Planning the Agile Way: Methods and Tools, Explained

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Planning the Agile Way: Methods and Tools

Software Engineering · Chapter 13: Project Management, Planning, and Agile GovernanceSection 13.4 · lesson 83 of 1037 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Plan loosely and further out - plan tightly and only just ahead.

  • Distinguish release planning from sprint planning
  • Explain story points, and why teams size work relatively
  • Explain the factors that drive backlog prioritization
  • Use velocity to turn a prioritized backlog into a sprint plan

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (981 words). Read along, or search it.

Project Management, Planning, and Agile Governance

Planning the Agile Way: Methods and Tools

Agile planning takes a particular shape. Plan loosely and further out, and plan tightly, only just ahead. This section covers the techniques that make that shape work in practice, from release plans and story points, to backlogs and velocity.

A Plan That Became Fiction

26 Weeks, Day by Day

On day one of a six-month project, a team commits to a task-by-task schedule. It names exactly what will be built, on exactly which day, for the next twenty-six weeks. Two months in, priorities have shifted, and several tasks turned out harder than expected. The schedule is already fiction that nobody follows. Planning did not fail because the team was bad at it. A single detailed plan simply cannot survive twenty-six weeks of changing reality. So agile planning plans loosely further out, and tightly, only just ahead.

2 Zoom Levels

Release Planning and Sprint Planning

That gives planning two zoom levels. Release planning covers what will be delivered across several upcoming iterations, toward a larger milestone. It answers roughly what will exist, and roughly when. And it stays coarse, because it looks further ahead. Sprint planning covers the very next iteration. It answers exactly what will be built this cycle, and by whom. It can afford to be far more concrete, because the horizon is much shorter. And each one is informed by what the last sprint taught.

Table 1

The 2 Levels Compared

Here are the two levels side by side. Release planning spans several sprints, often months. Sprint planning covers only the next single sprint. Release planning is rough. What, and roughly when. Sprint planning is concrete. Exactly what, and by whom. And release plans are revisited periodically, as priorities shift. Sprint planning happens every sprint, without exception.

Story Points

Sizing Work Relatively

A story point is a relative unit of measure for a backlog item's effort, complexity, and uncertainty. It is not a direct measure of time. Teams often prefer relative sizing, because people are far better at judging that one item is about twice as much work as another. They are much worse at judging its exact duration in hours, especially before the work has started. A team's velocity is the number of story points it completes per sprint, on average. Velocity turns a backlog's total points into a rough number of sprints, connecting estimation back to release planning.

Table 2

Story Points vs. Time Estimates

Here is how story points compare with time-based estimates. Story points measure relative effort, complexity, and uncertainty. Time estimates measure absolute duration, in hours or days. Story points are most reliable before work starts, when comparing items to each other. Time estimates become reliable once the work is familiar. And story points feed into velocity and release forecasting, while time estimates feed into a specific date commitment.

Table 3

What Drives Backlog Priority

The backlog is the full, ordered list of work not yet done. Prioritization decides the order in which items are addressed. It commonly weighs four factors. Business value, meaning how much benefit an item delivers. Urgency and dependency, meaning whether other work is waiting on it first. Risk and uncertainty. Tackling an uncertain item early surfaces problems while there is still time to adapt. And the effort required, drawn from the item's story-point estimate.

Figure 4

The Velocity Waterline

Here is how it comes together at sprint planning. This team's velocity is ten points. Its backlog, in priority order, holds A at four points, B at three, C at five, and D at two. A and B come to seven points, comfortably under the line. Adding C would reach twelve, over the waterline. So the team pulls in the smaller D instead, using nine of its ten points.

Backlog to Sprint

Arithmetic, Not Guesswork

So the sprint plan comes out of a few simple steps. Check the velocity, to gauge roughly how many points the team can take on. Work down the prioritized backlog, pulling items in until that capacity is reached. When the next item will not fit, a smaller item further down can fill the remaining capacity, rather than leaving it unused. Then break each pulled item into smaller tasks for the sprint. The order and the velocity turn this into arithmetic, rather than guesswork.

Table 4

Tools That Support Agile Planning

A few practical tools make these techniques easy to run day to day. A digital backlog board keeps the prioritized list, its estimates, and its status visible to the whole team. A burndown chart plots the story points remaining in a sprint against time, so it is visible early whether the team is on pace. And a release burnup or roadmap view tracks cumulative progress toward a larger release, across several sprints.

Apply It

Hours, to Within 10%

Let's apply that. A team assigns precise time estimates, in hours, to every backlog item. And it insists they be accurate to within ten percent, before anyone has started the work. Estimation meetings now take hours, and are frequently wrong anyway. What went wrong? The team demanded a precision that absolute time estimates cannot honestly provide before the work begins. That creates false confidence, not real accuracy. Story points exist to avoid that trap. They ask a question people can answer honestly, which is relative size.

Key Terms

The Vocabulary of This Section

Let's lock in the key terms. Release planning covers what will be delivered across several upcoming iterations. Sprint planning covers exactly what will be built in the very next one. A story point is a relative unit of an item's effort, complexity, and uncertainty. Velocity is the number of story points a team completes per sprint, on average. Backlog prioritization is deciding the order in which backlog items are addressed. And a burndown chart plots the story points remaining in a sprint against time.

Key Takeaways

What to Carry Forward

To pull this together. Release planning stays rough and looks several sprints ahead. Sprint planning is concrete, and covers only the next one. Story points size work relatively, which people estimate more reliably than hours, before work has started. Backlog prioritization weighs business value, urgency and dependency, risk and uncertainty, and effort. Velocity decides how much of the prioritized backlog fits into the next sprint. And tools like backlog boards, burndown charts, and roadmaps keep all of it visible to the whole team.

About Software Engineering at UPI Study

Software Engineering (Computer Science 301) is a self-paced online course of 103 video lessons in 15 chapters, from process models and agile to requirements, design, user interfaces, reliability, security and project management. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

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Why students take Software Engineering with UPI Study

How professional software gets builtSoftware Engineering covers how teams turn requirements into working, maintainable software: process models, agile, requirements, design, testing, reliability and project management. It is a core course in computer science and software degrees.
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130,000+students helped with college creditsACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

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Universities that work with NCCRS

Software Engineering carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Planning the Agile Way: Methods and Tools

What is the difference between release planning and sprint planning?
Release planning covers what will be delivered across several upcoming iterations toward a larger milestone, while sprint planning covers exactly what will be built in the very next iteration and by whom. Release plans stay coarse because they look months ahead and are revisited periodically. Sprint planning is concrete because its horizon is short, and it happens every sprint.
What are story points in agile?
A story point is a relative unit that sizes a backlog item's effort, complexity, and uncertainty rather than its duration in hours. Teams prefer relative sizing because people judge that one item is about twice as much work as another far better than they judge exact hours before work starts. Story points feed into velocity and release forecasting.
How do agile teams use velocity to plan a sprint?
Velocity is the average number of story points a team completes per sprint, and it caps how much of the prioritized backlog goes into the next sprint. With a velocity of 10, a team might take items of 4 and 3 points, skip a 5-point item that would overshoot, and add a 2-point item instead. Pulled items are then broken into tasks.
What factors determine backlog prioritization in agile?
Backlog prioritization commonly weighs four factors: business value, urgency and dependency, risk and uncertainty, and effort. Business value is how much benefit an item delivers, and dependency asks whether other work is waiting on it. Tackling uncertain items early surfaces problems while there is still time to adapt. Effort comes from the item's story-point estimate.

About the Software Engineering course

How many college credits is Software Engineering?
Software Engineering (Computer Science 301) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Software Engineering cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 103 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
Which universities accept UPI Study credits?
UPI Study has signed partner agreements with universities such as Thomas Edison State University, University of the People and Charter Oak State College, and works with universities such as Penn State, SNHU and SUNY. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities. Use "Find my college" on this page to check yours.
How long does Software Engineering take?
It is self-paced with no deadlines. The 103 lessons total about 11 hours of video; most students add reading and practice time and finish in a few weeks to a few months, on their own schedule.
How are the exams done?
Quizzes and assignments are online in the course. The final exam is taken online with proctoring; a person on the UPI Study team checks assignments, usually within two days.
How do my credits reach my college?
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Ready for the full course? Earn 3 credits in Software Engineering.

103 video lessons, a quiz after each one, and the graded work that earns the credit. Recommended for credit by NCCRS.

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