Planning in Agile projects

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My last blog was about process in Agile project. Yes we need process which is agreed by the team. Similarly we need a plan which is agreed by the team. Do not confuse plan to a Gnatt chart or WBS structure with dates against each item (using a tool) . This kind of planning will not work in agile project (Probably in other areas where creative work is involved).

SCRUM approach has a planning meeting called Sprint planning. This meeting involves the team members and items which are part of Sprint is decided in this meeting. Team commits to deliver these items by the end of Sprint. Be it 2, 4 or 6 weeks. Once Sprint is completed have a plan for next cycle.

Sprint planning involves all the stake holders. Product owner and team. Without these two parties plan will not work. How the planning is done. Product owner does the prioritization of the tasks (items) to be completed. Ideally tasks which have high returns are taken on priority. Then the team discuss which items can be taken during the time period. Team decides what can be taken. Product owner does have influence in this matter. But final decision is a collective one.

This is the key why agile delivers. When planning is done by one person (In traditional Software development) team does not have a say. Planning is done in such a way to maximize the teams available hours. Each person is loaded 100 %. If one person slips then entire team is dragged down. This spiral causes project delays. Same time an agile team knows its strengths and weakness. Team members take tasks as per their strengths. This way they deliver what they accept.

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