During a program exchange with a client, our team realized that developing software products and building houses are relatively similar tasks. Both are long-term projects that require the coordination of multiple teams and will be confirmed by the acceptance party. And during the process of the project, ideas are always changing, new requirements will continue to be raised, and various problems will arise. Without a sound plan, there will always be a risk of late occupancy.
The difference in software development is that it can use the method of agile development framework to improve the ability of multiple teams to respond quickly to changes . Then, how does agile, a method based on frequent and continuous delivery, relate to long-term and strategic planning? What about coexistence? Is it possible in Agile development to predict work long in the future?
1. How to carry out long-term planning in agile development
Whether you're using Kanban or Scrum , or scaling agile , no matter what stage of agile practice you're in, strategic planning for your team involves managing people, projects, and resources . In software development, using unsuitable tools for planning sometimes brings more problems, such as the random combination of Gantt charts, Excel and project management tools, which reduces the team's work efficiency.
The key to long-term agile planning is to keep the project content in sync with the task plan and roadmap .
Before discussing effective solutions, let's use the example of building a house to illustrate each step of building a long-term agile plan:
Step 1: Start with a strategy
Whether building a house or developing a product, you should define your vision and set goals, which can be the focus of your overall work. For example, what key tasks does the team want to focus on in the next quarter, half a year, or a year? Where do you want to spend your time and resources? Performance, user experience, security, new cool features, or all of them?
In the process of research and development projects, we always need to face two real problems - time and money. Setting high-priority goals can help the team focus time and energy on something that has a high impact and a high return.
The second step: determine the overall framework
Safety is an important goal in the construction of a house, and for this goal, we need to determine an effective infrastructure solution, such as strong walls, solid doors and windows on the external frame. The same is true for software development, which requires the team to determine the overall framework and scope of the project.
Step 3: Goal or task disassembly
After determining the goals, how can these strategic goals be achieved? We need to split large work goals into more achievable tasks, such as the " epic " commonly used in agile development. In this way, it is convenient to sort out the overall plan and decompose it into multiple work steps, so as to obtain a detailed work view.
Taking window installation as an example, we have to buy new windows, install them, and then use auxiliary materials to improve the experience of using the windows, etc. Individual work tasks make up a complete to-do list. Once the to-do list is confirmed, we can complete the most important step in the planning process: job estimating .
Step Four: Make an Estimate
Once the work is broken down, a rough time estimate can be made to develop a roadmap. A roadmap is an executive plan of how a product or solution will evolve over time. Teams use roadmaps to understand the timing and sequence of important events.
During the actual construction of a house (or in the development of a project), past experience is needed to estimate future work. That's why it's important to store estimate information in one easy-to-view place. This will make reviewing easier and subsequent estimates more accurate.
After the estimation is completed, the developed roadmap will be shared with the team (developers, or house construction workers, etc.), and they will use professional knowledge to improve and execute these work contents.
Step 5: Develop a release node
When using an agile development framework, teams typically deliver a release version of the product after each iteration . However, when doing long-term planning and using roadmaps, it is necessary to define some approximate release nodes on the roadmap in order to estimate release dates for the next quarter or longer. Just like determining the completion time of the exterior work of the house, it can be divided into window installation, as well as framing, carpentry, painting and other work, which is convenient for calculating an overall delivery date.
The R&D team should link work items in the backlog with similar, valuable features to provide overall value to the customer. Remember that releases should be driven by delivered feature scope, not strict deadlines.
Step Six: Create a Roadmap
The traditional project triangle shows that a project has three variables: scope (what it wants to do), time (how long it takes), and resources (who can do it). Now that we have the estimated backlog, release milestones, and team velocity, we can create a complete roadmap.
Tip: Use tools like Roadmap in PingCode to create a roadmap for your team, make data-driven decisions, and keep stakeholders updated on how your project is progressing.
Step 7: Share and validate with the team
Share the completed roadmap with the team and validate it. Have the team break down epics into features and user stories and estimate all work items. However, during the construction of the house, the roofer may have some scheduling conflicts, or the infrastructure company may run out of concrete, and ordering will consume some time. The project development team should also conduct hypothesis verification under the premise of considering these external factors in order to make more accurate estimates. At the same time, key stakeholders should also participate in the development of the roadmap when some important time points need to be confirmed.
Step Eight: Continuous Improvement
Through incremental improvement, value can be continuously created, which can not only promote product innovation, but also obtain a satisfactory residence. Use roadmaps to visualize and optimize future work processes. Get feedback from customers or family members and test and improve regularly.
Interested in creating a roadmap to map out your long-term vision? Both the planning component of PingCode project management and product management provide roadmap functionality to support the team.
Further reading: Guide to Agile Development
Scrum Development Guide: Detailed Explanation of Scrum Framework | Four Scrum Meetings and Correct Ways to Hold | Correct Way to Plan and Execute Sprint | 4 Key Points for Doing Iterative Planning | Do these 4 points to make daily stand-up meetings more suitable for agile Team | 3 Key Steps to Opening a Good Iteration Review | Why Hold an Iteration Review | The 3 Scrum Roles and Their Specific Responsibilities | The Role of the Scrum Three Artifacts in Agile Development | 14 Best Scrums in 2022 Agile Project Management Software | More
Kanban Agile Guide: 5 Benefits of Using Kanban (Kanban) Management Method | Kanban VS Scrum: How to choose? | Which scenarios are suitable for the mixed mode of Kanban and Scrum | More
Scaled Agile: The Value of Scaled Agile and Five Large-scale Agile Frameworks | Spotify Model of Scaled Agile | LeSS Framework of Scaled Agile Framework | SAFe Scaled Agile Framework | Scrum@Scale Model | Agile Project Portfolio Management | OKR and Agile Development | More
Product Management: How to Build a Qualified Product Roadmap | How to Become a Good Product Manager | The Importance of Agile Roadmaps and Construction | How to Build Simple and Effective Product Requirements Documents | Use NPS to Determine Functional Priority | Every Product Manager Needs Learn Product Analysis Skills | More