This beginner's gude to agile release planning helps you go beyond the sprint. You will understand how to plan a larger deliverable over multiple sprints, how to track progress, and how to forecast using data
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3. Most information about agile is focused on the sprint
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Why?
4. Most information about agile is focused on the sprint
This leads to the false assumption that you can’t do any long
term/release/strategic planning if your teams are agile
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Why?
7. Release = any number of sprints that combine to form a larger
deliverable
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Release Definition
8. Release = any number of sprints that combine to form a larger
deliverable
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Release Definition
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6
Release 1 Release 2
9. Step 1: Start with a goal
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Where to Start?
10. Step 1: Start with a goal
Step 2: Create a feature list
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Where to Start?
11. Step 1: Start with a goal
Step 2: Create a feature list
Step 3: Prioritize the features
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Where to Start?
12. Step 1: Start with a goal
Step 2: Create a feature list
Step 3: Prioritize the features
Why is prioritization important?
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Where to Start?
13. Why is prioritization important?
No matter the delivery method, the triple constraint does not change
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Where to Start?
14. Why is prioritization important?
No matter the delivery method, the triple constraint does not change
@tirrellpayton
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Where to Start?
15. Why is prioritization important?
We want to understand the features most critical to reaching the goal
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Where to Start?
16. Why is prioritization important?
This is why we started with the goal
@tirrellpayton
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Where to Start?
17. Step 1: Start with a goal
Step 2: Create a feature list
Step 3: Prioritize the features
Why is prioritization important?
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
Where to Start?
‘Memba this?
26. Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wont Have
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MoSCoW
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
27. Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wont Have
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MoSCoW
Feature
Feature
Feature What’s in here?
28. Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wont Have
@tirrellpayton
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MoSCoW
Feature
Feature
Feature What’s in here?
Feature
Requirements
Acceptance Criteria
Design
Build
Test
UAT
Enough to be
“potentially shippable”
29. Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wont Have
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
MoSCoW
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Must Have
30. Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wont Have
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
MoSCoW
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Must Have
Should Have
31. Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wont Have
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
MoSCoW
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
32. Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Wont Have
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
MoSCoW
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Won’t Have
33. No matter the delivery method, the triple constraint does not change
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
Triple Constraint
34. Bonus Question: What if you fixed time, fixed scope, fixed budget?
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Triple Constraint
35. Bonus Question: What if you fixed time, fixed scope, fixed budget?
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Triple Constraint
36. You end up flexing on the “hidden constraint”, which is quality. But
you can only hide it for so long.
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Triple Constraint
37. This is part of why we deliver in short cycles, even with our longer
term plan
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Triple Constraint
38. It enables us to more closely monitor quality, which tends to be a
hidden constraint
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Triple Constraint
42. Release
Triple Constraint
Shorter increments are
- Easier to estimate
- Faster to deliver
- Easier to measure
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6
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43. Release
Triple Constraint
Shorter increments are
- Easier to estimate
- Faster to deliver
- Easier to measure
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
Also, you can revalidate after
every increment
45. Hypothesis
Honesty time
At the beginning of our project, what are our estimates (time, people,
budget)?
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48. Hypothesis
Honesty time
At the beginning of our project, what are our estimates (time, people,
budget)?
It’s a hypothesis
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
49. Hypothesis
What we’re saying is, “Based on what we know at this time, this is
what we think this project needs in order to reach its goal.”
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
50. Hypothesis
What we’re saying is, “Based on what we know at this time, this is
what we think this project needs in order to reach its goal.”
The problem is we make the biggest decisions about a project when
we have the least information
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
51. Hypothesis
What we’re saying is, “Based on what we know at this time, this is
what we think this project needs in order to reach its goal.”
The problem is we make the biggest decisions about a project when
we have the least information.
How many times during a project have you said, “If we only knew
then what we know now…”
@tirrellpayton
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52. Release
Hypothesis
Shorter increments are
- Easier to estimate
- Faster to deliver
- Easier to measure
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
Also, you can revalidate after
every increment
53. Release
Hypothesis
Shorter increments are
- Easier to estimate
- Faster to deliver
- Easier to measure
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5 Sprint 6
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
Also, you can revalidate after
every increment
That’s what this does!
54. Hypothesis
If we treat our initial estimate as a hypothesis, it allows us the courage
to validate it with real data
@tirrellpayton
http://www.payton-consulting.com
104. Forecasting is not an exact science, but you can use science to get
better forecasts
Start by creating preliminary assumptions based on the data you have
Relentlessly exploit your most current data to validate or refute your
assumptions
Repeat
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Summary
105. Payton Companies like yours achieve higher performance through
coaching, consulting, and training
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Thanks!