| IO ANALYSIS | PART 0 | PLANNING STRATEGIES - bdemirjian/apbr2 GitHub Wiki

Product Visioning

Product Visioning
Purpose:  To define the vision, purpose, context, guiding principles, goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the product or platform.  
Who Participates:  Product Manager, Technical Lead, UX Design Lead, Engineering Managers, APDP Coach/Program Manager, Business Stakeholders
Inputs Activites Outputs
Strategic themes and goals
Marketing or Product Requirements Document
Architecture Diagrams
Define the Vision for the product as far out into the future as possible (9 months - 2 years).  
Define the Purpose or Mission for the product.  
Define the Product Context (users, customers, products/services, channels, key features and capabilities, internal and external suppliers)
Link the product to strategic themes and goals
Define Current state/future state architecture
Define Marketing Strategy (competitive analysis, demographics, etc.)
Define Goals (customer, financial, product/process, people)
Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Compile components of the above items.
Socialize with team or teams, leaders, stakeholders, etc. and incorporate feedback
Update at least yearly
Product Strategy
Tools & Templates Success Tips Learn More
Jira
Product Vision Board
For new products, don't try and nail down all the components of the Product Strategy up front.    Focus on the most important (Vision, Purpose, and Guiding Principles) then evolve as discovery unfolds.
Solicit help from an Agile Coach to help facilitate and guide development of the strategy.
This is an invaluable practice for any product, regardless of where the product is in its' lifecycle

Roadmap Planning

Roadmap Planning
Purpose:   To provide a high-level visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of the product over time.   The roadmap communicates the why and the what behind what you are building.    It is the guiding strategic document as well as a plan for executing the strategy.  
Who Participates:   Product Manager, Product Designer, Technical Lead, Engineering Manager, Subject Matter Experts, Marketing, IT Lead, Other Product Managers, Agile Coach
Inputs Activites Outputs
Product Vision Board
Press Release
Product Strategy
Test Strategy
Security and other Stds
Pre Workshop Activities:
Develop agendas for workshop, invitations, meeting rooms, etc.
Prepare artifacts to be leveraged during the Roadmap workshop.  Examples:
Product Vision Board
Press Release
Interviews/results
Goals
Key Performance Indicators
Hypothesis Statements
Experiment results
Current/Future State Architecture & Infrastructure (NFRs, etc.)
Product Backlog
Workshop Activities:
Share product vision, mission, goals, KPIs, etc. to bring audience up to speed with the product
Discuss proposed Initiatives and/or Features.
Collaboratively develop model(s) to break down initiatives to features. 
Diagram current and future state architecture and infrastructure diagrams.
Conduct Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort (RICE) prioritization for all initiatives or features within an initiative 
Plot them across notional timeline (produce a Roadmap)
Post Workshop Activities:
Update Jira/Confluence with results
Update at least quarterly
Roadmap
Product Backlog (updated)
Tools & Templates Success Tips Learn More

Primary purpose of a roadmap is as a communications tool
Ensure your roadmaps contain not only features, but technology enablers and tech debt items
Leverage workshops to develop the roadmap
Start with your product vision (tip: use Roman's Product Vision board)
Describe and validate your product strategy
Focus on goals and benefits, by creating a goal oriented product roadmap
Tell a coherent story about the likely growth of your product and don't oversell it
Keep it simple! Resist the temptation to add too much details to your roadmap
Actively collaborate with stakeholders to ensure buy-in
Have the courage to say no, to prevent an overload of features in your roadmap
Think twice about adding timelines, dates or deadlines to your roadmap
Make sure your roadmap is measurable, by adding measurable goals and KPI's
Create a rough estimate for each feature (#people + required skills) to determine the viability of a feature
Review and adapt your product roadmap on a regular basis
see product roadmap examples

Links

Release Planning

MTG
Purpose:   To develop an intermediate plan for the next 3-12 sprints, foster collaboration, and identify key dependencies or milestones.   
Who Participates:   Whole Team
Inputs Activites Outputs
Product Roadmap
Product Backlog
Product Vision
Architecture Diagrams
Test Strategy
Mockups, Prototypes, Maps
Velocity
Conditions of Satisfaction
Topic 1



Pre Workshop
Develop agenda for workshop, invitations, meeting rooms, etc.
Prepare artifacts to be leveraged during the workshop
Product Vision
Product Roadmap
Architecture Vision & Development Practices
Customer or User Experience Designs, mockups
Prioritized list of features and outcomes
Business Context
Key Themes For Release
Release Planning Workshop
Set the stage.   Update team(s) with any information that is pertinent to next release
Map out a high level timeline for next 3-12 sprints
Identify key milestones or events
Discuss, prioritize, size, split and map features to high level timeline
Add enabler work to the high level timeline (CI/CD pipeline, equipment, tools, infrastructure, environments, etc.)
Identify dependencies
R.O.A.M. the risks
Confidence Vote (fist of five)
Post Workshop
Update Backlog with results
Update the Release Plan after every Sprint
Release Plan
Product Backlog (updated)
Tools & Templates Success Tips Learn More
Jira
Have the Development Team select and pull features and enablers from the backlog and plot them across time.   They will have a general understanding of their capacity and technical dependencies.   Then have the development team explain to the Product Owner the logic behind the plan (the whys).   Make any adjustments.
Do as little planning as is necessary
Start release planning when you realize you need it, even if it’s near the end of the release effort
Plan using stickies on the walls. If you must transcribe them into an online tool, do that later, after the meeting.
Don’t forget that each scrum team only commits to results for the next sprint. Everything else is merely an attempt to understand what could or should happen.
Release planning is not about committing to a list of features to be released on a certain date.
Include internal suppliers (other product team leads, IT, etc.), vendors and other third parties who are relevant and involved in your release planning meeting
Revisit the release plan after each sprint and update it
Don’t give in to the urge to publish a release plan as a separate document
There’s no prescribed time box for release planning because it will vary with the size of the team and the expected length of the release effort
Ensure your Release Plans include not only Epics/Stories, but technology enablers and tech debt items
Keep it simple! Resist the temptation to add too many details to your release plan
Actively collaborate with stakeholders to ensure buy-in
Have the courage to say no, to prevent an overload of epics/stories
Focus on dependencies
Tackle the complex or high risk stories in early sprints
Do not plan any stories for the last sprint or two
Planning a release in scrum
Release Planning
SAFe PI Planning

Links

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