Iteration Planning – Part 2

Although this material may be found in a  variety of places on the web, clients have often asked me to provide them write-ups and explanations.  Enclosed is a brief summary of Iteration (Sprint) Planning Part 2 for Agile Teams.

Pre-Requisites

Iteration Planning – Part 1 has completed.

Duration

1 to 2 hours

Purpose

On Day 1 of the Iteration the Team takes the stories they’ve discussed with the Product Owner and decide what tasks they need to create to deliver that story and the estimates (in hours) associated with each one of those tasks.

The Product Owner is not required during Part 2 of Iteration Planning.  Often the Product Owner is “on call” if the Team has questions.  Usually as Teams mature, Part 2 of Iteration Planning is not facilitated by the ScrumMaster.  The ScrumMaster charges the team with what they need to accomplish and asks the team when we can get back together with the Product Owner to review.  That may often take 1 to 2 hours depending upon the number of stories pulled into the Iteration.

Note: if the entire team is not present during Iteration Planning – Part 2, it will take longer for the team to commit to their body of work.

Attendees

Participants1

  • Team
  • ScrumMaster (depends on team maturity, in the beginning the ScrumMaster is typically more involved)
  • Product Owner (on demand, as required)

Observers2

  • Not applicable, although anyone could observe, but as teams mature this activity is often done distributed and “heads-down” by the team members.

Concludes

The Team, Product Owner and ScrumMaster will re-convene and review the tasks identified to support the stories.  As a group they will conduct a “sanity check” to confirm that we have the right tasks.  Additionally, they will check to see if they have too much work or not enough work for the iteration.  If so, the Product Owner and the team will adjust accordingly.

After the team plans out the tasks, in ideal hours, the ScrumMaster will assist the team in comparing against their available capacity.

Part 2 of Iteration Planning concludes when the team commits to the work for the Iteration.

Standard Scrum Ceremonies / Meetings


  1. Participants in this document refer to individuals critical to the meeting and are allowed to talk during the meeting. 
  2. Observers in this document refer to individuals allowed to observe meetings, but aren’t allowed to talk during the meeting. 

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