Indeed, Agile is relatively new as compared to conventional Project Management approaches. Nevertheless, it will not be an overstatement to say that it has made a big splash in Project Management. Of course, it started its journey in the manufacturing field. But, quickly, it has been adopted by other industries as well. The other industries started to use this approach understanding the iterative approach of Agile. Some organizations following this approach do not want to call it a methodology. But, some organizations argue that it is indeed a methodology. Many feel that it can be defined as a philosophy as it is more of an approach. 

What are Agile Principles?

When it comes to Product Management, the Agile methodology has turned out to be a common methodology. It has been developed on 12 key principles that a team of software developers created in 2001. The principles of Agile methodology are framed to make sure that organizations prioritize the right things. These things are adapting to change, collaboration and customer satisfaction among others.

The 12 key principles of Agile can support organizations in properly aligning the product-development cycles. In turn, they can achieve better outcomes through a reactive and flexible system. Customers should be able to get the deliverables sooner and they can provide feedback that can be rightly implemented in future deliverables by the organization.

Agile Planning:

When an organization has planned a product to be  implemented following Agile principles, Agile product planning gets into the picture. This planning is something essential in the present volatile business atmosphere. 

A famous adage says failing to plan is planning to fail. This saying from Alan Lakein, an expert in time management will help you understand how important is planning in Product Management. Planning is part of the day-to-day operation in most organizations and so its importance cannot be ignored.

How is Agile Product Planning Different from Conventional Waterfall Planning?

As you are thinking about the Agile planning approach, it is better to understand how Agile Product planning is different from conventional waterfall approach.

Some decades ago, entrepreneurs spent a lot of time framing detailed execution plans. It took years to plan things. However, this approach worked the best for many decades. Nevertheless, as markets these days turn more dynamic, the requirements started to swap more regularly and a fresh and more workable technique of planning became essential for businesses in the 20^th century. With knowledge improvement, this need turned more critical and obvious. Around five decades earlier, people were employed basically in factories. But, now the jobs get done in offices in most businesses and the need for an Agile Planning that works has increased a lot these days.

The key difference between Agile planning and the conventional waterfall approach is that the former is more adjustable to changes and iterative, while the latter is a procedural huge planning process. Here, the thing to remember is that both these approaches carry their own virtues. When you are engaged in any product like building or bridge construction, you should frame a very well-thought and detailed plan. 

Steps in Agile Product Planning:

Product Planning in Agile Methodology involves five steps that will help with the better implementation of Agile methodology. These five steps are together referred to as Agile onion planning. You can understand it with ease from the picture below:

                                              

1. Product Vision:

The first and crucial step in Agile planning is product vision. It encompasses long-term goals that make sure that all the teams part of the product have a clear vision about what their end product will look like.

When the vision is explained after every Sprint, it will be possible for you to evaluate whether they are moving in the right direction or not. Further, it aids all members of the team to achieve the desired outcome successfully. So, the first step in the Agile product planning process is to have a big picture of your product. Also, in this step, you should define a vision clearly.

2. Agile Roadmap:

The second step in the Agile planning process is creating the Agile roadmap. In this step, you will be planning a roadmap with milestones that your product should reach at different stages so that the end goal can be easy to achieve. Agile roadmap is the path that will help you achieve your product vision. 

When it comes to Agile planning, the roadmap will offer strategies that provide key context for the everyday work of the team with the end product.

3. Agile Release Planning:

This third step in the Agile planning process will help you understand the possibility of the number of functionality and the time required for developing these functionalities.

When you frame the release plan, you will be in a position to identify the expected development of the project in every Sprint.

4. Iteration Planning:

We discussed Sprint in the previous points. These Sprints are otherwise called iterations. They are nothing but small cycles that encompasses a duration of around a week to a month. Before deciding on a Sprint, you should remember one thing. The Sprint should be decided upon only after a meeting between the stakeholders and team members. The purpose of this meeting is to identify the task load for the team members, the amount of work to be handled by each member of the team and the level of work that will be completed at the end of the Sprint cycle.

5. Daily Stand-ups:

This is the final step in the Agile onion planning process. It encompasses meeting the team members. This meeting can take place either at the close or at the beginning of the day. When the meeting happens at the beginning of the day, it will discuss the accomplishments of the previous day and what needs to be done today. On the other hand, when the meeting takes place at the end of the day, it will discuss what happened on this day and what should be achieved the next day.

The Best Practices in Agile Project Planning:

Now, you know Agile planning onion process steps.  But, before you begin the first step of the planning process, it is better to be aware of the best practices to follow when you plan. When it comes to Agile Project Management, products are developed in the form of Sprints. So, Sprint planning is one of the best practices.

Sprint Planning:

The Sprint planning aims at identifying the functionality and features that will be part of the upcoming iteration. Prior to the beginnig of each Sprint, the development team members and the product owners should participate in a meeting for planning Sprint. At this time, they should review the backlog and user stories for identifying the works that they should finish at the time of the Sprint. The good thing about Sprint planning is that it will produce a deeper level of detail. For instance, besides explaining the duration of each task, it will also specify which tasks will be taken care of by whom. 

Here are other best practices to follow in the Agile planning process:

Task Planning:

After identifying the features, the team members of Agile will have to split them into tasks before taking them up. Here, the best practice is to identify the time judgements for each task. In case, you come across a split that will take more than a workday, you can split them into smaller works. This practice will help with the successful completion of tasks and will reduce uncertainty as well. Even, it will help with Agile estimation as it becomes simpler to evaluate the time needed for completing smaller tasks.

Agile Estimation:

Judging the time required for the completion of tasks can look like guesswork. However, following certain principles when estimating the time will make it possible. For instance, you can look at the past successful completion of tasks to estimate the time. For instance, if the teams were able to complete a specific number of tasks within a specific time in the past iteration, you can use this time as the estimation for the present and future iterations.  When estimating time, you should be realistic and not optimistic. Also, it is better to estimate for smaller tasks so that you can make the estimation more of a reality than guesswork.

Development of User Stories:

Similar to Scrum Planning Process practices, Agile planning practices should include the development of user stories. User stories can be developed by keeping in touch with customers. When you do this, you can evaluate the overall project goal. Even, it will help you judge the overall goal of an iteration or Sprint. With the knowledge of the goal, you can develop your user story/feature. Then, you can permit your precedences to lead you with the choice of user stories/features to create during the forthcoming iteration.

Simpliaxis is one of the leading professional certification training providers in the world offering multiple courses related to Agile methodologies. We offer numerous Agile related courses such as Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)® Certification Training, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)® Certification Training, Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) Certification Training, Agile and Scrum Training, PMI-ACP® Certification Training, Professional Scrum with Kanban™ (PSK) Training, Certified Scrum Professional® - Product Owner (CSP®-PO) Certification Training, Agile Sales Management Training, Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) Training and much more. Simpliaxis delivers training to both individuals and corporate groups through instructor-led classroom and online virtual sessions.

Conclusion:

Apart from these best Agile planning practices, you should also handle backlog management, Agile scheduling and teamwork and collaboration as other best practices. All these practices will help you with the best Agile process planning and successful implementation as well.