Planning Cycles

Moving down the "planning onion", we come to Planning Cycles.

This level focuses on the short term, translating the roadmap and OKRs into concrete commitments on what elements of the backlog the team will work on next.

It is a recurring meeting or process where the team reviews the top of the prioritized backlog and agrees on a set of work to be completed within a defined period of time (the cycle).

The exact nature of this cycle varies depending on the agile framework used (e.g., Sprint Planning in Scrum), but the general purpose is to establish a clear focus for the team over the next few weeks.

Deciding What to Work On Next

The fundamental purpose of cycle planning is to determine and agree on the immediate work of the team.

It looks at the top of the backlog (which should be refined and prioritized) and selects a set of user stories or other items that the team believes it can complete within the cycle.

This process involves a conversation between the Product Owner (who represents business/customer priorities) and the Development Team (who understands technical capability and effort).

The result is a team commitment on the work to be done during the cycle, providing predictability in the short term.

Planning Cadence (Weekly, Bi-Weekly) and Factors to Consider

The cadence (frequency and duration) of planning cycles is a key decision and depends on the context of the team. There is no single rule, but factors to consider include:

• Predictability and Interruptions: Teams with highly unpredictable work or many urgent interruptions may need shorter cycles (e.g., daily or weekly). More predictable teams can handle longer cycles (e.g., biweekly, monthly).
• Experiment/Prototype Duration: If the team works in experiment cycles, the duration of the experiment cycles may dictate the planning cadence.
• Story Size: Consistently large stories may force longer cycles, although ideally stories should be split.
• Dependencies and Roadblocks: Frequent external roadblocks can influence the cadence, often suggesting longer cycles or different management approaches.

Generally, cycles of one to four weeks are recommended, with one to two weeks being the most common to maintain agility.

Importance of Consistency and Emergency Management

Two important rules govern planning cycles:

Consistency: Once the duration of the cycle (e.g., two weeks) has been decided, it is crucial to keep it consistent.

Changing the duration irregularly makes it difficult to establish a sustainable rhythm and to measure speed or performance reliably.

If a change is needed, it is done deliberately and the new cadence is maintained.

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