Essential Checklist:

How to Do Virtual Program Increment (PI) Planning

 Essential Checklist: How to Do Virtual Program Increment (PI) Planning | 2

WHY VIRTUAL PI PLANNING NOW?

Times are changing. The way Agile teams need and want to work is vastly comprised of many teams and/or teams of teams that must work together to
different than it was even five years ago. And more different still than when satisfy strategic and corporate objectives. This is typically accomplished with
the Agile Manifesto published in 2001. A primary principle of the lauded quarterly, mid-range, or Program Increment Planning events.
document, “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information
to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation,” may no Scaled Agile, Inc.®, states that “Program Increment (PI) Planning is a cadence-
longer be necessary or prudent today. based, face-to-face event that serves as the heartbeat of the Agile Release
Train (ART), aligning all the teams on the ART to a shared mission and vision.”
Loosening the reigns on Agile team ideals and allowing teams to work
remotely opens organizations up to the option of hiring the best talent, no Keywords are “face-to-face” and “heartbeat”, but what if it’s no longer
matter the zip code or time zone. However, figuring out how to maintain possible to have face-to-face planning, and instead planning now must be
the connection between the business strategy and the work delivered done virtually?
becomes infinitely harder with distributed teams. But, does it really have to
be? Oftentimes, the answer is no. With a few tweaks to in-person working In this essential checklist, we’ll answer this question: How do we do virtual PI
styles and structures, teams can find, maintain, and even grow their current Planning to keep our Agile Release Train(s) or teams of teams delivering the
productivity while operating remotely. It’s about being Agile and simply right value at the right time in an ever-pivoting environment? Some of these
pivoting to what’s best for the business. ideas are out of the box, but should, at the very least, be considered as you
think about how to do virtual PI Planning.
While individual teams may easily find their groove working remotely, it can be
more challenging for teams of teams or Agile Release Trains (ARTs). ARTs are
 Essential Checklist: How to Do Virtual Program Increment (PI) Planning | 3

WHAT’S NEEDED

A virtual meeting platform, like Zoom, Skype, or WebEx, with dedicated dial-ins for the “main room” but also for team break-out sessions.

A communication platform, with a dedicated channel for those participating in the event, like Slack.

An agenda that follows your normal meeting cadence, but with some out-of-the-box ideas – like a group exercise or a way to split the meeting over several
days instead of two (see agenda at end of eBook).

Kanban software that is easy to use and super flexible, like Planview LeanKit™.

A group of individuals who are fully dedicated and knowledgeable in facilitating a planning meeting, like an Agile coach, Release Train Engineer, or Scrum
Master (or several of each, depending on size of the event).

Prepared team members and supportive (and present) leadership teams.

PREPARATION GUIDANCE

Do your pre-work with leadership. It’s imperative they are on the same page and
know the epics and/or features that are prioritized to bring into the “room”.

Discuss what context must be set for this new experience in your Lean Portfolio
Management or ART conversations.

Build an agenda (see end of ebook) that allows for many breaks, a fun group exercise
or two, and plenty of time for the teams to interact. This is where creative thinking
must take over. You’ll see that in the agenda breakdown.

Crowd-source ideas for how to make virtual PI Planning engaging PRIOR to the
event. We’re surrounded by smart people; ask for their input – allow them an
opportunity to own building the agenda to better suite their needs.

PRO Since folks will be sitting in their own house, in a comfy chair, and ripe for
TIP distraction, make sure the context is relevant, concise and to the point.
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RUNNING VIRTUAL PI PLANNING

Respect the timebox: It’s easy for in-person PI Planning sessions to start late and run over. The same holds true for virtual meetings. If you start late, you’ll
lose the attention of those who are “present”, and those same people who are on time will feel less important if you wait for the late comers. This holds true
for finishing on time as well. Schedules, and keeping to them, are key for everyone to be conscious of and adhere to.

Create thoughtful working agreements as a group: Working agreements need to acknowledge the elephant in the room – it’s easy to get distracted and
multi-task. Suggest a working agreement to limit multi-tasking during the event is a great idea! Post your working agreements where all can see (like within
the PI Planning board in LeanKit).

Set expectations early and often: Acknowledge that this session is likely going to be harder than many expect. Ask everyone to stay patient and be present.

Maintain the structure and properties of a typical PI Planning event: It’s critical to establish either people or processes for capturing “parking lot” items,
ROAM (Resolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated) items, and for managing the agenda.

TEAM PLANNING AND CONNECTING IT ALL

Just as you would during an in-person PI Planning, make time for the teams to plan together. For virtual PI Planning, it may be necessary to build more
structure into this part. Take advantage of separate virtual meeting rooms and team communication channels to facilitate this portion of the planning.

Build a virtual version of a team board and a program board in Planview LeanKit™.
Think about how you would normally utilize your whiteboards in a live event. Build a
backlog lane and build out iteration lanes and columns. Rather than sticky notes, use
different colored cards for different work-types. Did you find the need to add a lane
or column? No problem, just edit your board, click save, and start inputting your work
priorities!

Leverage the digital Kanban capabilities to manage priorities and easily rearrange
work based on team read-outs with easy drag and drop functionality.

PRO It may be worth recruiting a few folks outside of the ART to help each team
TIP facilitate their breakout sessions. Asking the Scrum Master to be present,
while also asking them to facilitate can be difficult. Find like-minded people
who are willing to step in (with some guidance from the Agile coach) to help.
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Connect the team boards to a Program board and get a teams-of-teams view into the work. Allow teams and leadership to easily see the features the
teams are committing to, how they are connected to other features or enabler features, and map dependencies across teams.

Add a ROAM and objectives section to the Program board, so that all work objectives and
associated risks are linked to a central location. Teams can easily add risks to that board,
allowing leadership to quickly assess and determine the best route forward based on key
objectives. If leadership needs more information to understand a risk, they can click into the
card, see who put the card on the board, and reach out for clarification.

For every section of the agenda (breakout or context setting), have a deliverable or objective.
For context setting, ask people to take notes and ask questions (this could be your deliverable
for that section). For team breakouts, be thoughtful about what the goal is for that breakout.
Without these guideposts, virtual planning can quickly derail. See agenda for examples.

Alternate Approach: Build the Program board first, prioritize the epics/features, and then use
that board to speak to context throughout that portion of your agenda. From there, teams can
build (or boards can be pre-built) the virtual version of their workflow. They can then reference
the Program board to determine the epics/features they need to connect their work to, and
then do so as they go. Leaders will get a real-time feel for how work is connected and distributed, all in one view on the Program board.

PRO Consider recording context setting so that people can view prior to PI Planning, and then use that part of the agenda as Q&A for people to
TIP engage and ask clarifying questions to what they viewed.
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ACTIONING ON THE PLAN: WHAT TO DO AFTER PI PLANNING

If this was your first time doing a virtual PI Planning event, congrats! Like many development teams, a “hardening” week, the week after PI Planning may
be required to ensure all plans are circulated and communicated. It also gives teams and leadership an opportunity to digest the information that was
presented virtually. Be flexible, as changes could occur during this time.

Visually manage, coordinate, and connect disparate Agile teams into a Teams of Teams or Program board in LeanKit, without disrupting their current
workflows or methodology usage.

It is also important to establish and maintain consistent team meetings and other cross-team syncs. Make sure to schedule these meetings as quickly as
possible following the PI Planning events. If they’re already on the calendar, consider ways to use your Program board and team boards to manage those
meetings more consistently.

Leverage weekly team planning meetings to keep the individual teams focused on their iteration and release priorities. Utilize daily-standups or regular
check-ins to keep work on track and to elevate risks and roadblocks.

Create or re-establish a forum for risks and roadblocks to be discussed. This will be more important than ever since the teams are virtual and communication
gaps may become present as teams adjust to virtual planning cadences. Make sure that leadership is actively participating in these syncs. Ideally, it will feel
like leadership is overly communicating to ensure all teams and plans stay on track and any business pivots are communicated broadly.

It’s important to ensure that cross-team syncs still happen at regular intervals. This can be accomplished in monthly Product Owner syncs, Steering Meetings
and/or Portfolio Management meetings. It is prudent to find a schedule that can accommodate these different meetings to keep all stakeholders aligned.
Again, leadership must help lay the groundwork for the prioritization of these meetings.

PRO • • M
 oving cards from the virtual PI Planning LeanKit board is very simple. If you built your PI Planning on the same board as the team board, simply
TIP click all the stories you committed to and move those to the team’s backlog.

• • If you created a special board for virtual PI Planning, simply bulk-move committed stories and features from that board to the team board.

• • K
 eeping connections to the Program Board are simple. It’s just a parent-child, right-click connection.
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VIRTUAL PI PLANNING AGENDA
Virtual Meeting 1 Virtual Meeting
Day 1 Date Day 3 Date
Room ID / Number Room ID / Number
Time Zone One Who Location: Virtual / Remote Time Zone One Who Location: Virtual / Remote
Presenter: Agile Coach Orientation: Welcome, Introductions, What to Expect, Presenters: Exec Sponsor +
8:30 - 9:00am Leadership
Participants: All Working Agreements, Key Inputs / Outcomes 2 8:45 - 9:15am Day Two Guidance & ROAM Readout
Participants: All
Vision & Business Context Setting: Presenters should
focus on the top three things the teams need to know Team Breakout #2 (Adjust based on ROAM
Presenter(s): TBD Based to plan against. Be concise and be relevant. Consider Readout; Starting to Finalize)
on Current Needs context from business leaders, product management,
Team Breakout Work
9:00 - 10:00am marketing leaders, and (maybe) finance. Choose wisely.
This information must be pertinent to the audience. Adjust plan based on ROAM readout from
9:15 - 10:30am Participants: All team members leadership
Presenters should only need 20min to get through
Participants: All this information and should present highest-value Identify risks and dependencies
information, first. Breakout Deliverable: Second iteration of team
Break: Encourage participants to do an exercise deliverables and projected timeline, based on
together as a group before going into the next section ROAM readout/adjustments
10:00 - 10:15am Participants: All
(planks, squats, jumping jacks, lunges - whatever might Team Breakout #3 (Cross-Team Dependency
get the blood flowing) Conversations) 3
10:30 - 11:30am
Presenter(s): TBD Vision & Business Context Setting, cont. Participants: All team members Breakout Deliverable: Understand cross-team
Each team should do a readout based on the dependencies and discuss timeline for moving
10:15 - 10:45am
Participants: All previous PI work. What went well, what did they forward; plan could be close to final.
learn, how will they adjust this PI? Team Readout #2 (Record and Send to those
Close the Day: Provide a quick context recap and let not able to attend live)
10:45 - 11:00am Participants: All
the teams go about the rest of their day 11:30am - 12:00pm Participants: All Second iteration (close to final or final, depending
on how the day goes) of team’s plans; discuss
risks and dependencies
Virtual Meeting
Day 2 Date Presenter: Agile Coach + Executive Close the Day: Closing remarks from the
Room ID / Number
Sponsor executive sponsor or other leadership
Time Zone One Who Location: Virtual / Remote
12:00 - 12:15pm If the plans are final at this point, pull the
Presenter: Agile Coach
Participants: All Confidence Vote, Action Items, Closing Remarks
8:15 - 8:30am + Executive Sponsor Context for the day, along with outcomes expected and Week One Guidance from the end of Day
Participants: All Four to here and extend this time to 12:30pm.
Team Breakout #1 Participants: Release Train Leaders, If needed: Leadership Huddle / Swarm: ROAM
12:15 - 12:45pm
Begin building stories to align to Features discussed in Leadership / Stakeholders the Risks & Reflect on Day 3
Context Setting
Start aligning stories to iterations and discuss Virtual Meeting
Participants: All Day 4 Date 4
capacity and WiP limits; identify risks Room ID / Number
sub-divided by team,
8:30 - 11:00am Discuss current performance/process & gaps based Time Zone One Who Location: Virtual / Remote
stakeholders and
on story backlog
leadership Participants: All
Discuss needs from outside of the team 8:15 - 8:30am If needed: ROAM Readout + Day four guidance
Presenter: Agile Coach + Executive
(dependencies) and alignment opportunities
Sponsor
Breakout Deliverable: Risks and dependencies
Team Breakout #4 (Finalize Plans)
Breakout Deliverable: First iteration of backlog stories 8:30 - 10:45am Participants: All team members Breakout Deliverable: Committed Features
Team Readout #1 (Record and Send to those who and Stories in team board
are not able to join live)
Team Readout #3 (Record and Send to those
11:00 - 11:30am Participants: All First iteration of team’s plans: Socialize each team’s not able to attend live)
initial plan (potential dependencies); first read out of 10:45 - 11:30am Participants: All
Committed Features and Stories in team
scope/capacity – are you underwater or okay?
board
Presenter: Agile Coach
Close the Day: Consider closing remarks from the Participants: All
11:30am - 12:00pm + Executive Sponsor Confidence Vote, Action Items, Closing
executive sponsor or other leadership 11:30am - 12:00pm Presenter: Agile Coach + Executive 5
Participants: All Remarks – Week One Guidance
Sponsor
Participants: Release
Train Leaders, Leadership Huddle / Swarm: ROAM the Risks &
12:15 - 12:45pm
Leadership / Reflect on Day 2 1 Set up a virtual meeting room for all sessions for full visibility.
Stakeholders
2 Consider adding a lane to the Program Board to include working agreements, so they are always available and visible.
This agenda is intended to provide a starting point for your next virtual PI Planning event. 3 In-person PI Planning allows for these conversations to happen organically. Virtual PI Planning may require dedicated
It should be adjusted based on the ART needs.
time for these discussions.

4 Day Four may not be needed, if teams are able to finalize their plans at the close of Day Three.

5 If you chose to close at the end of Day Three, pull this section up to ensure you leave PI Planning aligned.
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