Planning for the Project
The Sprint Planning meeting is the main project planning meeting, as it identifies the work content for the next Sprint; each user story selected for development is then broken down into tasks, which are the basic currency of the project, and are used to report on in the standup meetings. The first Planning meeting has quite a few unknowns to deal with, such as the velocity (amount of work) of the team, the ideal length of a Sprint in weeks and whether the work chosen for the first sprint can be finished in the allotted timeframe. Subsequent Sprints will be refined based on the outcomes of the first Sprint.
Planning During the Project
While Scrum may seem like a free-for-all to the observer, it is in fact tightly managed via the fifteen minute Daily standup meeting. This is a short-term planning meeting, where a review of yesterday’s work and a plan for the next day’s work is presented by each team member. This ensures that the Sprint does not fall behind.
The completion of a Sprint is followed by two meetings, the Sprint Review, where stakeholders are invited to hear and see what was developed during the Sprint. Changes to the original requirements can now be submitted for inclusion in the next Sprint. Then there is the retrospective, a team meeting where the success of the Sprint is assessed and lessons are learnt, which are then applied to the next Sprint, thus optimising processes and teamwork. Once these two meetings have been held, the cycle can start again, with the next Sprint Planning meeting.
Recommended Further Reading
The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course: