Hybrid PI Planning Board

Hybrid PI Planning Template

Hybrid PI Planning is a uniquely challenging event in terms of how we facilitate it, and the tools that we use. The key to a successful hybrid PI Planning event is to find a way to equally value both in-person and remote/virtual participants. I have designed this hybrid PI Planning board to maximise collaboration for both types of participants. 

How To Use This Template

Who/What/When/Where

I start by providing key information for the ART (Agile Release Train) and stakeholders on the far left side of the Miro board.

• Who - This ART Design diagram shows which teams are on the ART, who is in each team, and what their role is. I use cards so I can also tag each person’s location, but you can add tags for any type of information.

• What and When - This table is the agenda for the PI Planning event. It includes the time, physical location, and dial-in link for each session.

• Where - This table lists the physical location of each room and a dial-in link for remote participants.

The ART Backlog

ART Backlogs can vary depending on how cross-functional your ART is or the nature of your Team Toplogies. At a basic level though the ART Backlog is a prioritised list of features and enablers. I’ve kept this section quite simple but you may want to customize it to fit your context.

ART Planning Board

My ART Planning Board is built as a table. This allows easy customisation if the composition of your ART changes. The ART Board should be used throughout the PI and not just at PI Planning. I encourage teams to use icons to indicate the status of features (in progress, completed, at risk, etc). I also publish the schedule of any recurring Coach Syncs, PO Sync, or ART Sync next to the board. 

Facilitation Tool

Below the ART Planning Board you will find a large red shape with the phrase “Please return to the main room”. I use this as a prompt when the teams need to return from their breakout sessions to the main room. To use this functionality; zoom in on this shape, select your avatar (top right of the communication toolbar) and “Bring everyone to me”. All users on the board will then be brought to this message. 

ART Confidence Vote

Here you will find five illustrations that will allow you to facilitate a ‘fist of five’ confidence vote for the ART. To conduct the vote, select the voting functionality, filter (select) the five images, and start the vote. Once the vote closes Miro will display the result. 

ART PI Risks (ROAM Board)

ART PI Risks are captured and addressed on a ROAM board during ART Risks on Day 2. 

PI Planning Coach Sync

The PI Planning Coach Sync is a check-in that occurs at multiple points during the Team breakout sessions. It is typically facilitated by the Release Train Engineer, and attended by Scrum Masters/Team Coaches, members of the leadership team and key stakeholders. It is an opportunity to align on progress, foster cross-team collaboration, and support the teams in making their PI Plans. The questions that I have provided are designed to help guide the teams and help them stay on track for the plan review sessions. Feel free to customize the questions or adjust the frequency of your PI Planning Coach Syncs. 

Team Boards

The Team Boards contain space to plan four iterations. I like to add a section for the teams to record risks prior to the ROAMing activity on Day 2. There is also a section to facilitate a team-level confidence vote. On the right-hand side, I have added a table to record the team’s PI Objectives and the assigned Business Value. This should be presented during the Final Plan Review. There is a column to add Actual Value, which is typically reviewed at the end of the PI, during the Inspect and Adapt event.

PI Planning Event Retro/Feedback

It is particularly important during your early hybrid events to run a retrospective or capture feedback so that you can iteratively improve the event. I have included a simple table with: What went well? What didn’t go well? What could we do differently? You may want to encourage people to add feedback throughout the event and/or facilitate as a retrospective.