Agile Processes | Your Guide to Agile PI Planning
Agile Planning is a relatively new approach to productivity that companies are adopting quickly and have improved on to include further processes that maximize efficiency. In fact, 71% of organizations have moved to an Agile-based project management method, which breaks up a project into digestible milestones, as opposed to traditional project management methodologies. This is done by using Agile Planning, work units, or Sprints are to outline tasks and define items.
Not only is Agile Planning more beneficial to the organization, but it also provides more value to the customer. Staff are more likely to feel challenged and motivated, as they are encouraged to celebrate small achievements throughout the project. The client, on the other hand, is getting frequent deliverables, which keeps communication fluent and expectations met.
Research shows that 90% of projects that have followed an Agile strategy are delivered to the market sooner than those who follow traditional project management. Since the inception of Agile Planning, business gurus have taken productivity and project management a step further by creating a process called Agile PI Planning.
What Is Agile PI Planning?
Agile PI Planning, which stands for Agile Program Increment Planning, is an additional step to Agile project management. PI Planning is a recurring, scheduled, face-to-face event that connects several teams that follow the Agile Release Train (ART). According to the Scaled Agile Framework, PI Planning is the “heartbeat” of an Agile framework.
Experts recommend that all PI Planning takes place in-person (or while everyone is gathered together remotely in real-time). Stated by The Agile Manifesto, “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is a face-to-face conversation.” With recent developments in the global landscape, some PI Planning has been moved remotely, which we will discuss later on.
During these meetings, staff will align ideas, identify the roadmap, and create a mutual vision. Implementation of PI Planning templates assist in synchronizing the Agile framework for larger, more diverse companies.
According to Easy Agile, there are several essential features to PI Planning. These include:
Two full-day events
Events must run every 8-12 weeks
Product Managers must plan objectives before the events
Development teams provide planning and estimation
Engineers validate planning
All attendees are IN PERSON (or attending remotely in real-time)
Technology may distribute teams
PI Planning has proven to be most beneficial for large-scale organizations that follow an Agile-based framework. With larger companies, there is often a blatant disconnect between departments. With PI Planning, employees that otherwise wouldn’t connect can share a vision and have the opportunity to collaborate.
The ideology behind Agile PI Planning is that productivity will increase, jobs will be completed more effectively, budgets will be maintained, and corporations will build more substantial and beneficial interrelationships.
What Is The Goal of Agile PI Planning?
To put it simply, the overall goal of Agile PI Planning is to optimize project management processes and maintain a more efficient and productive work environment.
By utilizing the PI Planning framework, an effective Agile project management strategy can be implemented in larger organizations with several departments and hundreds-to-thousands of employees. The processes not only align the missions of the entire team, but they also strategically outline workflows and objectives.
By utilizing Agile PI Planning, an organization can be retrained to work cohesively together, which, in turn, leads to a more successful output and an improved office culture.
Essentially, this project management structure ramps up communication throughout the organization. Suddenly, the entire team is moving in a cohesive, efficient framework.
At the end of a PI Planning session, the following output should be completed:
Committed PI objectives
Program board
Each team delivers committed PI objectives with the unique business value in mind. Furthermore, the Program Board should outline delivery dates, upcoming deliverables, and relevant milestones. These outputs pave the way for the next sprint to be efficient, productive, and lucrative.
What is Pre-PI Planning, and Why Is It Important?
In the wise words of Alexander Graham Bell, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” This rings true for all facets of business. However, in terms of PI Planning, preparation is especially important.
PI Planning includes the gathering of hundreds-to-thousands of people in an organized, goal-oriented manner. This meeting will set the tone for the following months of the organization and prepare your employees for what’s to come. Any level of disorganization could considerably throw off the overall goal of this meeting, and thus, your project management framework.
While PI Planning, it’s essential to pay close attention to both coordination and communication. All attendees of the event must be notified and documented well in advance.
According to the Scaled Agile Framework, three key areas require preparation before a PI planning event:
Organizational readiness
Content readiness
Facility readiness
Organizational Readiness
Organizational readiness refers to the strategy and alignment of teams, participants, and stakeholders. The host must assign roles to critical attendees in advance to create organization at the event.
During this phase, it’s necessary to consider the scope and the priority of the meeting. All major business owners should be in agreement before calling this meeting. The owners should set discussion points, priorities, and strategies. While assigning Agile teams, you may want to identify a Scrum Master for each team.
Content Readiness
Content readiness will present a clear vision of the meeting and identify the tasks and roles of stakeholders within the business. Depending on your business model, you may have both an Executive Briefing and a Product Vision Briefing.
This allows the business owners to define the business model, products, programs, services, and other relevant information before the PI Planning begins.
Facility Readiness
This includes the facility in which the meeting will be held, any support personnel that may be needed (ex., tech support), and different tools and resources that will support the overall flow and efficiency of the meeting.
By utilizing Agile PI Planning, an organization can be retrained to work cohesively together, which, in turn, leads to a more successful output and an improved office culture.
Once the organization, content, and facility have been prepared, the next step is to begin planning the in-depth two-day agenda that will schedule your Agile PI Planning.
Overall, preparation for the strict formula and all of the contributing factors of Agile PI Planning is imperative to the success of this unique project management model. Business owners should do intensive research regarding Agile project management and PI Planning to ensure a seamless and successful integration into traditional business strategies.
What Happens During Agile PI Planning?
Depending on the unique goals and business model of your organization, your Agile PI Planning steps may vary slightly. However, many experts recommend adhering to some structural congruencies.
Some organizations may hire motivational speakers to boost team morale, and others may implement ice-breaker games for staff from varying departments to get to know each other. Though these events are largely goal-oriented, they also are social in nature and should amplify office culture.
Agile PI Planning sees the most success when there are breakout rooms available for teams to break away from the group to plan with their team members. Ensure that your facility is roomy and has ample space for your attendees to get comfortable and creative.
Agile PI Planning should always be a two-day meeting that falls within business hours. Leave room for breaks and lunches to keep all team members alert and motivated throughout the day.
Day 1 Agenda
The beginning of day one will focus mainly on group morale.
The founder of the company or business owner should address the group and give any company updates. Keep the team motivated and dedicated by inspiring them with impressive statistics and quotes from happy customers.
If you’re interested in enlisting a motivational speaker, this would be an excellent time to do it — kick-off the beginning of your Agile PI Planning with somebody who will spark passion in the room.
As a standard example of an agenda, day one would go as follows:
Business Context: Allotted time for the business owner to give a company-related update. This may include revenue statistics, product wins, and market evaluations.
Product and Solutions Vision: Discuss the business vision and the top 10 features of the business.
Architecture Vision: Update on infrastructure improvements and ongoing goals if applicable.
Planning Context: Set expectations of meetings and answer any questions that the attendees may have about the tasks.
LUNCH
Team Breakouts: Pre-determined teams will hit the drawing boards to create draft plans to meet previously discussed goals. Draft should include risks and dependencies.
Draft Plan Review: Teams present their drafts to the group.
Management Review: The management team will review resources, architecture, and scope of the project if necessary. This may only involve the stakeholders, business owners, and release train engineer. Any insights will be presented to the group the following day.
Day 2 Agenda
Day two would go as follows:
Program Adjustments: Any insights from the management team from the previous day will be addressed during this period. Any adjustments will be posted on the program board.
Team Breakouts: Following new insights and adjustments, the teams will reconvene and begin to outline objectives for the program. Objectives will be assigned for implementations.
Final Plan Review: Each team presents plans and includes risks and dependencies.
LUNCH
Program Risks: Each risk that the teams have outlined will be addressed during this period. The group will determine whether the risks can be overcome.
Confidence Vote: The teams will vote on each plan and their confidence level with implementation.
Plan Rework: If the Confidence Vote was subpar, team members may reconvene to improve their plan and minimize potential risks.
Planning Retrospective and Moving Forward: The lead will wrap up the meeting.
As with any business plan, risks will become apparent. During the Program Risks section of the Day 2 Agenda, risks must be allotted into one of the following categories:
Resolved – risk is no longer a concern
Owned – someone will resolve at a later date
Accepted – risk is accepted and understood
Mitigated – the team will reduce the risk’s impact
At the end of your two-day planning, your team should have outlined a set of objectives, deliverables, dependencies, and upcoming milestones.
How To Do Agile PI Planning Remotely
For companies that are new to adopting Agile PI Planning, the strategy already boasts a pretty steep learning curve. With more and more businesses moving to working remotely, this project management procedure poses some challenges. However, it can be done if the team is engaged and accountable.
Here’s how to make your remote Agile PI Planning sessions just as effective as your in-person sessions.
All Camera’s On
According to Plan View, all remote team members must be held accountable through their webcam during their PI Planning session.
Large groups can connect through Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc. and each attendee should have their camera on and facing them. This simulates the same face-to-face interaction that an in-person meeting does.
Quiet Room with No Distractions
Each attendee should retreat to a quiet room with no distractions.
Distractions can quickly throw off the whole team and derail a meeting. If each attendee participates in the meeting with the same motivation and commitment, it should go as seamlessly as an in-person meeting.
Use Digital Program Boards and Presentation Tools
Using a digital whiteboard that integrates with planning tools that you already use is the best way to work with a distributed team, and Stormboard is the perfect example of this (learn how Stormboard helped a Fortune 100 company hold more efficient PI Planning sessions here).
Stormboard has built-in boards for all your Agile processes, including Retrospectives, Story Mapping, Sprint Planning, Issue Sizing, Risks / ROAM Board, Program / Dependencies Board, PI Objectives. And with Stormboard, everyone on your team can be engaged, active participants and have access to your meeting and collaboration space from any device, in any location, and at any time.
Integrations with tools that you already use, like Jira, allow you to view your Jira backlog right inside Stormboard and drag your issues into the workspace. This means that everyone in your session is working together in one space, and not having to switch back and forth between applications or boards on a wall, saving you time and money. With Stormboard’s innovative two-way sync with Jira, you can stop wasting time hand writing Jira issues on sticky notes to do your planning. When your planning session is over, turn your Stormboard sticky notes into Jira issues with just two clicks — your post-planning transcription days are over.
Conclusion
If you feel that your company is in a stagnant place when it comes to communication or project management, it may be time to reconsider your strategies. Companies that have implemented the innovative Agile PI Planning framework, have become more efficient and productive.
By implementing a new style of project management, you can communicate more effectively within your team and provide better customer service and accountability for your client. The staggering statistics support the notion that the Agile framework of project management is actually a more efficient way of running your company.
Though this will inevitably bring change and growing pains to your team, there are multiple programs, resources, and tools available to assist with a seamless implementation that will bring long-term rewards.
Re-energize your team and reinvigorate your business model with Agile PI Planning sessions.
Interested In Using Stormboard For Your PI Planning Sessions?
If you’d like to find out more, sign up here for a demo and see how Stormboard can help you dramatically improve your Agile Planning processes.
About the Author
Celina Dawdy is a freelance writer in Edmonton, Alberta. When she isn’t writing, she’s volunteering and spending time with her three dogs.
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