AgileActivitiesGuidance

OnGoing Backlog Grooming

Frequency:BiWeekly,orasfrequentlyas needed/possible *Thiscanbeinformal,butshouldbedone consistentlyinorderforteamstoeffectively ReviewStoriesandPlanIterations Participants:PO,BAs,TL(otherteammembers andSMEsasneeded)*ScrumGuidesuggests thatthisactivityshouldincludetheentire Developmentteam. Purpose: Tocontinuallybelookingaheadattheitemsfor thenext12iterations,andtoconsistently refineandorganizetheBacklogandprepare for/enableStorySizingandReleasePlanning efforts NextIteration:Focusonkeyrequirementsfor itemsscheduledforthatIteration,specifically AcceptanceCriteria TwoIterationsout:Focusonplanningare thereinfrastructureconcerns?Dowe understanddependenciesandresource constraints? Agenda: ReviewBackloginrelationtoReleaseplan Reviewandverifybacklogitemsfor immediate/nextIteration Decomposestoriesthatareverylargefor upcomingIterationsintosmallerstories AddNewStories,asnecessary Prioritize/OrderrankStories DefineAcceptanceCriteriaforeachStory ReviewStoriesinrelationtoOverallGoals. Vision,BusinessValue,Dependencies,Priority, ROIetc... IdentifyallGaps/UnknownsrequiringBA/PO followup Informteam(s)asStoriesarereadyforSizing and/orReleasePlanning Tips: Timeboxmeetingto1hour. Teamshouldallocate510%ofcapacityto groomingeffort. Gothroughbackloginpriority/rankorder.

ProjectPlanning IterationPlanning Story Sizing HighlevelRelease Planning Iteration Planning

SprintExecution Daily StandUp Iteration Review&Close (Demo) Retrospective

Frequency:MonthlyorbiIteration,depending Frequency:Beginning(firstday)ofeach Frequency:End(lastday)ofeachIteration Frequency:BiWeekly,atleastonceper Frequency:Daily onRelease/Iterationcycles Iteration Iteration,moreoftenifsignificantchangesin *Thiscanbeinformal,butshouldbedone *Thisisaformal,teambyteamorcrossteam Participants:CoreTeam,TL,PO Participants:WholeTeam,PO,TLandanyone backlog/newworkrequests exercise. elsewhoisinterested(businessusersand *Thisshouldbedoneatleastaweekinadvance consistentlyinorderforteamstoeffectively (POoptionalshouldbeavailabletoanswer oftheIterationPlanningsession,toallowtime ReviewStoriesandPlanIterations questions,butnottoinfluenceteamdecisions) stakeholders) tounderstandtheStoriesplanned; Participants:CoreTeam,TLandPO TLfacilitates,butTeampreparesforandruns *ThismaybeincludedaspartofBacklog Purpose: Participants:TL,PO,BA,TechLead themeeting Grooming,aswellasamoreformal,teamby (otherteammembersasneeded) Dailyplanningmeetingfortheteam; Purpose: teamorcrossteamexercise(forlarger, Todetermineandcommittowhatwillactually TeamAccountabilityandVisibility Purpose: complexprojects). Purpose: beworkedoninthecurrentiterationand FortheteamtodemonstratetotheProduct Agenda: Tocreateawellalignedbacklogacrossteams, identifythetasksrequiredtocomplete Owner(andotherstakeholders)theitemsthat Participants:CoreTeam,PO,TL Foreachparticipant: committoreleasegoal,andtolooselyassign werecompletedduringtheiteration,andto StoriestotheIterationswithinaRelease validateStoriesthatcanbeclosed,aswellas WhatdidIaccomplishyesterday? Agenda: thosethatwerenotcompleted(ifany) Purpose: WhatdoIplantoaccomplishtoday? TeamCapacityPlanning Toprovideteamtheopportunitytoreviewand Agenda: Whataremyroadblocks? ReviewIterationObjectiveswithPO StoryReview(Walkthroughallstories Agenda: discussStoriesintheBacklog,Sizethosethat ReviewtheReleaseGoal.(Donotskipthis areready(i.e.haveAcceptanceCriteria)and targetedfortheIteration;Allowteamtoask step) Teambrieflyreviewsthestoriesthattheyfeel Tips: preparefor/enabletheupcomingIteration Alignstoriesonthewallbyteambacklogs(If questionssoeveryoneunderstandswhatit werecompletedintheIteration Timeboxmeetingto15minutes*. Planningactivity. multi/crossteam,startwithindividualbacklogs, meanstobe'done'witheach) TeamDemosthecompletedIterationitems Onlyinformationrelevanttoteamprogress ResizeStoriesasneeded,beingcognizantof andplanningshouldbediscussed. thenconsolidateview) POandTeamagreeonitemsbeingDoneor Keeptheteamfocusedonreporting Agenda: impacttooveralliteration ClearlymarkDependenciesacrossteams/ not,basedondefinedAcceptanceCriteria Teamclosesthecompletediterationitems ReviewAllStoriesinBacklogthathavebeen backlogitems. TeamworkstogethertoIDandestimateTasks completionontasks,notjustreportingon (Thiscanbedonepostmeeting) individualactivities. groomedandareplanned(candidates)for neededtocompleteeachStory AddNewStories,asnecessary Basedontheteamsprojectedvelocityand CompareallocatedCapacitywithestimated TeamLeadshouldbelisteningfor(and PO/TLreviewsthehighleveliterationplanso upcomingiteration(s) storypriorities,targettheiterationsthatthe hoursandadjust explicitlyaskingabout)impediments/roadblocks theteamcanseewheretheyarerelativetothe AskquestionsofPOand/orBAtoremove storiesshouldgointo TeamCommitment(canthisgetdone?) thatarepreventingtheTeamfromsucceeding; overallproject ambiguityanddecomposeorconsolidate PostmeetingTLworkswithTeamtocreate TLshouldonlyreportstatusiftheyowntasks Storiesasneeded Identifyanyknowndependencies Tips: theTeamIterationboardandupdateALMtool orroadblocks. Tips: Assign(voteon)aSizetoStories,basedona Timeboxmeetingto1hour. accordingly Problemsshouldnotberesolvedduringthe Timeboxmeetingto111/2hour,depending meeting;identify,thenmoveon... relativeassessmentof: Forlargerprojects,basedontheteam's onscopeofiteration,amountofnew functionalitytodemoandsizeofaudience. Everyoneshouldupdatetheirtasks(team LevelofEffort projectedvelocity,estimatethenumberof Tips: EachTeammembershouldpresentbasedon Complexity iterationsitwilltaketocompletetheproject Timeboxmeetingto24hours,dependingon iterationboardandALMtool)priorto,or theircontributionstotheIteration. immediatelyafter,themeeting. Unknowns andadjusttimeline/budget/scopeasneeded. teamsize,iterationlength,backlog/story Includetheteamiftherearealotof quality... Burndownchartshouldbepostedontheteam Ifthereisalargestakeholderaudience,you dependenciesanticipatedand/orthetechlead DetermineteamCapacityinhoursbefore maywanttosplittheagendatostartwitha iterationboard. Tips: Timeboxmeetingto12hours(asshortas doesnthaveenoughknowledgetodefine gettingintospecificStories(Workingdaysonly, TeamPOdemo/review,followedbya possible),basedontheamountofworktobe those. excludeTL/POtime,excludeBAtimenot Stakeholderdemo,orviceversa. completed,moretimefornewprojects. DonttrytodothisinALMtool;UseStory/Task allocatedtocurrentIterationitems). Timeboxthediscussiononeachitem;keepthe Cardsand/orexportthestoriestoExcel,if Atthebeginningofplanning,reviewany teamfocusedongettingjustenoughinfoforsizing. possible. relevant,priorretrospectiveitems. Brieflydocumentacceptancecriteria,risks, DonotdoReleasePlanifstoriesarenotsized, TimeboxagendatoensureallStoriesand questions,requirementsthatareidentifiedduring prioritizedand/oraremissingreasonable Taskscanbeidentifiedanddiscussed thediscussion(remember,thepurposeisto acceptancecriteriai.e.BacklogGroominghas thoroughly. understandandsizestories,nottogather Ifpossible,donotassigntasksduringthis nottakenplace. Requirements,andnotTasking). meeting,justidentify/estimate. IDaStorythatrepresentsa"baseline"andsize DonttrytodothisinALMtool;UseStory/Task otherstoriesrelativetoit. Cardsand/orexportthestoriestoExcel,if Eachteammembershouldvoteonstorysize. possible. Repeatuntilconsensusreached.

Frequency:End(lastday)ofeachIteration,after CloseorbeforenextIterationPlanning,or wheneveraneventnecessitates *Thisisacritical,teambyteamexercise. Participants:CoreTeam,TL,PO(optional) Purpose: Fortheteamtoidentifyareaswheretheycan makeimprovementstocommunications, process,productivity,approach,etc... Agenda: Teamidentifiesanddiscusses: Whatwentwell? WhatdidNOTgowell? TeamidentifiesActionItemsandaplanfor improvementintheupcomingiteration(s)*this isthemostimportantstep Tips: Timeboxmeetingto30minutes. Spend15minutesidentifyingitems. Haveeachpersonwriteuptheirthoughtsand thenshareanddiscussalltocategorizeandID patternsorthemes. Pickthemostimportantoneortwoandspend 15minutesbrainingstormingpossiblesolutions. TeamLeads,takecaretofacilitate,butnot force,theconversationandnotleadtheteam toconclusions;allowtheteamtoselfdirectand determinewhatisimportanttothem. Whenretrospectivesgetboringand/orpeople justtalkaboutwhatwentwell,trytoinnovate. Tryanysortofnewtechniqueorfunactivityto generatefreshinsight.

Notes:

PO=ProductOwner,TL=TeamLead,BA=BusinessAnalyst,SME=SubjectMatterexpert, CoreTeam=Teammembersactuallydoingtheworkeachiterationtodeliverytheworkingsystem.

TechnologyAlliancePartners,LLC(PragmaticAgilist)20052012