Amber Hunt - Sprint 2 Paper 1 - Planning an Agile

**TABLE OF CONTENTS**

**1.1  INTRODUCTION**

**1.2  CREATING YOUR PROJECT CHARTER**

**1.3  USING RELATIVE ESTIMATION**

**1.4  PLAYING PLANNING POKER**

**1.5  PLANNING YOUR SPRINTS & WRITING YOUR RELEASE PLAN**

**1.6  CONCLUSION**

**1.1 INTRODUCTION**

Planning an agile project does
not have to be difficult.  All one must
do is the necessary steps to make it simple and effective.  Which is to create project charter, estimate,
plan, plan sprints, and write a release plan.
These steps are guaranteed to help the planning phase of an agile
project be smooth sailing.

**1.2 CREATING YOUR PROJECT CHARTER**

Creating a project charter lets
you see the direction the project is heading.
It is a great way to see the complete route the project is headed.  It should have a mission statement and everyone
on the team should have a say in this charter. (Lynda.com
- from LinkedIn, 2017) It is not a plan, but an agreement that is used
to make sure everyone lists what they want to see out of the project.  This makes sure everyone’s thoughts are
recorded at the start of the project.
This is an excellent way to see how the vision of the project changed as
time go on, or if it changed at all.

**1.3 USING RELATIVE ESTIMATION**

 Estimates are time frames.  In an Agile setting, estimation is less
strenuous than in a traditional project.
Teams spend less time on doing a task and more on not doing it.  I know, confusing right?  Agile does not focus on months, weeks, days,
or hours. (Lynda.com - from LinkedIn, 2017)
Instead, it looks at a project and estimates the time from seeing how big or
small it is, which is called relative estimating.  This compares the things that are known from
those that aren’t.  Relative estimation
is used because it rejects incorrect accuracy of a project and no unclear
commitments.

**1.4 PLAYING PLANNING POKER**

Planning Poker is a game that allows the group to work together to get
optimum story estimates with moderate information. (Lynda.com
- from LinkedIn, 2017) This game allows everyone to be heard, to have a
voice.  In Agile, the entire team is
estimated.  It is not like in a
traditional project whereas one individual can cause a setback within the
project.  This is where group-thinking
comes in.  This allows the strongest/well
admired thoughts to be picked and disagreements can cease.

**1.5 PLANNING YOUR SPRINTS & WRITING YOUR RELEASE PLAN**

  Planning sprints and writing a
release plan in Agile is relatively simple when the steps are followed.   With
planning sprints, some stories get pulled from the backlog and put into the sprint (Lynda.com - from LinkedIn, 2017).  The entire team must be involved with sprints
and they should not be longer than four hours.
Many teams work on release plans after each sprint. (Lynda.com - from LinkedIn, 2017) Release
planning includes the stakeholders, the team, product owner and scrum
master.  It, like many things in Agile is
a team effort.

**1.6 CONCLUSION**

The planning phase of an Agile project is
a lot of work, but not difficult as discussed above.  Anything can be done once the entire team
agrees and is happy.  Those steps are
there to be a guide within this stage of the project.  Once followed, the overall aspect will be
much easier to grasp.  From creating project
charters to calculating speed and writing a release plan, the project will go
smoothly.

Citation

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Creating your project charter*.
[online] Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Creating-your-project-charter/175074/387217-4.html [Accessed 10 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Planning your sprints*.
[online] Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Planning-your-sprints/175074/387221-4.html
[Accessed 10 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Playing planning poker*.
[online] Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Playing-planning-poker/175074/387219-4.html
[Accessed 10 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Using relative estimation*.
[online] Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Using-relative-estimation/175074/387218-4.html
[Accessed 10 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Writing your release plan*.
[online] Available at:
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Writing-your-release-plan/175074/387222-4.html
[Accessed 10 Nov. 2017].