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| <mainDescription><h3>
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| Getting started&nbsp;
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| </h3>
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| <p>
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| Release&nbsp;planning is concerned with creating a strategic project plan (where the internal and external releases of
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| the project are identified), and tactical iteration plans for individual iterations within releases. It aims at
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| creating the right level of granularity for each purpose, so that the investment in planning is held to a minimum.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| Begin by understanding the high-level features that the system is expected to possess. These are the system's main
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| themes or services, and they are typically described or listed in a vision document. They serve to set goals and
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| expectations, both internally and externally, and they guide and constrain the iteration planning.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| The project plan is coarser-grained than iteration plans. As <a class="elementLinkWithUserText"
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| href="./../../../core.mgmt.common.base/guidances/supportingmaterials/references.mgmt_D80619F3.html#LEF07"
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| guid="_JlTPUM6aEdyuBO4ZIzcyig">[LEF07]</a> notes, a system can be described with a list of 25-50 features, calibrated
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| to the relative complexity of that system. Iteration plans, on the other hand, are described in terms of individual
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| user stories, use cases and scenarios, or other work items that will be&nbsp;developed in each iteration.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| As early in the project as possible, ideally as part of the kick-off of a new project, hold a planning session (with
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| the whole team and the stakeholders of the system) during which the initial project plan is established.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| Update the project plan as often as necessary to reflect changing business priorities and needs.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| Iteration plans help to estimate and track individual iterations. For each iteration, its plan is created just-in-time,
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| based on the currently highest prioritized work items in the product backlog.
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| </p>
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| <h3>
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| Common pitfalls
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| </h3>
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| <p>
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| One of the biggest challenges with agile planning is to resist pressure from upper management if they require to see
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| complete plans up-front in the project. This is best avoided by involving them in the planning process, and by
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| demonstrating the value of empirical planning by making the process transparent and open (to the organization and the
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| project's stakeholders) so that they can easily follow the progress of the project.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| It can be difficult to find the right level of granularity for the features of a given system. With too many features,
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| the planning process becomes tedious and error-prone, and will work counter to the intent.
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| </p></mainDescription> |
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