The quote harkens back to Alan Lakein, who succinctly emphasized the importance of planning in project management. We may not always find deadlines and fixed frameworks particularly enticing, but we cannot underestimate the significance of planning. However, the question remains: How can we implement agile planning, and what role does Scrum play in it?
Many articles on agile planning assert that Scrum planning and agile planning are synonymous, but this isn’t entirely accurate. Scrum is primarily a framework applied in software development, outlining a specific planning path tailored to our daily tasks. While we rely on this framework, it’s important to note that various other agile methods exist. Thus, agile planning doesn’t exclusively hinge on Scrum, although we cannot do Scrum without agile planning.
Agile Project Planning vs. Traditional Project Planning
For decades, executives devoted an extensive amount of time to crafting detailed plans years in advance, adhering to a top-down approach cascading plans to employees (akin to the classical waterfall model). This method served effectively for a considerable period. However, the world transformed rapidly, and the business environment evolved into a dynamic landscape throughout the 20th century. Requirements changed more frequently, crises emerged, and markets and stock exchanges experienced extreme fluctuations. This phenomenon is known as a VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity). It became evident that new, more flexible planning methods were imperative.
This realisation was particularly accentuated as knowledge work gained prominence. Half a century ago, manual labor was the predominant mode of work, with people predominantly toiling in factories (reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin’s era). Today, much of the work is cerebral rather than manual, necessitating agile planning to embrace change at every phase of the process.
Both approaches have their merits. Consider the scenario of constructing a bridge: a detailed, well-thought-out plan is indispensable. In this context, agile elements like alterations to requirements later in the process are not preferred. Although such changes are possible, several examples from Berlin and Brandenburg serve as stark reminders of their ramifications.
However, in knowledge work, we actively welcome change at every juncture. The ultimate objective is to develop a solution that gratifies the user. In agile project management, we indeed devise detailed plans but for shorter timeframes, allowing us to incorporate changes swiftly when necessary.
Key Features of Agile Planning
Agile planning is akin to peeling an onion, permeating every layer. Agile methodologies are not confined to team-level application (Daily, Iteration, Release); they also extend to product management, agile portfolio management, and agile strategy. Notably, the inclusion of agility in the realm of strategy is pivotal for overall business adaptability, prompting us to revamp our goal and strategic initiative management.
Agile planning is inherently iterative: we revise and adapt our plan as necessary, aiming to invest in planning at the optimal juncture and easily adjust to emergent changes. Here are six fundamental considerations:
- Value: Agile thinking underscores a user-centric perspective. Our plan should explicitly outline how and when we generate value for the user. In this context, an outcome-focused plan is more effective.
- Small Batch Size: As highlighted in a previous blog post regarding product planning and embarking on an expedition, we commence each new project armed with substantial knowledge but insufficient details to meticulously plan every element. Therefore, we do not demand comprehensive, detailed planning for each project task. By factoring in frequent deliveries and explicitly mandating feedback collection, our agile plan accommodates changes and integrates feedback to enhance the likelihood of successful project completion.
- Timeframes: While users and stakeholders might seek specific deadlines for project duration, in most instances, time periods suffice. Thus, our agile plan aligns with historical data and forecasting techniques, streamlining the scheduling, timing, and task assignment processes.
- Team Responsibility: Our teams comprise specialists, each possessing unique expertise that gives rise to interdependencies. Rather than mandating the elimination of all dependencies, we advocate managing dependencies holistically from the vantage point of your company and value streams. In cases where a value stream to the user is obstructed by Team X, our plan should reflect the emphasis on resolving the obstruction.
- Integrated Quality: Toyota, once a small family enterprise, transitioned into one of the largest automakers over 50 years ago, guided by the principle of ‘building in quality.’ It stipulated that time should not be squandered on reworking products after they depart the production line. Our project realization must echo this principle, avoiding the need for extensive quality assurance at the project’s culmination. This underscores the importance of fostering quality throughout the project, rendering final quality checks superfluous in most cases. Projects should ideally be free of quality assurance measures at the project’s completion.
- Timelines for Initiatives, Tasks Without Dates: When we create an overarching plan encompassing all vital project elements (initiatives), we can effortlessly dissect them into epics and stories for team implementation. Crucially, we should avoid defining start and end dates for individual tasks unless essential. This practice permits us to pull new work when our teams possess the requisite capacity, avoiding premature assignments. While the initiative may bear a commencement and closure, the individual tasks remain undated, allowing our teams to make optimal decisions as they are the closest to the work.
Preliminary and Continuous Agile Planning
Agile planning necessitates initial release planning meetings where team members discuss, albeit in a preliminary fashion, a range of topics. In an agile context, decisions are data-driven and founded on metrics, as well as negotiations. Only the project scope and deadline are open to adjustment, as other factors such as resources or anticipated quality levels are more resistant to change. Decision-making rooted in data imbues the team with confidence in setting project timelines and iteration lengths, streamlining scheduling, timing, and task assignments.
Scope of Agile Planning
Agile planning’s primary goal is to expedite product delivery, catering to the end-user within the shortest possible time frame. Agile planning adheres to short release cycles lasting between 3 to 6 months.
Stages of Agile Planning
Innovation remains our focal point, necessitating agile planning to keep pace with a rapidly evolving industry. The core stages of agile planning encompass scope and prioritization, diagramming, construction, iteration release, production and retirement. These phases chart our path to swiftly evolving and staying relevant.
In conclusion, agile planning proffers adaptability and the capability to respond promptly to evolving requirements and challenges. Combining agile planning with a framework such as Scrum enables iterative sprint planning, offering the flexibility to partition projects into manageable releases. While agile planning is essential, we must not neglect planning, as it serves as the beacon illuminating our product vision, project objectives, and enables the management of project constraints while accommodating changing needs and challenges during development. Most importantly, agile planning is about our users, who greatly appreciate regular updates.