Category Archives: Release Planning

Latest ‘Agile Release Planning’ ebooklet

I am pleased to announce that I have completed a full edit of the booklet. It covers: * Vision * Product Backlog * Business Value * Effort * Risks, Dependencies, Learning, MMFS, and other * Ordering the Work * Drawing the line * “Communications Plan” * The Fix-It Plan * Other things * Release Plan […]

Read More »

Do only high benefit/cost work!

Tom DeMarco wrote an article a while ago: “Software Engineering: An idea whose time has come and gone?” (2009)  I guess I am just catching up on my reading. One topic is: are metrics useful? I think the real issue is: how useful is it that we ‘control’ projects? His comparison is: 1. If we […]

Read More »

Kent McDonald on Release Planning

Here is a good article on release planning. Includes a video. Enjoy.

Read More »

The Term ‘Release Planning’

Is the term ‘Agile Release Planning’ useful? Mike Cohn has a good blog post about this, here. I agree and slightly disagree. First, we need to state the obvious principles. It is important, as far as possible, to be clear and consistent about what a word or phrase means. Release Planning normally implies planning for […]

Read More »

Agile Release Planning Booklet ver 1.08

Here is my latest Agile release planning booklet: “Joe’s Approach to Agile Release Planning.”  31 pages, including a table of contents.  Free now. PDF format. Some ideas or explanations are included, but mostly actionable steps. Feedback welcome.  jhlittle@kittyhawkconsulting.com

Read More »

Early Warning System

I was giving a course today, and we were discussing: should we do agile release planning at the beginning of the effort? (Reminder: release planning always also means release plan refactoring every sprint, to whatever degree it is needed.) My advice is: most teams I see need agile release planning for a day or two […]

Read More »

Do we Estimate in Scrum? Yes!

A really smart and experienced colleague says we should not estimate.  Specifically: in Scrum we should not estimate. Now, to get into the deep inner-workings of Lean and Continuous Flow…well, I am not going to go there today. As a minor point, I will say the latest Scrum Guide to me, says we estimate in […]

Read More »

Joe’s Agile Release Planning – New Version

While I was writing the book on Agile Release Planning I was posting free versions. The book is now available here: https://leanpub.com/joesagilereleaseplanning   But it is no longer free (except to class participants).  (Although I frequently have deals on LinkedIn or Twitter.) I hope you will leave comments or send me comments or questions.

Read More »

Is release planning worth it?

In a word: Yes, if done professionally. Next, let’s acknowledge that it is a fair question.  At some point, if release planning costs too much versus the benefits, then it is a waste.  But we do not find that the ratio is nearly that bad. How is release planning, and release plan refactoring… useful? A […]

Read More »

Joe’s Agile Release Planning

I have written a new booklet that I want you to have (I think you will find it useful) and also to comment on. It is about Agile Release Planning. [Note: It was a booklet, it is now a book.  See: https://leanpub.com/joesagilereleaseplanning] It proposes that agile release planning consists of these major steps (at least): […]

Read More »