© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC

Agile Enterprise Release Planning

Release Planning AgendaRELEASE PLANNING DAY 1 AGENDA

Time Session Activity

8:30 – 9:00 am INTRODUCTIONSchedule and objective

Agile release planning context

9:00 – 9:30 am EXECUTIVE BRIEFINGEnterprise Business Context

Strategic Investment Themes for 2009

9:30 – 11:00 amPRODUCT VISION

(Product Managers) Release Objectives

Prioritized Feature Set

11:00 – 11:30 am ARCHITECTURAL VISIONArchitectural Epics

System Qualities and NFRS

11:30 – 12:00 am DEVELOPMENT CONTEXTPlanning scope

Development process

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch

 1:00 – 1:30 pm RELEASE PLANNING REQUIREMENTS Specific planning requirements

Teams plan stories for iterations

1:30 – 4:00 pmTEAM BREAKOUTS

Work out dependencies

  Teams draft iteration plans

4:00 – 5:00 pmDRAFT RELEASE PLAN

REVIEW

Each team presents draft plan (or work in process) to group

Issues/Impediments noted

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RELEASE PLANNING DAY 2 AGENDATime Session Activity

8:30 – 9:00 amPROCESS CHECK

REVISE OBJECTIVES?Scope Management?

Resource adjustments?

9:00 – 12:00 am TEAM BREAKOUTS Teams finalize and re-plan as necessary

12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 pm FINAL RELEASE PLAN REVIEW

Teams present final plansRelease objectives captured

Hard dates notedRisks and impediments captured

2:30 – 3:30 pm RISKS AND IMPEDIMENTSAll risks and impediments discussed and

addressed

3:30 – 4:00 PM COMMITMENT Release commitment vote

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© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC

Our Cadence

Define your cadence here. Number and length of development iterations Hardening iterations Release dates, mid release checkpoints etc Any fixed calendar events

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Building Your Release Plan Stories/Backlog Items

Identify all stories to meet vision/objectives Estimate stories in (modified) Fibonacci points

(1,2,3,5,8,13,20,40) Use user voice where applicable

Identify and discuss interdependencies Load stories across iterations until full

Load nothing bigger than 8 in a sprint Record total sprint velocity and load in upper right corner Stuff that doesn't fit stays in backlog

Negotiate/restate/gain agreement on release objectives Record/resolve impediments and risks Identify and hard dates Prepare to present your plan

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Considerations

Factor deployment considerations into your schedule

Holidays & PTO, training and company events happen

Consider Infrastructure Architecture Automated Testing Corrective Action Plans Assisting other teams Non-functional Requirements

Process Owners

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Color coded stories

New user stories Defects, support, maintenance Spikes Help needed

– identified interdependency

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Each Team’s Deliverables

1. X planned sprint sheets, one per sprint

2. One backlog sheet

3. One sheet of impediments and risks

4. Statement of release objectives sheet

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Sprint Sample

Velocity: 34Load: 30

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Release Plan Sample

Hardening

Backlog

Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3

RisksObjectives1. ….2. ….3. …4. ….

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Agree to objectives, rank by business value

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ObjectiveBus Value Dasdasd assasa 8

Adsdasads skdjhfs 4

Adsdasdd shddjd 10

Omnus decus unum 4

Adsdasdd 10

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The Product Backlog

The To Do List !

Hang Pictures

Fix Closet Door

Change Light Bulbs

Replace Furnace Filters

Change Light Switch

Hang Shelving

Repair Furniture

Fix Garden Hose

Clean Garage

Take Garbage to Dump!

Paint Kids Rooms

Product Backlog:

A prioritized list of remaining work

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What is a User Story?

User Stories representrepresent

customer requirements

rather than document themUser Stories are a

tool for writing backlog items

User Stories are a tool for writing backlog items

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User Story Template

As a <role>I can <activity>

So that <business value>

As a <role>I can <activity>

So that <business value>

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Guidelines for Release Planning

Backlog detail only Work item “like” statement User story template where its valuable Planning poker estimating where valuable

What’s Wrong with this Release Plan?

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Date

Deadline

The Standard Deadline Probability Curve

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2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks

Release

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A Decent Looking Plan

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2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks

Release

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That Probably Wont Work

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Backlog

2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks

A Better Plan

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC

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2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks

Release

That could

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