There are a lot of planning definitions. People are taught
that organization is an important and classy feature. Most of
it comes with: put it on paper, pros and cons, priority
first... There are many tools for managing projects or smaller
tasks. In life and business. But what suits the best?
Following the Agile principles and values, the Scrum framework
brings light to Software development processes. SCRUM lies on
the empirical theory where all knowledge is based on
experience derived from the senses. This way encourages teams
to learn through experiences, self-organize while working on a
problem, and reflect on their wins and losses to continuously
improve.
In other words, the planning phase takes all votes!
Perhaps, but with a certain approach. Although people are
prone to quick fixes, some different approaches deliver a
better solution.
Thank you,
SCRUM
The SCRUM is an agile project management framework used to
manage Software product development or for developing and
delivering complex products. Teams of all kinds use Scrum
(marketing, design, and more), but the most common is software
development and engineering.
Software is a living thing and goes through lots of changes
such as requirements change, situations change, and Scrum can
take care of every movement.
Why do we thank Scrum? Why
Phoenix uses and implement
Scrum?
Because Scrum is all about continuously shipping value to
customers. It is a framework for getting work done.
With scrum, a product is built in a series of iterations
called sprints.
The one phrase that should be unavoidable and for that reason
is at the first spot is Sprint Planning.
(Where do we go?)
Position and Importance
of sprint planning
Consecutively put it goes this way:
- Sprint planning,
- Daily scrums,
- Sprint review and
- Sprint retrospective.
Briefly:
Sprint Planning defines what can be delivered in the
upcoming sprint and how that work will be achieved.
Daily scrums are meetings that keep the team focused
and are facilitated by the Scrum master. The meeting is
followed by questions about what the team worked on, do the
team has any blockers, and to outline what they did
previously.
Sprint review occurs at the end of the Sprint to show
working increment to the client, and to receive the client’s
feedback.
Sprint retrospective serves the team to reflect on how
things went during the last sprint and hopefully, identify
what to do better in the future.
Therefore, he prioritizes these requirements and ensures the
requirements are clearly defined.
From the above, it is clear that for a successful
future iteration is very important to plan. This is the
part where Phoenix Consultancy invests a lot in.
(Transparency starts from here)
Why do we emphasize
the Sprint planning phase?
Besides the importance of planning, Sprint Planning is
important for the utilization of resources.
That is why Sprint planning is one of the key ceremonies at
the beginning of the sprint. This meeting is held with the
objectives of selecting the set of Product Backlog items and
two key questions are in focus on sprint planning:
- What is to be built in the next sprint?
-
How the team will build it? (How do we deliver that work?)
These questions help everyone (later in the text will be
explained who is in the team) to agree what is a goal for the
next sprint and map the next two (or 3 or 4 weeks - depending
on the agreed sprint length. Sprint usually lasts 2-4 weeks)
weeks of work.
The Goal is Why. The Sprint Goal is a commitment, a piece of
value for developers and their commitment to achieving.
The Team
Sprint Planning is attended by the Product Owner, the Scrum
master and the entire Scrum team. Rarely does this meeting
attend stakeholders, although the team can invite them and
they are more than welcome.
It is mentioned that the Goal of planning must be set and that
is the Product owner’s task.
Of course, based on the value that they seek.
On the other side are developers who need to understand how
they can or how to find an approach for delivering that goal.
And here lies the answers to those two focused questions.
(Collaboration strikes again)
Making the sprint planning will be successful if both
components are present. For sake of a well-planned sprint, The
Product owner must be prepared with notes from the previous
sprint review, stakeholder feedback, and vision for the
product.
When Sprint Planning is done, work proceeds toward the Sprint
goal, going through determined requirements and identified
tasks.
This is the setting at the beginning of the sprint, but a
number of the Project Managers skip this step. Mostly because
they need extra time in every single next step.
Huge mistake.
The terms and
why is it a must-have ?
- Goal
- Recourses
- Scope
- Timeframe
- Backlog
- Estimation
- Dependencies
So, besides the goal, there are more elements to be included
in the sprint planning.
As mentioned, Sprint planning is crucial for the utilization
of resources. Therefore, the goal and scope are related and so
as resources with the timeframe. One simple equation.
-
The Goal is well-known and we are heading to it. It’s a link
among scope elements and it has to be done for each task of
scope. the Goal is well-known and the team is heading to it.
The input is about how there should always be someone at every
level that has decision making power to make sure things move
smoothly along with no surprises down the line.
- The scope is the value we are seeking
What do we need to know as parts of scope? We have to know
what kind of skills we have and what skills are required.
-
Recourses: This step is simple if the team capacity is
distinct. We can empower developers even more if we ask what
we can provide for them. Create checklists that would help.
SP requires some level of estimation
- Timeframe
It is a timebox. As soon as this session is finished, it is a
signal that the sprint can begin. The timeframe is important
for team capacity
-
Estimations. Time estimation and estimation as a team. And
this cannot be confused with commitments.
-
Dependencies. Existing dependencies are better noticed as
soon as possible. It’s probably a very important link among
scope elements and it has to be done for each task of scope.
The more knowledge of components we have is better. It Is far
more efficient.
Conclusion
Although these two terms might collide (sprint and
planning), and they can mean opposing actions, under the
same framework they are very effective and, there is the
beginning of how.
Running a great sprint planning event requires a bit of
discipline. It shouldn't be expected to create perfect
sprint planning, it just has to be enough effort in planning
so that the team can roughly confirm that they selected the
right set of the Product Backlog items.
The sprint planning session is the best way to set your team
up for success. If done correctly, it can create an
environment where everyone on board has the motivation and
challenging tasks ahead - which will result in their planned
goal being met at the end.
(It acknowledges that we don’t know everything at the
start of the project and it pulls us back on the sacred
question of the WHY)
It acknowledges that we don’t know everything at the start
of the project and it pulls us back on the sacred question
of the WHY.
Takeaways
-
In the particular phase of the Scrum framework - Sprint
Planning is an exact setting that categorizes and
prioritizes work.
-
The SCRUM is an agile project management framework used to
manage Software product development or for developing and
delivering complex products. The one phrase that should be
unavoidable and for that reason is at the first spot is
Sprint Planning.
-
For the future success of the Project, the iteration is
very important to plan.
-
This meeting is held with the objectives of selecting the
set of Product Backlog items and two key questions are in
focus on sprint planning:
- What is to be built in the next sprint?
-
How the team will build it? (How do we deliver that work?)
-
Sprint Planning acknowledges that we don’t know everything
at the start of the project and it pulls us back on the
sacred question of the WHY.
References
https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-is-sprint-planning
https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum/sprint-planning