Implementation

Background

• Planning increments (PIs) are directly associated with programs (teams-of-teams), which allows the program to reference the PI
• The recommended configuration is to establish unique PIs for a portfolio, meaning all programs (teams-of-teams) across a portfolio should share the same PI construct

How to

Learn how to create a planning increment

1. As an Admin, from the Administration page, navigate to the Platform Terminology page
   1. Override the object name “Release” to “Planning Increment”
2. From the Program menu, navigate to the Planning Increment page (formerly known as the Release page)
   1. Click on the Add Planning Increment button in the upper right corner
   2. Describe the new Planning Increment
      1. Portfolio - select the portfolio from the list (this will be the parent portfolio of the PI)
      2. Programs - confirm that all the programs under the portfolio are listed
      3. Planning Increment # - establish a sequence that matches the number of increments the that portfolio (and programs under it) have completed to date. If new, start with “1”
      4. Planning Increment Name - This is the “long” name that will appear in dropdown lists. Recommendation: Use a naming convention like: “2019 Q2 <Portfolio Name>”
      5. Short Name - This is the name that will appear on charts and reports (recommendation: “xxx-1” where “xxx” is the portfolio acronym)
      6. Start Date - the first day of the first sprint in the PI
      7. Finish Date - the last day of the last sprint in the PI
      8. Description - Add commentary on which programs will be sharing the PI, and how the dates were lined up (i.e. by quarters, by 10 week PIs for SAFe, or other motivations…)
      9. Status - set to “Planning” (this field has little effect on views; it is offered for filtering)
      10. Health - initialize to “On Track” (this field has little effect on views; it is offered for filtering)
   3. Click the Save button (but not Save and Close)
   4. Click on the Full Details link from the General tab and enter (only) the following:
      1. Organization Structure: list the parent portfolio’s parent organization.
   5. Select the Programs, Products, and Regions tab
      1. Confirm that the Programs (identified above) now appear in the Programs field.
      2. (optional) Reference the Products that are managed by the portfolio (Note: this is just informational)
   6. Select the Sync Sprints tab and create the Anchors for the PI
      1. Select the “Mass Add” option to create a series of Anchors for sprints
      2. Sprint Prefix: Recommendation: use “S”
      3. First Date: Enter the Start Date value from the General tab, unless the sprints don’t begin on that date
      4. Type: Choose “Standard Sprint” (designation of “IP Sprint” is just cosmetic)
      5. Duration: Set the desired length of the anchor sprints in the PI (“10 Week Days” is common for scrum teams)
      6. Daily Max: initialize to “8” (not critical)
      7. Daily Defect: initialize to “0” (not critical)
      8. Total Anchors: Determine how many sprints of size <Duration> can fit in the PI - this will be how many anchors are created by the “Mass Add”, starting on the Start Date provided
   7. Click the Create Anchors button to create Anchors within the PI
   8. Verify that Anchors now appear under the Current Sprints heading
      1. Click the Save button under the Current Sprints heading
   9. Click the Save and Close button in the (upper right corner) for the PI

Output and next steps

• Use the Anchors to create sprints for each team in each program associated with the PI
  • Anchors provide a decoupled way to associate team-level sprints (defined in the team tool) with the planning increment
  • Anchors also allow for kanban teams (with no sprints) to aggregate their work into time-based portfolio reports

References

• Create program increments
• Program increment health
• Kanban teams overview (Jira Align labs)