Backlog Preparation for PI Planning

As we discussed in Chapter 7, Release Trains Day-to-Day, the ART executes on a closed loop and, at scale, executes similar events to the team. In the following diagram, we can see that backlog refinement at the team level correlates to our need to prepare the ART Backlog for PI Planning:

Figure 8.4 – Backlog refinement and preparation for PI Planning correlation (© Scaled Agile, Inc.)

One key reminder is that preparing for PI Planning is a continuous process and that ensuring the ART Backlog is ready is a key activity. As a Coach, you may need to encourage the RTE to work closely with Product Management to ensure they have worked with the Product Owners and teams to socialize and refine the backlog before the PI Planning Event. We don’t want to surprise the teams with new Features during PI Planning.

As PI Planning approaches, the ART Backlog should be built out with fully refined Features; many of the stories should also be identified and partially refined. Without this preparation, new ARTs, in particular, will struggle to complete all of the necessary work in the two-day PI Planning Event. As your ARTs mature and the work becomes more familiar to the teams, the amount of pre-PI Planning preparation of the stories may decrease over time.

As we look at the ART Backlog and prepare for PI Planning, the top Features that Product Management shares should be the same prioritized Features that are ready in the ART Backlog.

PI Planning is critical to the ART’s success. We want to ensure the ART has prioritized, sized, and clearly defined work as they go into the PI Planning Event.