and assumptions, decisions

n High touch: Flip chart or whiteboard and

markers

n High tech: Projector, computer that can

access needed data and tools, and a way

or the computer tobe shared

n Planning Data (see below)

Planning Datan Results o previous iterations and

releases

n Feedback rom stakeholders on the

product, market situation and deadlines

n Action plans/SMART goals rom prior

release and retrospective

n Items and deects to consider

n Development/architecture inormation

n Velocity rom previous iterations

or estimated

n Organizational and personal calendars

n Input rom other teams/subject matter

experts to manage dependencies

Outputn Release plan and commitment

n Issues/concerns/dependencies/

assumptions to be monitored

n Any new items or the release backlog

n Suggestions to improve uture planning

meetings

RELEASE PLANNING

CHECKLIST

1. Where’s your Product OwneMake sure the person responsiblemaking priority decisions about beatures is available, be it Analyst,Product Manager or Exec.

2. Do you have a ranked back5-15 high-level eatures, the ProducOwner hopes to have in this release

Write each one on an index card.

3. How will you size your itemEstablish a common baseline or siConsider bringing a broad group oindividuals representing various tetogether and have them size a dozor so product backlog items.

4. Who’s coming? Everyone who is impacted by therelease needs to be in this meetinghelp develop the plan, identiydependencies, and commit to therelease.

5. Plan for logistics  Write an agenda in advance. Consroom size. Review the agendabeorehand with ScrumMasters or tleads. Provision or breakout roomfipcharts and stickies, ood and dr

6. What about multiple or 

distributed teams?  Consider plane tickets i it’s only 4times per year. Or assign a scribe pdistributed team to enter planninginormation rom the whiteboard iyour Agile project management toUse breakout rooms or each teamall on-site.

7. Do I need help? This is an expensive meeting, andpotentially a large one. I you haveacilitated large group meetingsbeore, especially when multiple teare involved, consider bringing in aexperienced acilitator to help.

Product Backlog Iteration Backlog

8/7/2019 Release Planning Guide

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RELEASE PLANNING AGENDA1.   Opening

Welcome, review purpose and agenda, organizing tools, business sponsor’s introduction. Along with atypical opening, it is helpul or the business sponsor to share a ew words on the importance o thisrelease and the team’s upcoming work.

2.  Product vision and roadmap Remind the team o the larger picture.

3.  Development status, state o architecture, results o previous iterations in the prior releaseDiscuss any new inormation that may impact the plan.

4.  Release name and themeInspect current status as it relates to your roadmap themes and collaboratively decide on adjustmentsto name and theme to achieve a specifc, current business goal or the release.

5. Velocity in previous releases and iterations, or your estimated velocityPresent the velocity (i available) to be used or this release.

6. Release schedule and number o iterationsReview key milestones and special events ollowed by collaborative decision on timeboxes or the

release and iterations within the release.

7.  Issues and concernsCheck in on any known issues and concerns and record as appropriate.

8.  Review and update defnition o Done Review the defnition o Done and make any appropriate updates based on technology, skill, or changesin team makeup since the last release.

9.  Stories/items rom the backlog to considerPresent proposed backlog items to be considered or scheduling into this release.

10. Determine sizing valuesAgree upon sizing values to be used in the release planning i velocity is unknown.

11. Coarse sizing o stories intended or the release Delivery team determines the size o items under consideration or the release and splits items too largeor iterations in the release. Product Owner and subject matter experts answer clariying questions andelaborate acceptance criteria and proper story splits. ScrumMaster acilitates collaboration.

12. Map stories to iterations in the releaseDelivery team and Product Owner move items to iterations based on size and velocity; ScrumMaster facilitates.

13. New issues and concernsCheck in again on any new issues and concerns based on the previous work and record as appropriate.

14. Dependencies & assumptionsCheck in on any dependencies or assumptions determined during planning and record.

15. Commit!ScrumMaster calls or “fst o fve” on the plan. Delivery team and Product Owner signal i this is the best

plan they can make given what they know right now and commit to moving to the next level of planning (iteration).

16. Communication and logistics plan Review and update communication and logistics plan or this release.

17. Parking lotProcess parking lot - all items should either be resolved or turned into action items.

18. Action items/plan Process action plan - distribute action items to owners.

19. Retrospect the meeting Because we want these meetings to be useul or everyone, we solicit eedback on the meeting itsel.

Close – CELEBRATE! Celebrate a successul planning session!

ScrumMaste

Product Owne

Agile Team

Agile Team

Agile Team

Agile Team

Agile Team

Agile Team

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

ScrumMaste

Product Owne