Abstract The primary purpose of PI planning in SAFe is to gain alignment between business owners and program teams on a common, committed set of Program Objectives and Team Objectives for the next release (PI) time-box. This workshop is to experience PI planning in action. Key Takeaways 1. Understanding of the importance of PI planning 2. Good practices for an effective PI planning 3. Preparatory work required for a PI planning

1. There is no magic in SAFe . . . except maybe
for PI Planning.
© Scaled Agile, Inc.
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

2. Bringing agility in your value delivery…
The Agile Manifesto states, “The most
efficient and effective method of conveying
information to and within a development
team is a
face-to-face conversation.”

3. Bringing agility in your value delivery…
SAFe takes this to the next level with PI planning,
A routine, face-to-face event, with a standard
agenda that includes a presentation of business
context and vision followed by team planning
breakouts—where the teams create their Iteration
plans and objectives for the upcoming PI.
© Scaled Agile, Inc.

5. Bringing agility in your value delivery…
Benefits
Faster
decision-
making
Cross-team
collaboration
Build social
network
Org.
Alignment
Capacity-
Demand
match
‘Just the right
amount’ of
guidance

6. Bringing agility in your value delivery…
PI
Preparation
Content
FacilityOrganization

7. Bringing agility in your value delivery…
Working Agreements
Start times, end times, and breaks
Mobile phones
Laptops and connectivity
For distributed events:
Have a microphone when speaking
State your name when speaking
Minimize side conversations
Teams
• Be sure to pay close attention to this morning’s briefings. Not all Team PI Objectives will originate from Features.
• Be sure to identify and resolve dependencies by proactively working
with other teams
Scrum Masters
• Your responsibility is to manage the timeboxes, dependencies, and ambiguities

8. Bringing agility in your value delivery…

9. Bringing agility in your value delivery…
Agenda Who Duration
Business objective and context Executive Sponsor 2 min
Product vision and prioritized feature Product Manager 5 min
Architectural vision and dev practices Solution Architect 2 min
Team Breakout – 1 Team 10 min
Draft Plan, Risk and Impediment Review Team and Management
Management Review and problem solving Management
Planning adjustment communication Management
Team Breakout – 2 Team
Final Plan, Program Risk and Impediment Review Team and Management 5 min
ROAMing of Program Risks Team and Management 5 min
Team Confidence Voting Team and Management 2 min
Planning Retrospective Team and Management 2 min

10. Program Calendar
Program events Date
PI 1 Planning
Scrum of Scrums
PO Sync
System Demo
Inspect & Adapt
PI 2 Planning
Milestones/events Date Holidays Date
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

11. Business Context
Executive, Business Sponsor
Includes
- Customer problem being solved
- Business Objective
2 min
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

12. Product/ Solution Vision
Product Manager
Includes
- Product or Service Capability
- Prioritized Features
5 min
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

13. Architectural Guidelines
System Architect
Includes
- Product or Service Capability
- Prioritized Features
2 min
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

14. Team Breakout - 1
Feature Teams
Includes
- Creating draft plan
- Identifying impediments and risks
10 min
Scrum of Scrum in between
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

15. Bringing agility in your value delivery…

16. Draft Plan Review
Feature Teams, Management
Includes Feature Teams presenting
- draft plan
- impediments and risks
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

17. Management Review
Management
Includes
- Product or Service Capability
- Prioritized Features
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

18. Planning Adjustment
Feature Teams, Management
Includes Management presenting
- draft plan
- impediments and risks
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

19. Team Breakout - 2
Feature Teams, Business Owner
Includes
- Creating final plan
- Refining impediments and risks
- Assigning Business Value
Scrum of Scrum in between
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

20. Final Plan Review
Feature Teams, Management
Includes Feature Teams presenting
- final plan
- program impediments and risks
5 min
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

21. Program Risk Review
Feature Teams, Management
Includes
- ROAMing the risks
5 min
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

22. PI Confidence Vote
Feature Teams, Management
Includes
- Fist of Five confidence voting for the PI planned
2 min
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

23. PI Planning Retrospective
Feature Teams, Management
Includes
- Retrospective of overall PI Planning process
2 min
Bringing agility in your value delivery…

24. Bringing agility in your value delivery…