Lightweight PI Planning Approach for RN1.5

Pre-Planning (2 Days)

Day 1: Readiness Review

• Product Vision Session (2 hours)

  • CPO presents overall product direction
  • Engineering leads share technical vision/constraints
  • Open discussion on challenges/opportunities
  • Outcome: Shared understanding of direction

• Capacity Planning (2 hours)

  • Engineering presents team capacity model
  • Review historical velocity data
  • Factor in maintenance/support overhead
  • Outcome: Agreed capacity guardrails

Day 2: Feature Review

• Feature Walkthrough (3 hours)

  • PMs present high-level features
  • Engineering asks clarifying questions
  • Architecture team shares technical considerations
  • Outcome: Initial feature understanding

• T-Shirt Sizing Workshop (2 hours)

  • Cross-functional teams size features
  • Use planning poker for alignment
  • Document key assumptions
  • Outcome: Rough feature estimates

PI Planning (2 Days)

Day 1: Planning

• Opening (1 hour)

  • Review planning objectives
  • Present business context
  • Share known risks/dependencies

• Team Breakouts (4 hours)

  • Teams work on sprint plans
  • POs available for questions
  • Architecture team for technical guidance
  • Focus on first 2 sprints in detail

• Draft Plan Review (2 hours)

  • Teams present draft plans
  • Identify cross-team dependencies
  • Highlight risks and assumptions
  • Get feedback from stakeholders

Day 2: Finalization

• Risk/ROI Analysis (2 hours)

  • Review risks vs business value
  • Prioritize based on ROI
  • Make scope trade-off decisions
  • Document key assumptions

• Plan Finalization (3 hours)

  • Teams adjust based on feedback
  • Finalize sprint assignments
  • Lock in key milestones
  • Agree on delivery risks

• Confidence Vote (1 hour)

  • Teams vote on confidence
  • Address major concerns
  • Get leadership buy-in
  • Formal plan commitment

Trust-Building Elements

Psychological Safety

• No blame for estimation misses
• Focus on learning from past releases
• Encourage open sharing of concerns
• Create safe space for questions

Transparency

• Share all planning artifacts openly
• Make assumptions explicit
• Clear escalation paths
• Regular progress visibility

Shared Ownership

• Joint decision-making
• Collective problem-solving
• Balanced PM/Engineering input
• Mutual accountability

Clear Boundaries

• Respect for team capacity
• Change management process
• Escalation guidelines
• Support commitment

Follow-up

Week 1

• Daily cross-team standups
• Dependency resolution
• Risk mitigation planning
• Quick feedback loops

Weekly

• Plan vs actual review
• Impediment removal
• Dependency check
• Risk reassessment

Monthly

• Feature progress review
• Capacity utilization check
• Process improvement
• Trust metric review

Success Metrics

Delivery

• Predictability score
• Scope stability
• Risk retirement rate
• Milestone achievement

Team Health

• Trust assessment
• Collaboration rating
• Psychological safety
• Team satisfaction

Process

• Planning effectiveness
• Communication quality
• Decision latency
• Impediment resolution