Presentation by Em Campbell-Pretty and Adrienne Wilson at the Global SAFe Summit 2020. Patterns for preparing a Feature Backlog for PI Planning for an Agile Release Train.

1. Stayin’ Alive!
Feature Disco Your Way to PI Planning

2. EM CAMPBELL-PRETTY
CEO & SAFE FELLOW
PRETTY AGILE
ADRIENNE WILSON
VP OF OPERATIONS & SPCT-CANDIDATE
PRETTY AGILE

3. @PrettyAgile @AgileCanuck
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Does your ART
have trouble
building a backlog
for PI Planning?

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Do your teams complain
that their features “lack
information”?
Do the teams on your ART
complain that features
“lack information”?

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Is your ART’s Innovation
& Planning Iteration all
pre-planning and no
innovation?

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Image source: https://flic.kr/p/TpYm2C
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© Scaled Agile, Inc.

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How do we do this?
Allocate %
capacity to
“Disco”
Continuous
Exploration

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WHAT IS ”DISCO”?
“Disco” aka Discovery is a time-box
that teams on the ART use
• to learn about,
• refine and,
• size features likely to be
prioritised for the next PI ahead
of PI Planning.

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The Rules of Disco
- No one can steal your disco time
- Not your Product Owner
- Not your Product Manager
- Not another team
- NO ONE!
- You must Disco during your Disco time!

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EPICS FLOW THROUGH THE PORTFOLIO KANBAN…
AIDED BY THE EPIC OWNER

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WHO IS THE EPIC OWNER?
“Epic Owners are responsible for coordinating Epics through the Portfolio Kanban
system. They collaboratively define the epic, its Minimum Viable Product (MVP),
and Lean business case, and when approved, facilitate implementation.”
© Scaled Agile, Inc.
?

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Outputs
Who Attends? Process
Purpose: Shared understanding and alignment
PUT EPIC REVIEW WORKSHOPS ON CADENCE
Weekly Monthly
Epic Hypothesis Statement
High level solution on a page
High level estimate
When?
Collaborate in front
of a whiteboard or
equivalent
+ POs
+ Tech Leads
+ SMEs etc.
© Scaled Agile, Inc.

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Epic Disco!

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Goal
Actors
Impact
Deliverables
USE IMPACT MAPPING TO BREAK DOWN EPICS INTO FEATURES
Why are we
doing this?
Who can produce
the desired effect?
How should our
actors' behaviour
change?
What can we do,
as a delivery
team, to support
the required
impacts?

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Business
Outcome
Hypothesis
Features

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FEATURES IDENITIFED THROUGH IMPACT MAPPING HAVE A BUILT
IN BENEFIT HYPOTHESIS

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CHOOSE YOUR DISCO AT THE FEATURE AUCTION
Product Management/System Architect
pitches features in priority order
Teams “bid” for features they would like
If we get stuck, pause and move to next
feature
Teams take 1 feature each
Rinse & repeat until each team is at
capacity

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• Agile Team(s)
• Product Management
• System Architect(s)
• Subject Matter Experts
Purpose: To discuss and align understanding as a team; ultimately completing a
feature definition which meets the definition of ready for WSJF.
HOW DO WE FEATURE DISCO?
2 hours initial session
+ follow up sessions
(as needed)
Let’s
Dance!

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WHAT ARE THE DANCE STEPS?
Step 4: Estimate the work in points
Step 1: Product Management
& System Architect(s) explain
the feature & the business
problem it aims to solve
Step 2: The team asks clarify
questions & whiteboards the
updated solution on a page.
Be sure to clarify and
capturing feature boundaries
Step 3: Identify and take actions to
resolve any outstanding big
questions/concerns/arch guidance
Step 5: Complete the feature
definition template together
If you get stuck, work out what information you need and who can get it to continue

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EVOLVE A FEATURE DEFINITION TEMPLATE FROM YOUR FEATURE DOR

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• Agile Teams
• RTE
• Product Management
• System Architect(s)
Purpose: To build shared understanding of the feature across the ART and
subsequent “acceptance” of the Feature Disco by the ART
AFTER PARTY AKA FEATURE DISCO REVIEW
Iteration Review, or
System Demo or
separate Disco Review
meeting on cadence
Feature Definition and
Solution on a Page
What?
Who? When?

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BUILD A KANBAN SYSTEM TO MAKE DISCO HAPPEN!
Epics
Features

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AND OPERATIONALISE IT ON A BIG WALL
Epic
Kanban
Program
Kanban

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Want to know more? Check out: http://bit.ly/DailyCocktailHour
“If you walk into this
project on any day before
10:15am, it will feel like
walking into a cocktail
party! People are
everywhere, standing in
small groups and
communicating.”
-Henrik Kniberg,
Lean from the Trenches
Daily
Cocktail
Hour
ART
Sync

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FOLLOWING THE DISCO STEPS IMPROVES PROGRAM PREDICATBILITY

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35. w w w.prettyagi l e.com
Em Campbell-Pretty
CEO | SAFe Fellow | SPCT
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com
Adrienne Wilson
VP of Operations | SPCT Candidate
@AgileCanuck
linkedin.com/in/adriennelwilson
adrienne@prettyagile.com

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