AGILERELEASE PLANNING

BY ADNAN AZIZ

AREAS OF LEARNING

Typical Story of a ReleaseRoadmap to ValueVisionProduct RoadmapRelease PlanningLearnings

TYPICAL STORYOF A RELEASE

SOMEONE DEFINES THE ROADMAP FOR YOU

FEATURES AND RELEASE DATE IS SELECTED FOR YOU

TEAM STARTS WORK ON RELEASE

AHHHA WE LIVE ON PLANET EARTH AND WORK

IN THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

TIME RUNS OUT

AND PRESSURE MOUNTS

Drumbeats get faster, faster

……and faster

TEAM IS WHIPPED UP TO RAMMING SPEED

WHAT THIS PRESSURE DOES TO A TEAM

Pressure

Fatigue

More Mistak

es

More Work

do {

.........

} while(true)

SUPERHEROS SAVES THE RELEASE

Does this situation bring out the best in people?

THIS SITUATION DAMAGES THE ENTHUSIASM

7 VSTAGES TO

ALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

ROADMAP TO VALUE

VISION

VISIONThe goals of the product and its alignment with the company’s strategy

OWNERProduct Owner

FREQUENCYAt least annually

ROADMAPPRODUCT

PRODCUT ROADMAPHolistic view of product features that create the product vision

OWNERProduct Owner

FREQUENCEYAt least biannually

RELEASE

PLANNING

RELEASE PLANNINGHigh priority features release timing for specific product functionality

OWNERProduct Owner

FREQUENCEYAt least quarterly

PURPOSE

Define and understand a goal for the release Define what features can be released Confirm the date for the release Have everyone in the team understand and commit to delivering

the agreed release by the agreed date

A PLANNING SESSION Features and themes are reviewed and prioritized Key dates and milestones are established Team determines roughly which features will be delivered in the

timeframe identified Goal is to produce a high-level release plan with delivery dates

#TIP

Don’t go into too much detail, leave that to iteration planning

CONTINUES PLANNING

Shippable Increment

After Every

Release

Release 4Release 3Release 2Release 1

In agile projects we plan continuously Allow course correction in response to feedback

WHO IS INVOLVEDProduct Owner

#TIP

Involve any other stakeholders that can add valuable input

DevelopersTesters UXSME’s BA’s

IN RELEASE PLANNING MEETING

Product owner explains the key objectives that business needs to achieve from this release

Product owner helps to understands the motivation behind the release

Based on prioritized backlog of features meaningful conversation beings

#TIP

Release planning will run more smoothly and take less time if you’re prepared

IN RELEASE PLANNING MEETING

Business value is questioned to build common consensus Developers assess technical risks Rough estimates are established New stories are created if there are some technical unknowns Consensus needs to be reached on the release plan with

everyone present stating their commitment verbally

#TIP

Don’t get bogged down into details, it’s important to remain focused and to maintain a brisk pace

TEAM DECIDES AND TEAM COMMITS

Team knows its throughput based on their prior experiences Team understands their capability to deliver the release Enough details are provided for team to understand the

motivation behind the release Team is involved in rough estimation and risk identification

conversation Team decides which features can be delivered and gives

commitment to the product owner

#TIP

Shared goals and shared conversation create great products

END RESULT

Release 4Release 3

Team committed to release plan with clear understanding Build flexibility to better plan your future releases

… … …… … …… … …

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Product Backlog

RELEASE GOTCHA’S

Release 2Release Planning

Release Validatio

n

Release 1Release Planning

Release Validatio

n

Release 3Release Planning

Release Validatio

n

Planning and validation must be considered when planning a release

Release validation ensures that desired outcomes are achieved

LEARNINGS

DEVELOP A SHARED VISION

THINK ABOUT COMMON PURPOSE

BUILD SENSE OF SHARED OWNERSHIP

COMMUNICATE ‘WHY’

CREATE EXCITEMENT AROUND BUSINESS RESULTS

“High-quality games at a lower cost that are as fun to develop as they are to play”

Care to share your experience?

THANK YOU

www.agilehash.comtwitter.com/adnanaziz

* All images collected through Google, Flickr