Scrum Release Plan Sets Expectations with Management

When teams transition to Agile Scrum, they may decide the only required planning is Sprint Planning. These teams feel that because they are Agile, they don’t have to plan beyond the next Sprint boundary.

Most of us work in a corporate world, where upper management wants to know when the project is expected to finish and the estimated completion dates for major features and interim deliverables. Since these managers’ budgets pay our salaries, we need to find Agile ways to plan projects and deliver them using Scrum.

Teams that plan for Feature releases can still remain true to Scrum. Both the Scrum Alliance and Agile Alliance mention release planning, but they don’t provide a process to accomplish the task.

For this reason, several methodologies have sprung up to fill the gap and put a project management wrapper around Scrum. The biggest players are Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) and Large Scale Scrum (LeSS).

To be honest, when I look at those websites, I get dizzy trying to read their process diagrams. The processes don’t feel very Agile at all.

At GSD Mindset, we are big proponents for creating a Release Plan, but we advocate an approach that more closely aligns with Agile and Scrum.The top half of the GSD Scrum Funnel© illustrates our approach.

GSD Scrum Funnel

Simplify the Release Plan Process

• Divide the application into logical Feature Sets or Epics (in Scrum terms)
• Break down each Epic into completed deliverable Components
• Prioritize the Components
• Organize the Components into a Quarterly Release Plan
• Start writing Stories for 1st Sprint
• Release Component functionality and pivot as customers use the product

Most people get the concept of identifying the high-level Features or Epics. From here, Scrum expects the Product Owner to start writing Stories about tiny slices of functionality required to build the Epic. Most new Product Owners find it difficult start with the concept of a completed Feature and immediately know what Stories to write. The intermediate step of breaking down an Epic into its Component deliverables fills the gap.

Prioritize Component Deliverables for Each Epic Before Writing Stories

Once every Epic has been broken down into Components, you can group those Components into Quarterly Releases. There are many prioritization techniques. My personal favorite is defining the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or Minimum Marketable Feature set (MMF). Think as if you could lose funding if version 1 of the product does not meet customer needs by the end of the first quarter.

If you only have one quarter to prove the value of the product, then what must be delivered? This is a very real concern if you work at a startup or a company with budget constraints. Going through this exercise helps ensure your team delivers the highest value Components first.

Once you know the highest value Components, it’s much easier to write Stories and plan for the first Sprint.

Status Report Against Release Plan

Now, even without knowing your team’s Velocity, you can provide upper management with a Quarterly Release Plan or the list of Components your team plans to deliver each quarter. The team can status report against the plan. Once you know your Velocity, you can size the Components and begin reporting percent complete.

For more details on the GSD Mindset simplified approach to developing a Release Plan, check out:

• Chapter 2 of the GSD Scrum Handbook, which further describes our approach to planning and provides examples.
• Help Your Product Owner Prioritize Stories, which describes additional methods of prioritization.

I’d love to hear about your team’s approach to planning.
Do comment.

Cynthia Kahn

Cynthia Kahn
CynthiaK@gsd.guru  503.799.5500