What are the planning approaches for Agile?

Planning for Agile is very different to planning for a traditional model of Project Management. Here, we’ll outline two of the approaches teams can use.

The approaches include Kaban and Scrum

Kaban

Planning for Kanban. There is a meeting at the start of the project to determine the Project Backlog. Each task is then prioritised accordingly. Then, tasks are dealt with as they arise and scheduling more work based on completed work. For example, if one feature or component in a project is complete, another one is taken and this new task becomes the focus. If newer tasks are developed, they are added to the overall project backlog, where all tasks are taken from. The team has to understand that this method requires constant development, iteration, and monitoring.

Scrum

Planning for Scrum. Involves a meeting at the start of the project to create a list of all the features that will be implemented. These become the Project Backlog. During the sprints, as many components as possible from the sprint backlog are implemented. At the end of the sprint, the sprint review and sprint retrospective reflect on the success of the sprint. At the end of each sprint, any required additions can be made to the project backlog, and the sprinting sessions allow for this to happen.

Feedback

Both Kanban and Scrum require those closest to management, such as scrum leaders, to be attentive regarding their team. Scrum leaders must be willing to take feedback and implement it regularly to ensure that the Agile teams are creating the best products possible.

One of the most important aspects of Agile management is its nature compared to traditional management structures. i.e., its ‘Agile’ nature. Agile allows teams to work based on feedback rather than in a vacuum. For example, if a team delivers a product to a product owner after a sprint and the owner identifies issues, they can provide the feedback in a reasonable timeframe. This would be between sprints with Scrum or even between tasks for Kanban.

Implementing Feedback

After customer feedback has been received, the most important part of managing an Agile project occurs; how to implement the feedback.

For example, if a customer complains that a steering wheel in a car is too stiff, the team can deal with this in a relevant way, or expand their test group to ensure it’s not an isolated or personal complaint. Fixing the problem (or investigating further) is something that cannot usually happen in traditional forms of project management, because of the long, linear project time.

Scenario

A customer comes to you and says that in your new programme, they can’t tell the difference between two menu options because they are colour blind. You have the next sprint (2 weeks) to fix this issue. Below are three options for dealing with this issue.

Expand the test group. You take on more testers, who identify some other issues within the project that are easily fixable. The customer is impressed, and expands their order, and putting you in contact with other potential customers.	Implement the fix You easily implement the fix and it satisfies the customer. They expand their order for licenses and recommend you to other potential clients.	Explain the issue to the team You explain the issue during the first part of the next sprint. Other team members point out similar issues, they fix these alongside the issue. The customer is thrilled and expands their license order further.

As you can see, there is no explicitly wrong way to implement feedback, only that they must use it. When a company uses an Agile structure as part of its management, it allows them to deal with problems like these to satisfy customers quickly and avoid potential issues.