Ideas Behind Agile Planning: Get Everyone Involved

OK, it sounds good, get everyone involved. But what does it mean? And why do we suggest it?

It means many things. Here are some:

• Everyone gets to contribute. Eleven heads are better than one.
• Get everyone on the same page at the same time.
• Visibility. Everyone can see it at the same time.
• We can share the tacit knowledge. We can now all know what we all know about the whole thing in all dimensions.
• Everyone includes the whole Scrum Team and the Business Stakeholders. I recommend 7 + 4.
• The broader team gets a chance to decide together whether this will work and how this will go.
• Everyone is heard from the get-go.
• Less pressure on any one person.
• Hence, each person is more free to imagine and to reveal what he or she really thinks.

 

One of the results:

• If they plan it together, they are more likely to make it happen together.

 

That does not mean it will happen (many other factors) and does not mean it will happen according to plan. In fact, probably not according to the original plan. But it is more likely to happen better.

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What is the reason we consider an opposite approach (such as, a waterfall approach)? One excuse is: It is more efficient.

For example, to have two people work on the plan over 3 weeks. Well, that might be more efficient by person-hours perhaps, but a lot of elapsed time is lost. And the other values (e.g., everyone working together) are also lost.

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