Release Planning Guide

What Is It? Materials Needed

The purpose of release planning is n Posted purpose and agenda RELEASE PLANNING
to commit to a plan for delivering an CHECKLIST
n  rganizing tools: working agreements,
O
increment of product value.
parking lot, communication/logistics
1. Where’s your Product Owner?
plan, issues and concerns, dependencies
Who Does It? Make sure the person responsible for
and assumptions, decisions making priority decisions about big
Release planning is a collaborative effort
features is available, be it Analyst,
involving these roles: n  igh touch: Flip chart or whiteboard and
H Product Manager or Exec.
markers
n ScrumMaster - facilitates the meeting
2. Do you have a ranked backlog?
n  igh tech: Projector, computer that can
H
n  roduct Owner - represents a general
P 5-15 high-level features, the Product
access needed data and tools, and a way Owner hopes to have in this release.
view of the product backlog
for the computer to Write each one on an index card.
n  elivery Team/Agile Team - provide
D be shared
insights into technical feasibility and 3. How will you size your items?
n Planning Data (see below) Establish a common baseline for sizing.
dependencies Consider bringing a broad group of
n  takeholders - act as trusted advisors as
S Planning Data individuals representing various teams
together and have them size a dozen
decisions are made around the release n Results of previous iterations and or so product backlog items.
plan releases
4. Who’s coming?
n  eedback from stakeholders on the
F Everyone who is impacted by the
product, market situation and deadlines release needs to be in this meeting to
help develop the plan, identify
n Action plans/SMART goals from prior dependencies, and commit to the
release and retrospective release.

n Items and defects to consider 5. Plan for logistics

n Development/architecture information Write an agenda in advance. Consider
room size. Review the agenda
Product Backlog Iteration Backlog n Velocity from previous iterations beforehand with ScrumMasters or team
leads. Provision for breakout rooms,
or estimated flipcharts and stickies, food and drink.
Before We Begin n Organizational and personal calendars
Before getting started, release planning 6. What about multiple or
n Input from other teams/subject matter distributed teams?
needs:
experts to manage dependencies Consider plane tickets if it’s only 4
n  ranked product backlog managed by
A times per year. Or assign a scribe per
distributed team to enter planning
the Product Owner Output
information from the whiteboard into
n Release plan and commitment your Agile project management tool.
n Input from the team about overall
Use breakout rooms for each team if
capabilities, known velocity and technical n Issues/concerns/dependencies/ all on-site.
impacts assumptions to be monitored
n  igh-level vision and market/business
H n A ny new items for the release backlog 7. Do I need help?
This is an expensive meeting, and
objectives potentially a large one. If you haven’t
n  uggestions to improve future planning
S
facilitated large group meetings
n  n acknowledgment of whether new
A meetings before, especially when multiple teams
product backlog items may be needed are involved, consider bringing in an
experienced facilitator to help.

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RELEASE PLANNING AGENDA
1. Opening
Welcome, review purpose and agenda, organizing tools, business sponsor’s introduction. Along with a
typical opening, it is helpful for the business sponsor to share a few words on the importance of this ScrumMaster
release and the team’s upcoming work.
2. Product vision and roadmap Product Owner
Remind the team of the larger picture.
3. Development status, state of architecture, results of previous iterations in the prior release Agile Team
Discuss any new information that may impact the plan.
4. Release name and theme
Inspect current status as it relates to your roadmap themes and collaboratively decide on adjustments ScrumMaster
to name and theme to achieve a specific, current business goal for the release.
5. Velocity in previous releases and iterations, or your estimated velocity ScrumMaster
Present the velocity (if available) to be used for this release.
6. Release schedule and number of iterations
Review key milestones and special events followed by collaborative decision on timeboxes for the ScrumMaster
release and iterations within the release.
7. Issues and concerns ScrumMaster
Check in on any known issues and concerns and record as appropriate.
8. Review and update definition of Done
Review the definition of Done and make any appropriate updates based on technology, skill, or changes Agile Team
in team makeup since the last release.
9. Stories/items from the backlog to consider Product Owner
Present proposed backlog items to be considered for scheduling into this release.
10. Determine sizing values ScrumMaster
Agree upon sizing values to be used in the release planning if velocity is unknown.
11. Coarse sizing of stories intended for the release
Delivery team determines the size of items under consideration for the release and splits items too large Agile Team
for iterations in the release. Product Owner and subject matter experts answer clarifying questions and
elaborate acceptance criteria and proper story splits. ScrumMaster facilitates collaboration.
12. Map stories to iterations in the release Agile Team
Delivery team and Product Owner move items to iterations based on size and velocity; ScrumMaster facilitates.
13. New issues and concerns ScrumMaster
Check in again on any new issues and concerns based on the previous work and record as appropriate.
14. Dependencies & assumptions ScrumMaster
Check in on any dependencies or assumptions determined during planning and record.
15. Commit!
ScrumMaster calls for “fist of five” on the plan. Delivery team and Product Owner signal if this is the best Agile Team
plan they can make given what they know right now and commit to moving to the next level of planning (iteration).
16. Communication and logistics plan ScrumMaster
Review and update communication and logistics plan for this release.
17. Parking lot ScrumMaster
Process parking lot - all items should either be resolved or turned into action items.
18. Action items/plan ScrumMaster
Process action plan - distribute action items to owners.
19. Retrospect the meeting ScrumMaster
Because we want these meetings to be useful for everyone, we solicit feedback on the meeting itself.
Close – CELEBRATE! Celebrate a successful planning session! Agile Team

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