Successful Agile Planning: An Iteration How-To, Part I

Agile development practices, when performed correctly, are lightweight and inexpensive, avoid wasted cycles, and ensure that just the right features are built. In this article you will find successful ways to make and meet iteration commitments, techniques for leading a team or teams through an effective iteration planning meeting, and tips on how to establish priorities, size your stories, and plan your iterations better.

I am very fortunate as an Agile Coach with Rally to constantly be around teams who want to become leaner and more agile. Those who do the work, plan the work is a principle I hold dear, yet it is a struggle for many to create such a self-organizing, self-managing team. I was reminded of this in July of this year (2009). I was invited to give a webinar on Agile Planning. I expected perhaps a few dozen attendees yet 1400 people registered and 3 months later I was still answering questions. The content of that webinar is the inspiration for this article and my target audience is the team that is new to agile and lean concepts.