Capacity Planning option

1. Confidential and proprietary information. Do not distribute. ® 2021 Business Wire, Inc.
Capacity Planning for PI
Planning
The News Team (Josh Riddell + Alisa Smith)
DRAFT – Not Final

2. Agenda
 What is Agile Capacity Planning? page 3
 Goals of Agile Capacity Planning page 4
 Challenges of Agile Capacity Planning page 5
 News Team Agile Capacity Planning Process page 6
 The Benefits of Agile Capacity Planning page 14
 Agile Capacity Planning Appendix page 17
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3. What Is Agile Capacity Planning?
Agile capacity planning involves working out the capacity of your
scrum team for a particular quarter - then determining how much of
the product backlog you can expect to complete.
It is sometimes known as capacity-based quarter planning or
commitment-based quarter planning.
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4. Goals of Agile Capacity Planning
The outcome of Agile capacity planning isn’t simply to know how
much capacity you have. It’s about knowing how much you can
realistically commit to delivering within the timeframe. And that’s not
just about people x time.
It’s about keeping resources optimally engaged to deliver their best
work - so they can create functionality that delights your customers
and users.
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5. Challenges of Agile Capacity Planning
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6. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
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Agile Capacity Planning is as simple as 1-2-3.
1. Determine your team average sprint velocity (looking via JIRA
Velocity Chart).
2. Determine your team quarterly capacity (via Story
Points) including removing 20% to account for unknowns.
3. Determine your quarterly workload story points (taking into
consideration the following T-Shirt Sizes to Story Points | News
Team uses the mid point of Story Points listed):

7. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
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8. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
After completing these 3 Steps proceed to reduce quarterly
workload story points until they are equal to your team quarterly
capacity. In this manner your team does not commit to more work
or less work than can your team has the capacity to fulfill.
Methods for reducing quarterly workload story points includes:
• Eliminating a program from the quarter based on prioritization and
T-shirt size. It will be on priority for the next quarter.
• Looking at how to reduce the scope of a program into completing
some for that quarter and completing some for the next quarter
(thus reducing the T-shirt size) LOOK AT WORD: PHASES
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9. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
Next complete "The Fist of Five Voting" which represents a
commitment to the work planned for the quarter.
If priorities change or new work gets inserted, as there may be
dependencies on other teams or other teams depending on our
work, it is possible work originally committed to may be at risk or
needs to move out.
If resources increase or decrease across News or Armstrong, that
will also affect commitments or the ability to add more programs in
the quarter. Such decisions will require discussion within
Engineering, PMO, and other affected teams.
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10. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
The "Fist of Five Voting" confirms your team’s confidence level in
being able to commit to what planning to work on for the quarter.
Until Team Confidence Level is at 80%, keep reducing the quarterly
workload story points. Specifically, go back to PI Planning and
reduce the workload. Once the workload is reduced, then go back
to the "Fist of Five Voting" to confirm your team’s confidence level
in being able to commit to what planning to work on in the quarter
and finish what planning to do.
Once your team reaches 80% Consensus Confidence Level, your
workload can be committed to and your capacity planning is done.
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11. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
• For example, for 5.6 PI Planning, News Team knew our quarterly
capacity and measured our T-Shirt Sizes into Story Points. We
determined our team quarterly capacity vs our quarterly workload
story points as measured here (the template will automatically
recommend if you should increase demand or increase capacity):
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12. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
• We had 5 Members and when doing the Fist of Five Voting News
Team needed a 4.0 or higher final vote from the following
options:
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13. News Team Agile Capacity Planning
After the first Fist of Five Voting, it was under 4.0.
As a consequence, the News Team went back to the 5.6 quarterly
workload story points and reduced scope further.
We split up Isengard and Mordor into Phase 1 in 5.6 and Phase 2
in 5.7.
This was done either by eliminating a program or splitting an
existing program into a smaller program. After the second News
Team Fist of Five Voting, our Confidence Level was exactly 4.0.
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14. The Benefits of Agile Capacity Planning
Improved forecasting and predictability
• The main point of Agile methodology is the ability to analyze
performance and learn from past experience. So it makes sense
for scrum leaders to embrace the data that Agile capacity
planning provides. Not only to improve performance in their next
sprint but to increase delivery predictability overall.
• Using data from previous sprints improves commitment
confidence, knowing what your team can deliver in a given period.
Improved forecasting ensures each task gets the time it deserves
to be delivered well - no rushed work to meet unrealistic
expectations - which drives up product quality. Higher delivery
predictability also reduces the risk of overrunning schedules and
budgets.
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15. The Benefits of Agile Capacity Planning
Psychological safety, staff morale, and retention
• Another benefit of Agile capacity planning is managing your team
workload - to maximize productivity while minimizing the risk of
burnout. It keeps your resources optimally employed without
being overworked. This creates a culture of psychological safety,
where your team knows they’re respected, protected, and trust
your judgment. This promotes higher staff morale and supports
strategic staff retention goals.
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16. The Benefits of Agile Capacity Planning
Improved ability to pushback and prioritize
• 42% of respondents in Agile Sherpa’s State of Agile Marketing
Report cite difficulties managing unplanned work. Agile capacity
planning creates evidence-based expectations of what your team
can achieve. Their time is meticulously mapped to desired
outcomes and progress is assessed on an (often) daily basis.
This provides a firmer foundation to push back against
unscheduled work.
• By conveying data-based capacity concerns to senior managers,
Agile team leaders can foster a culture of realism and respect for
their resources’ time. This can support proper prioritization and
scheduling of ad hoc work that sometimes jumps the queue -
which leads to improved project outcomes for both planned and
(previously) unplanned work.
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17. Agile Capacity Planning Appendix
 On Page 6, Velocity Chart Velocity Chart
 On Page 7, Engineering T-Shirt Sizing Engineering T-Shirt Sizing
 On Page 11, Capacity Planning Template
NT&ARM-Capacity-Planning-Template_Google-Sheet.xlsx
 On Page 12, "Fist of Five Voting"
Cast your vote using fist of five tool at Agilebin.com
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18. Thank You
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