Description
The purpose of release planning is to project a long-term plan for delivering specific functionality on a loose schedule to meet a business requirement. The used of fixed plans, budget, and functionality, commonly seen in “waterfall-style” planning, is discouraged. The release plan is vision, based on known variables, of what may be released along a given timeline.
Release Planning requires a prioritized product backlog that is managed by the product owner, and is a view into the potential functionality that might exist at a specific point in time. The product owner is responsible for conveying the product vision and business objectives to the development team, and discussing a basic sequence of iterations or sprints that, if nothing changes, would result in a delivery schedule. During release planning, the product owner and the agile team collaborate on which features will be delivered in each release, and the agile team can plan for needed capabilities and resources, sprint duration, and estimate the expected number of sprints that may be required to meet the release forecast.
The product owner, in collaboration with the agile teams, should review and revise the release plan after each iteration or sprint, based on feedback received during sprint demos and backlog grooming.
Typical Roles
Agile Team
Customer
Business SME
Marketing, Sales, or Business Development
Product Owner
Desired Behaviors
- 1.
Prioritize the product backlog and product features during and after each iteration/sprint.
- 2.
Focus on the highest-value features in the early sprints, leaving the lower-value features until later sprints, or even negotiate them away after the teams learn more about them.
- 3.
Loosely allocate epics or stories to sprints within the release plan based on their known variables and business priority.