© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC Agile Enterprise Release Planning

Release Planning Agenda RELEASE PLANNING DAY 1 AGENDA TimeSessionActivity 8:30 – 9:00 amINTRODUCTION Schedule and objective Agile release planning context 9:00 – 9:30 amEXECUTIVE BRIEFING Enterprise Business Context Strategic Investment Themes for :30 – 11:00 am PRODUCT VISION (Product Managers) Release Objectives Prioritized Feature Set 11:00 – 11:30 amARCHITECTURAL VISION Architectural Epics System Qualities and NFRS 11:30 – 12:00 amDEVELOPMENT CONTEXT Planning scope Development process 12:00 – 1:00 pmLunch 1:00 – 1:30 pmRELEASE PLANNING REQUIREMENTSSpecific planning requirements Teams plan stories for iterations 1:30 – 4:00 pm TEAM BREAKOUTS Work out dependencies Teams draft iteration plans 4:00 – 5:00 pm DRAFT RELEASE PLAN REVIEW Each team presents draft plan (or work in process) to group Issues/Impediments noted ©2009 Leffingwell, LLC.

RELEASE PLANNING DAY 2 AGENDA TimeSessionActivity 8:30 – 9:00 am PROCESS CHECK REVISE OBJECTIVES? Scope Management? Resource adjustments? 9:00 – 12:00 amTEAM BREAKOUTSTeams finalize and re-plan as necessary 12:00 – 1:00 pmLunch 1:00 – 2:30 pmFINAL RELEASE PLAN REVIEW Teams present final plans Release objectives captured Hard dates noted Risks and impediments captured 2:30 – 3:30 pmRISKS AND IMPEDIMENTS All risks and impediments discussed and addressed 3:30 – 4:00 PMCOMMITMENTRelease commitment vote ©2009 Leffingwell, LLC.

© 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 iiih

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC 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

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC 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

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC Color coded stories New user stories Defects, support, maintenance Spikes Help needed – identified interdependency

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC 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

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC Sprint Sample Velocity: 34 Load: 30

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC Release Plan Sample Hardening Backlo g Sprint 1Sprint 2Sprint 3 Risks Objectives 1.…. 2. …. 3.… 4.….

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC Agree to objectives, rank by business value 11 Objective Bus Value Dasdasd assasa 8 Adsdasads skdjhfs 4 Adsdasdd shddjd 10 Omnus decus unum 4 Adsdasdd 10

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC 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

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC What is a User Story? represent User Stories represent customer requirements rather than document them User Stories are a tool for writing backlog items 13

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC User Story Template As a I can So that As a I can So that

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC 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?

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC Relative probability Date Deadline The Standard Deadline Probability Curve

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC h 2 weeks Release Relative probability A Decent Looking Plan

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC h 2 weeks Release Relative probability That Probably Wont Work

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC h Backlog 2 weeks A Better Plan

© 2009 Leffingwell, LLC Relative probability h 2 weeks Release That could

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