Introduction

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” - Mike Tyson (Boxer)

Decisions to make

• Decide if the teams are effectively executing based on the actual vs. planned delivery of work, achievement of objectives, and realization of value

Context

• The program has planned out the next planning period (e.g. program increment) and has started to execute on the plan
• Teams have broken down their work (features into stories) and have identified their objectives for the planning period

Why we care

• The key to successful execution is to establish a continuous flow of work that supports the incremental delivery of value based on continuous feedback and adjustment
• Tracking the program progress provides program leadership with measures necessary to make objective assessments of the progress toward the planned objectives and adjust the execution plan as required
• Empiricism is a key factor in maximizing incremental value delivery, therefore we value teams that regularly inspect and evaluate actual delivery against planned delivery
• Program leadership should create an environment that supports total transparency and use the information radiators to identify systemic constraints in the system

The Atlassian view

• Jira Align supports progress measurement for work items that are effort estimated and assigned to delivery increments
• Teams need to update the status of work items regularly to ensure a realistic, near real-time representation of the work to the program
• Key results need to be updated regularly in order to provide up-to-date information on the progress towards goals and objectives
• Reviewing investment guardrails for strategic themes allows leadership teams to determine if effort and investment spending aligns with strategic intent
• Jira Align understands and supports the importance of being able to develop on a cadence, but release on demand
• Continuous monitoring of work item progress is key in managing the release of value to your customers, and in order to do this all features need to be associated with a specific planning period and plans need to be monitored and adjusted as necessary