Agile Planning Advanced Session - Charlotte

Description:
There is a world of difference between studying Agile planning and actually doing it. This session is intense, energetic, and highly interactive, focusing on direct experience with minimal traditional presentation. Attendees will collaborate using an Agile-style "planning board" to deliver a fully-developed, usable Agile plan in the context of a realistic software product development domain.

Prior to the session, attendees will receive a detailed background packet on the problem domain used for the session -- just as if they were starting work on an initiative at their own workplace. While the domain will be familiar to all attendees, it does not consist of "toy problems," and participants should be prepared to use the skills they depend on in their professions.

The work product produced by the end of the session will be an actual Agile project plan, robust enough to start a sprint or iteration, yet flexible enough to avoid the problems associated with Big Design Up Front. The experience which participants will take away from creating this plan will foster deep skills which they can apply to their unique work situations.

Course Goals:
During the session, participants will be coached in the use of key agile planning concepts to gain practical experience in:

1. Performing agile analysis in a strategic context, guided by release vision and sprint goals
2. Determining the traits of an effective Product Owner
3. Committing to the appropriate amount of work based on accurate calculation of the Team's capacity
4. Eliminating waste by allowing designs and architectures to emerge, driven by priority business value
5. Facilitating a team's ability to work incrementally and in a self-organizing manner
6. Keeping the focus on deliverable product and avoiding "analysis paralysis"
7. Writing work backlog items with clear value and useful time estimates
8. Loading the perfect status tracker with sprint backlog items (Burn-down + Burn-up = Agile-V)

As a take-away, attendees will have access their Agile plan, loaded in a read-to-go status tracking spreadsheet after the session.  The tool aids in tracking user stories & tasks, as well as generating the infamous Burn-down and Burn-up charts.  This tangible product of the session will continue to serve as a personalized example of good Agile planning as participants apply this experience back to their jobs.