The Agile Manifesto states, “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is a face-to-face conversation.”
SAFe(R) takes this to the next level with planning interval, or PI, Planning, a regular face-to-face event bringing the entire Agile Release Train, or ART, together to create alignment on what to build next.
PI Planning has a standard agenda that includes a presentation of business context and Vision followed by team planning breakouts, where the teams create their iteration plans and objectives for the upcoming PI.
Facilitated by the Release Train Engineer, this event includes all members of the ART whenever possible and takes place over two days.
PI planning is considered an essential ingredient of practicing SAFe. It’s so crucial that it’s said that if you’re not doing it, you’re not doing SAFe.
Inputs to PI Planning include business context, Roadmap and Vision, top 10 Features of the ART Backlog.
PI Planning starts with the event briefings. These briefings are delivered by Business Owners and key stakeholders and provide a clear Vision and context for the upcoming PI. Everyone receives the same message to create Alignment during the PI Planning event.
A successful PI Planning event results in agreement across all teams and their respective Business Owners on the goals for the next PI, which is reflected in three crucial outputs.
PI Objectives are created by each team, and business value for these is assigned by the Business Owners.
The ART Planning Board is updated, showing Feature delivery dates, dependencies between teams, and relevant events and Milestones.
PI Risks are identified and either resolved, owned, accepted or mitigated.
Teams leave PI Planning with a committed set of PI Objectives and with a good understanding of how they will work with one another across the ART to resolve dependencies so that the whole ART is contributing to meeting business goals.
PI Planning is a powerful way to…