The Art of Agile Development by James Shore - Chapter 8

Book Club Presentation - Chapter 8 - The Planning Game & Release Planning

Read The Art of Agile Development online: http://www.jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/release_planning.html
http://www.jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/the_planning_game.html

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Transcript

1. Agile Book Club: The Planning Game & Release Planning
2. Iteration Meeting 2012 Key Takeaways Customers have the most info on VALUE (what best serves the organization) Programmers have the most info on COST (what it takes to implement/maintain the features) Every decision to DO something is a decision to NOT DO something else
3. Iteration Meeting 2012 Playing the Game Customers and programmers come together to maximize value + minimize costs It's a cooperative game; the team as a whole wins or loses, not individual players Rules: 1. Anybody can create stories 2. Programmers estimate stories 3. Customers prioritize them 3. You can question each other's decisions, but each group has final say over their area of expertise END RESULT: A single prioritized list
4. Iteration Meeting 2012 The Miracle of Collaboration Without communication: Customers tend not to know what's easy and what's not and they end up planning stories that are difficult to implement Programmers tend not to know what customers think is important, and they end up implementing stories that aren't very valuable Collaboration reconciles these conflicting tendencies - Cut expenses by using easier alternatives to deliver value - Be able to change direction and save time
5. Iteration Meeting 2012 End Results When you play the planning game well: Both customers and programmers feel that they have contributed to the plan Any feelings or pressure and stress focus on the constraints of the plan and possible options, rather than on individuals and groups Programmers suggest technical options for reducing scope while maintaining the project vision Customers ruthlessly prioritize the stories that best serve the
6. Iteration Meeting 2012 Some ideas on things we can improve 1. Using index cards in planning - easy to tangibly prioritize 2. How can we make sure we're not building a crazy toaster? - more focus on MINIMUM marketable features and simplifying stories with alternative solutions to achieve the same business value 3. Planning stories as part of a story-writing workshop when planning for a release 4. More respect for velocity
8. Iteration Meeting 2012 Key Takeaways 1. Use timeboxing to control our schedule 2. Set the release date, then manage scope to meet that date (this forces important prioritization decisions and makes the endpoint clear) 3. Prioritized Minimum Marketable Features (MMFs) and stories form the body of our plan 4. Demonstrate our progress as we develop and use that feedback to revise our plan
9. Iteration Meeting 2012 Guidelines 1. One Project at a Time allows you to release each project as you complete it, increasing the total value of your work 2. Release Early, Release Often if you group your most valuable features together and and release them first, you can achieve startling improvements in value 3. Release Frequently release frequently doesn't mean setting aggressive deadlines; in fact, aggressive deadlines extend schedules rather than reducing them
10. Iteration Meeting 2012 An Example: Writely Beta Features
11. Iteration Meeting 2012 An Example: Microsoft Word Features
12. Iteration Meeting 2012 Guidelines 4. Adapt your Plans after each release collect feedback, cancel work on features that aren't important, put more effort into those that stakeholders find most valuable 5. Create Opportunities to Learn a plan for learning as much as for implementation focus on what you don't know (what are you uncertain about? what might be a good idea? which good ideas can you prove in practice? create experiments; include a way to test each uncertainty 6. Keep Your Options Open
13. Iteration Meeting 2012 How to Create a Release Plan
14. Iteration Meeting 2012 How to Create a Release Plan 1. Set a Date timeboxed plans work better don't pick features and time - will lead to tears 2. "Done done" applies to the Release too don't postpone stories until the end of a release
15. Iteration Meeting 2012 How to Create a Release Plan 3. Last Responsible Moment •define vision for the entire project •definite the release date for next 2 releases •define MMFs for current, start to place features that won't fit into next •define all stories for current feature and most of current release •estimate and prioritize stories for current iteration and following 3 iterations •determine detailed requirements and customer tests for stories in current iteration
16. Iteration Meeting 2012
17. Iteration Meeting 2012 How to Create a Release Plan 4. Work within Company Culture do adaptive planning under the radar if needed lengthen planning horizon but let them know they're subject to change ultimately requires trust of the team and the vision