### 5.1.1 Frequency and Duration Designed to elaborate a strategy on reaching a specific goal in the short period of an iteration, the best moment to conduct the **Iteration Planning is at the beginning of the iteration**. PM2-Agile recommends the Iteration Planning as the first activity to be conducted by the Agile Project Core Team (A-PCT) within the iteration. Another important aspect is the duration of the ceremony. The goal is to find the right balance between the invested time and the clarity/objectivity of the plan to be defined. However, since several factors such as the team and iteration sizes apply, universal rules to determine this balance cannot be applied. Therefore, PM2-Agile recommendation is based on the practical experience of thousands of teams that use both PM2-Agile and other methodologies and frameworks. For a typical Agile Project Core Team (A-PCT) with five to nine Agile Team Members (ATeM), PM2-Agile suggests planning **two hours for each iteration week**. For example, planning four hours for eight Agile Team Members (ATeM) team, working in two weeks iteration is considered a good practice.