### 5.3.3 Guidelines and Participants Release Planning identifies three critical activities with different purposes, both in what they aim to achieve and with respect to various participants’ roles. As such, and to make this information clearer, the guidelines and participants are described in the context of each activity. #### 5.3.3.1 Manage the Work Items List (WIL) | Key Participants | Description | |:----------------------------------- | :----------- | | Team Coordinator (TeCo) | Supports/facilitates the execution of this activity, especially if it contains tools like Design Blocks, User-story workshops or User-story mapping. <br> The Team Coordinator (TeCo) guarantees the Work Items List (WIL) reflects the agreed changes by the end of the activity. | | Business Manager (BM) | Supports the execution of this activity by explaining how the changes/adjustments to the solution or organisation context may impact the Work Items List (WIL). | | Agile Team Member (ATeM) | Informed of the outputs of this activity. The Agile Team Member (ATeM) can also support this activity by facilitating and conducting Design Blocks sessions if she possesses relevant experience. | | Product Owner (PrOw) | Responsible for the execution of this activity. Creates and updates all the work items needed to complete the Business Manager’s (BM) changes and is accountable for the ceremony’s outputs. | | Architecture Owner (ArOw) | Informed of the outputs of this activity. | | Business Implementation Group (BIG) |The User Representatives that are part of the Business Implementation Group (BIG) are consulted by the Product Owner (PrOw) regarding the changes foreseen to the Work Items List (WIL) | | Project Manager (PM) | Informed of the outputs of this activity. | **Guidelines** - **Keep a close eye on the Features** – Features are the answer to the Needs to be fulfilled; they need to be organised and prioritised as part of the solution’s release strategy. This will ensure that the Manage the Work Items List activity will be aligned with the global strategy. - **Make it Visual** – Visualisation is critical when discussing ideas, assumptions, hypotheses to test, etc. Design Blocks provide the environment, the playground and additional tools to ensure that all the stakeholders come to a common understanding and agreement on what, how and why things need to be done. - **Define the tools to use in advance** – The definition and acquaintance with the several tools that can be used to explore and evolve the Work Items List (WIL), Conducting a workshop where people are not familiarised with the concepts can be very frustrating. The Team Coordinator (TeCo) can play a key role in explaining the tools’ dynamics. Agile Team Members (ATeM) with specific skills may also provide invaluable assistance. - **Prepare the session in advance** – These ceremonies can be quite intense, with a lot to cover. Previous research on specific topics is highly recommended to ensure the participants focus during the session. - **Know the Work Items List (WIL)** – Getting familiarised with the Work Items List (WIL) is part of the daily work of the Product Owner (PrOw). Knowing the Work Items List (WIL) helps analysing if new items must be added, existing items must be removed or potential dependencies between work items. ![[5.3.3 Manage Work Items List (WIL).png]] #### 5.3.3.2 Work Items List (WIL) refinement | Key Participants | Description | |:------------------------- |:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Team Coordinator (TeCo) | Supports/facilitates this activity, ensuring that the team understands and agrees on each item’s acceptance. <br> Assists the team conducting estimation exercises, making sure they adhere to the rules. | | Business Manager (BM) | Informed by the Product Owner (PrOw) of the outputs of this activity. | | Agile Team Member (ATeM) | Supports this meeting’s execution by contributing with relevant data regarding estimates and with new items when necessary. <br> Accountable for the output of the activity. She also supports this activity by facilitating and conducting Design Blocks sessions. | | Product Owner (PrOw) | Responsible for the execution of this activity by explaining the relevant items. | | Architecture Owner (ArOw) | Contributes to the activity as an Agile Team Member (ATeM) | | Project Manager (PM) | Informed of the outputs of this activity. | **Guidelines** - **Share in advance with everyone all the items to be discussed** – The Product Owner (PrOw) should share the items she expects to discuss with the rest of the Agile Project Core Team (A-PCT), allowing the team to be already prepared and focused. - **Explain and discuss first, estimate after** – Before proceeding to the estimation exercise, make sure that all the items have been adequately discussed with the Agile Team Members (ATeM). This promotes understanding and details possible links and dependencies between the items, which add value while providing relative estimates. - **Make it Visual** – Visualisation is critical when discussing ideas, assumptions, hypotheses to test, etc. Design Blocks provide the environment, the playground and additional tools to ensure that all the stakeholders come to a common understanding and agreement on what, how and why things need to be done. - **Be precise on short term, concise on medium and long term** – Invest more time detailing short term work items and be more concise but clear for medium and longer-term items. ![[5.3.3 Work Items List (WIL) refinement.png]] #### 5.3.3.3 Work Items List (WIL) prioritisation | Key Participants | Description | |:----------------------------------- |:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Team Coordinator (TeCo) | Supports/facilitates the execution of this activity when requested by the Product Owner (PrOw). | | Business Manager (BM) | Supports the Product Owner (PrOw) determining the priorities of the Work Items List (WIL) | | Agile Team Member (ATeM) | Consulted by the Product Owner (PrOw) to validate the new release plan. | | Product Owner (PrOw) | Responsible for the execution of this activity. Together with the Business Manager (BM), determines the priority of the Work Items List. <br> Accountable for the output of this ceremony. <br> | | Architecture Owner (ArOw) | Consulted during the activity to make sure all the questions and doubts regarding the Work Items List's enablement items are clarified. | | Business Implementation Group (BIG) | Consulted as the User Representatives to provide inputs on the prioritisation of the Work Items List (WIL). | | Project Manager (PM) | Informed of the outputs of this activity. | **Guidelines** - **Take dependencies into account** – It may not be possible to implement the Work Items List (WIL) items independently. In this case, the recommended approach is to consult the Architecture Owner (ArOw) to understand better how those links impact the prioritisation. - **Finalise with a clearly prioritised Work Items List (WIL)** – Reflect the release strategy in terms of solution and provide clear guidelines to the Agile Project Core Team (A-PCT) on what to focus next towards the implementation of the Release Plan. - **Update the Release Plan** – After deciding on the prioritisation, information must be shared with the rest of the Agile Project Core Team (A-PCT) to update/validate the Release Plan while accounting for current velocity. ![[5.3.3 Work Items List (WIL) prioritisation.png]]