tech·nic·al·ly agile class·i·fic·at·ion

Agile Planning

Streamline planning to enhance adaptability and predictability, fostering team alignment and continuous value delivery across diverse methodologies.

Master Agile Planning to balance flexibility with predictability. Align teams, optimise delivery, and drive value continuously.

Image
https://nkdagility.com/resources/agile-planning/

Overview

Agile Planning is a strategic approach that enables teams to balance flexibility with predictability, ensuring that they can adapt to changing requirements while delivering value consistently. It involves defining clear objectives, prioritising tasks, and aligning team efforts to optimise delivery. This process is crucial for fostering collaboration and transparency, allowing teams to respond swiftly to feedback and market dynamics.

By employing Agile Planning, organisations can create a structured yet adaptable framework that supports continuous improvement and value delivery. It encourages teams to break down work into manageable increments, facilitating regular assessment and adjustment of priorities based on real-time insights. This iterative process not only enhances team motivation and engagement but also drives a culture of accountability and ownership.

Agile Planning is not merely about scheduling tasks; it is a long-term, systemic approach that integrates with various Agile frameworks and practices. It empowers teams to make informed decisions, manage dependencies effectively, and maintain a focus on customer needs. This alignment ultimately leads to sustainable delivery and a competitive edge in rapidly evolving markets, reinforcing the importance of Agile Planning as a foundational element in modern product development.

Learn More about Agile Planning

Blog

Definition of Done - Objective vs Subjective

Explains the difference between subjective goals and the objective Definition of Done in Scrum, highlighting how clear, measurable criteria ensure consistent product quality.
Videos

Mastering Sprint Planning: Key Principles for Agile Success

Learn essential principles for effective Sprint planning in Agile, including understanding the product backlog, setting clear goals, and fostering true team collaboration.
Tags

Forecasting

Enhance forecasting in Agile and Scrum. Use empirical data to predict delivery timelines, manage risk, and optimise value delivery.
Videos

Free Workshop 04: Introduction to Sprint Reviews [Review & Retrospective]

Covers key concepts of Sprint Reviews, interactive workshop delivery using Teams and Mural, technical challenges faced, participant feedback, and retrospective insights.
Blog

A better way than staggered iterations for delivery

Explains why staggered iterations harm software delivery, increasing technical debt, and recommends cross-functional teams, test-first, and working software each sprint.
Blog

Without Delivery, There Is No Value

Value in software is only realised through delivery. Frequent releases validate assumptions, reduce risk, and enable rapid feedback, adaptation, and continuous improvement.
Blog

Release planning and predictable delivery

Explores how agile teams can achieve predictable software delivery through quality focus, effective release planning, and continuous improvement, despite inherent uncertainty.
Blog

The Scrum Master is accountable for Delivery

Explains how the Scrum Master is accountable for enabling effective product delivery, fostering team success, and ensuring each sprint produces a usable, valuable increment.
Tags

Definition of Ready

Ensuring backlog items meet a clear, actionable standard before sprint planning.
Blog

Pragmatism crushes Dogma in the wild

Explores how practical use of Scrum fosters adaptability and resilience in teams, highlighting the value of flexibility over rigid rules in complex product development.
Videos

Special Sprints: Agile Banditry or Risk Management?

Explores why special sprints like Sprint Zero or hardening sprints undermine Agile by delaying work, increasing risk, and reducing continuous delivery of usable products.
Videos

Mastering Agile: 3 Essential Strategies to Boost Your Team's Sprint Success

Learn three key Agile strategies: define clear completion criteria, avoid overcommitting in Sprints, and prioritise backlog refinement for better team productivity.
Blog

If your backlog is not refined then you are doing it wrong

Explains why regular backlog refinement is essential in Scrum, how to make backlog items ready for Sprint Planning, and ways to measure effective refinement.
Blog

Professional Scrum Developer (.NET) Training in London

Join the Professional Scrum Developer training in London to enhance your .NET skills, collaborate in teams, and master Agile practices. Sign up now!
Videos

The Importance of Delivering Working Software Every Iteration

Explains why delivering working software to users every iteration is vital in Agile, highlighting feedback, value, and practical steps for continuous improvement and success.
Blog

The fallacy of the rejected backlog item

Explains why rejecting individual backlog items at Sprint Review is a misconception, highlighting Scrum’s focus on learning, collaboration, and delivering a complete increment.
Blog

I do continuous deliver, why should I Sprint?

Explains why Sprints are valuable even with continuous delivery, highlighting benefits for planning, feedback, communication, and predictability in Scrum teams.
Blog

The Role of Agency in Scrum: Why Self-Management Without Agency is a Lie

Explains why true Scrum requires real team agency, not just self-management in name, and how lacking agency leads to ineffective, ritualistic Agile practices.
Videos

Does Your Team Truly Understand Your Product Vision and Goals?

Ensuring every team member understands and connects their daily work to the product vision and strategic goals is key to true Agile alignment, collaboration, and value delivery.
Blog

My first Scrum team in the wild

Discover insights from my first Scrum team experience, highlighting key practices and lessons learned to enhance your agile journey. Join the conversation!
Videos

How to Achieve Predictability in Business through Agile Principles

Learn how Agile principles help businesses improve predictability by addressing challenges, optimising systems, aligning goals, and adapting to change for consistent results.
Videos

Unlocking the Power of Sprint Planning: Transform Your Agile Approach for Success

Learn how effective Sprint planning boosts Agile team performance, with practical workshops, coaching, feedback, and adaptable methods for continuous improvement.
Workshops

Sprint Review #1

Discover more about “Sprint Review
Videos

Maximise Your Scrum Process: Leveraging Azure DevOps for Agile Success

Learn how to customise Azure DevOps to support Scrum teams, manage backlogs, plan sprints, and improve agile workflows with practical setup and process tips.
Videos

Rethinking Backlog Management: Why a Flat Structure Boosts Agility and Value Delivery

Explains how using a flat backlog structure—rather than a hierarchy—improves agility, prioritisation, and value delivery in Scrum and Kanban teams.
Videos

How does a Scrum team decide on a Sprint goal?

Explains how Scrum teams collaboratively define a clear, achievable Sprint goal through early stakeholder input, planning, consensus, and ongoing communication.
Videos

How do you select the most valuable items for the sprint backlog?

Learn how Agile teams collaboratively select high-value sprint backlog items by balancing business needs, technical priorities, and stakeholder input for effective sprint planning.
Videos

Why Agile Success Relies on Effective Planning: Debunking the Myths of Scrum

Explains why effective planning is essential in Agile and Scrum, debunking myths about planning, and highlights strategies for teams of all sizes to achieve project success.
Videos

Scrum is like communism, it doesn't work. Myth 1.

Explains why Scrum events are not pointless meetings but structured opportunities for inspection, adaptation, and progress, clarifying common misconceptions about Scrum.
Blog

How to Set and Achieve Effective Sprint Goals

Learn how to define, craft, and achieve effective Sprint Goals in Scrum, using frameworks like SMART and OKR to align teams, deliver value, and improve accountability.
Videos

Mastering Scrum: Effective Planning and Prioritisation for Agile Success

Learn how to plan and prioritise effectively in Scrum by aligning with business goals, assessing value and risk, and keeping a lean, focused product backlog.
Guides

The Scrum Guide

Discover more about The Scrum Guide and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
Blog

Navigating the Future with a Fine-Tuned Product Backlog

Explains how a well-ordered, refined Product Backlog guides Agile teams, supports goal alignment, and ensures value-driven product development through ongoing prioritisation.
Videos

What is Sprint Planning?

Sprint planning is a collaborative session where teams define and align on goals, tasks, and priorities for the next sprint, ensuring clarity and focus for effective delivery.
Videos

Transforming Scope Creep into Success: Embrace Agility and Deliver Value in a Changing Market

Learn how to turn scope creep into an advantage by adopting Agile methods, focusing on value delivery, and adapting to changing requirements in dynamic markets.
Recipes

Sprint Review Recipe

Discover more about Sprint Review Recipe and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
Videos

Empowering Agile Teams: The Critical Role of User Feedback in Requirement Changes

Explains how empowering Agile teams to act on user feedback enables rapid requirement changes, improves product relevance, and overcomes barriers like rigid contracts.
Practices

Sprint Planning Event

Discover more about Sprint Planning Event and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
Recipes

Sprint Planning Recipe

Discover more about Sprint Planning Recipe and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
Blog

The Sprint Goal is a commitment for the Sprint Backlog

Explains how the Sprint Goal guides Scrum teams by providing a clear, shared objective for each Sprint, ensuring focus, transparency, and alignment with the Product Goal.
Videos

The Pitfalls of Agile Burndowns: Stop Being Agile Bandits

Explains why relying on Agile burndown charts leads to over-planning and false progress, and advocates for minimal, adaptive planning and continuous value delivery.
Videos

Mastering Product Backlog Management: Essential Skills for Product Owners

Learn the core skills and best practices for effective product backlog management, including risk, value, sizing, learning, and refinement to maximise product delivery.
Videos

Temperance in Agile: Why Less is More

Explores how practising moderation in Agile—by keeping backlogs lean, limiting work in progress, and focusing on value—boosts team efficiency and reduces waste.
Videos

The Importance of Product Backlog Management in Today's Agile Landscape

Explains why effective product backlog management is vital in Agile, highlights common pitfalls, and offers practical tips to improve team focus, transparency, and value delivery.
Videos

Mastering Product Backlog Management: Key Strategies for Agile Success

Learn practical strategies for effective product backlog management in Agile, including prioritisation, refinement, stakeholder engagement, and tools to maximise team value.
Videos

Mastering Product Backlog Management: Insights from the New Scrum.org Course

Learn practical skills for effective product backlog management, including item creation, prioritisation, breakdown, and alignment with business goals to boost Agile team success.
Videos

Quotes: Less is More. True or False?

Explores how applying ’less is more’ in Agile boosts productivity and quality by focusing on high-value tasks, reducing waste, and streamlining team workflows.
Blog

Sculpting the Product Backlog: A Delicate Balance Between Lean Inventory and Future Readiness

Explores how to maintain a lean, transparent product backlog that balances current needs with future readiness, enabling teams to adapt and maximise product value.
Videos

What is a Sprint Backlog?

Explains the Sprint Backlog as a transparent, flexible plan in Scrum, combining goals, tasks, and strategy to help teams stay focused, adaptable, and successful in Agile work.
Tags

Service Level Expectation

A Service Level Expectation predicts how long work items take to complete, helping Scrum Teams improve workflow, identify issues, and set clear delivery timelines.
Videos

Is Your Project Ecosystem Truly Agile?

Explains why true agility requires end-to-end automation and short feedback loops, not just Agile teams, to maximise value and efficiency for stakeholders in project delivery.
Blog

Storms of Neglect The Perils of Not Delivering Usable Products in Agile Iterations

Failing to deliver a usable product each agile iteration leads to lost trust, technical debt, poor adaptability, misaligned expectations, low morale, and lack of feedback.
Blog

Getting started with a Definition of Done (DoD)

Explains how to create, apply, and improve a Definition of Done (DoD) in Scrum to ensure software quality, transparency, and consistent delivery of working increments.
Videos

Agile is Not New: A Journey Back to the Basics

Explores Agile’s historical roots, the loss of human connection in business, the impact of competence gaps, and why a return to core Agile principles is needed today.
Videos

Conquering Sloth in Agile: 6 Signs Your Team Might Be Stalling

Learn to spot six key signs of sloth in Agile teams, including missed deliveries, ignored feedback, rigid processes, and lack of adaptation, to improve true agility.
Blog

Can the Definition of Done change per Sprint?

The Definition of Done can evolve to improve quality but should not be weakened or vary per backlog item. Consistency ensures transparency and reliable product increments.
Blog

DOD has made it illegal to do waterfall

The US Department of Defence now requires agile, iterative software development, ending mandatory waterfall methods and influencing global government IT practices.
Videos

Detecting Agile BS: Lessons from the US Department of Defense

Learn how to spot fake Agile practices using six key questions from the US Department of Defense, and discover steps to assess and improve true Agile maturity in organisations.
Blog

Work can flow across the Sprint boundary

Explains how allowing work to flow across Sprint boundaries in Scrum can improve team throughput, as long as the Sprint Goal and Definition of Done are maintained.
Recipes

Daily Scrum Recipe

Discover more about Daily Scrum Recipe and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
Guides

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

Discover more about Manifesto for Agile Software Development and how it can help you in your Agile journey!
Videos

7 deadly sins of Agile: Gluttony

Explores how Agile teams can avoid overloading backlogs, Sprints, and products by focusing on prioritisation, value delivery, and lean, effective practices.
Blog

What's in a burndown?

Discover the essentials of burndown charts in Agile. Learn how to visualize progress and enhance team communication for successful sprints.
Videos

Scrum doesn't solve problems, it reveals them. How, and why is that valuable?

Explains how Scrum exposes hidden organisational problems through transparency and feedback, enabling teams to identify issues, improve processes, and drive real change.
Videos

What is empiricism and why is it so critical to great Agile?

Explains how empiricism—continuous observation, inspection, and adaptation—drives Agile success by enabling teams to respond effectively to real project data and feedback.
Videos

The Pitfalls of Routine Agile Questions: Avoiding the Ghosts of Agile Past

Explores how routine Agile questions can hinder team progress, stressing the importance of focusing on value delivery, goal alignment, and managing task bottlenecks.
Videos

Beyond the Rituals: Embracing the Core Principles of Scrum for True Agile Success

Explores how focusing on Scrum’s core principles—empiricism, transparency, and value delivery—leads to true agile success, beyond just following rituals or practices.
Videos

What would you advise a scrum team to do in their first 4 weeks?

Guidance for new scrum teams on establishing effective practices, learning from experience, experimenting, and improving during their first four weeks with scrum.
Videos

How does the APS course help people apply scrum effectively?

Explains how the APS course uses practical exercises and simulations to help people understand, apply, and improve scrum practices in real-world organisational settings.
Videos

Debunking the Top 5 Myths About Scrum: Unlocking Agile Success in Your Organisation

Explores and corrects common misconceptions about Scrum, clarifying its true principles, events, planning, and governance to help teams adopt Agile practices effectively.
Videos

Overview of 'applying flow metrics for Scrum' course.

Learn how to use Kanban flow metrics in Scrum to improve value delivery, track progress, identify bottlenecks, and drive continuous improvement in agile teams.
Videos

Rethinking Sprint Planning: Why Burndown Charts Are Agile Banditry and What to Do Instead

Explains why burndown charts hinder agile teams, highlighting the pitfalls of detailed upfront planning and advocating for minimal, adaptive Sprint planning and continuous flow.
Videos

Who Should Lead the Sprint Review? Unpacking the Role of the Product Owner in Agile Success

Explains why the Product Owner should lead Sprint Reviews in Agile, detailing their role in maximising value, gathering feedback, and updating the product backlog.
Videos

What is the Sprint Review workshop and how will it help organisations?

Explains the Sprint Review workshop, detailing its role in Agile teams for stakeholder engagement, market alignment, and continuous product improvement through practical guidance.
Videos

If you could teach just one thing about Scrum, what would it be?

The most important aspect of Scrum is empiricism—using transparency, inspection, and adaptation to navigate complexity and drive effective product development.
Videos

Mastering Agile: The Power of "Just Enough and No More" for Optimal Efficiency

Explores how applying the “just enough and no more” principle in agile practices boosts efficiency, reduces waste, and helps teams focus on delivering real value.
Blog

Decoding Scrum Team Work: Balancing Sprint and Refinement Work

Explains how Scrum teams can balance Sprint work and Refinement, with strategies and visual tools to track, manage, and visualise both for better workflow and product delivery.
Videos

What should be top of mind when a Scrum team prepare for a Sprint review?

Learn how Scrum teams can boost Sprint review success by engaging stakeholders, tailoring communication, and focusing on value, transparency, and active participation.
Videos

Best Scrum advice you ever received?

Emphasises the importance of flexibility and pragmatism in Scrum, encouraging teams to adapt frameworks to their context rather than rigidly following prescribed rules.
Videos

Unlocking Scrum Success: A Comprehensive Guide to Values, Roles, Artifacts, and Events

Explains Scrum’s core values, roles, artifacts, and events, highlighting how they support teamwork, transparency, and adaptability in managing complex projects.
Videos

Product Ownership vs. Product Management: Busting the Myth That They're Separate Roles

Explains why product ownership and product management are deeply connected in Scrum, clarifying their roles, focus on value delivery, and the need for agile adaptation.
Videos

What should you do if your Sprint Review delivers harsh, scathing feedback?

Learn how Agile teams can handle harsh Sprint Review feedback by analysing root causes, engaging stakeholders, and deciding whether to halt, pivot, or persevere.
Blog

Rethinking Product Backlog: Navigating Through the Weeds of Complexity

Explores how rigid hierarchies in product backlogs can hinder agility, advocating for flatter, value-focused approaches to manage complexity in product development.
Blog

Sprint Goal is an Immediate Tactical Goal

Explains how the Sprint Goal serves as an immediate tactical objective in Scrum, guiding teams toward strategic Product Goals and maximising value through focused outcomes.
Blog

Adventures in Scrum: Lesson 1 – The failed Sprint

Explore the challenges of Scrum in ‘Adventures in Scrum: Lesson 1’. Learn from a failed Sprint and discover key insights for effective team collaboration.
Videos

How does a Scrum team create a sprint goal?

Explains how Scrum teams create effective sprint goals by aligning product strategy, tactical needs, and backlog priorities to deliver stakeholder value each sprint.
Videos

How critical is a Product Owner in developing a great Product Backlog?

Explains why a product owner is essential for shaping, prioritising, and maintaining a focused, lean product backlog that drives effective Agile product development.
Videos

How to Overcome Agile Banditry: A Product Owner’s Journey

Explains the pitfalls of micromanagement in Agile, showing Product Owners how to avoid “Agile Banditry” by focusing on vision, value, and empowering their teams.
Videos

Ditching the Myth of Special Sprints: Embrace True Agile Practices for Usable Products

Explains why relying on special Sprints undermines Agile, and advocates for continuous improvement, accountability, and delivering usable products each Sprint.
Videos

The Ghosts of Agile Past: Why Burndown Charts Might Be Holding You Back

Explores why burndown charts can limit Agile teams, highlighting the drawbacks of fixed planning and advocating for adaptability, empirical work, and value flow.
Blog

The Product Goal is a commitment for the Product Backlog

Defines the Product Goal as a clear, measurable objective in the Product Backlog that guides Scrum Teams, ensuring focus, transparency, and alignment with long-term value.
Course

Applying Professional Scrum for Software Development (APS-SD) with Certification

Experience APS-SD: Hands-on Scrum training for delivering quality software. Gain practical skills in Agile, DevOps, and Scrum principles. Free PSD I certification exam included. Enhance your software development expertise.
Course

Professional Scrum Master

Our Professional Scrum Master Training Program features PSM Training from Scrum.org, delivered as an Immersive Learning Experience. It combines live, instructor-led sessions with additional offline exercises, covering the principles of the Scrum framework and the Scrum Master role. This multi-week format integrates real-world applications, encouraging continuous improvement through practical assignments.
Course

Applying Flow Metrics for Scrum

Elevate Your Scrum Mastery with ‘Applying Flow Metrics for Scrum’: Transform your Agile practices with our immersive, hands-on course. Dive deep into the world of flow metrics and emerge with the skills to enhance your team’s efficiency and delivery. Join us for a journey of practical learning and real-world application – it’s time to turn data into action!
Course

Applying Metrics for Predictability

Join our immersive 8-week course to become an expert in agile metrics and forecasting. Gain the skills to predict project outcomes, reduce uncertainty, and improve your decision-making, all while learning at your own pace.
Course

Professional Scrum Product Backlog Management Skills (PSPBMS) Course with Certification

Step into the dynamic world of Scrum with our ‘Professional Scrum Product Backlog Mastery’ course. Unlock the secrets of effective backlog management, stakeholder engagement, and data-driven decision-making. Whether you’re a seasoned Scrum Master or an aspiring Product Owner, this course promises to elevate your skills, offering a blend of theory and real-world application. Dive in, and let’s turn your Scrum visions into actionable strategies.
Course

Professional Scrum Master and Product Owner (PSMPO) with Certification

Scrum Teams flourish when the Scrum Master and Product Owner accountabilities are well fulfilled. The 3-day Professional Scrum Master and Product Owner (PSMPO) course combines the key learning objectives from both the Scrum.org Professional Scrum Master (PSM) and Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) courses.
Course

Managing Projects Using Azure Boards Training

Azure DevOps Services provide a set of cloud-hosted tools that software teams can use as an end-to-end solution to plan, develop, test, and deliver value in the form of working software. Azure Boards enable an agile team to plan, track, and discuss work across the entire development effort. This one day course will demonstrate how an agile team can configure and use Azure Boards effectively. To maximize learning, students will work in teams, in a common team project, on a common case study.
Course

Professional Scrum Product Owner

Our Professional Scrum Product Owner course helps students master the Product Owner role with real-world scenarios and practical exercises, enabling participants to drive product success using Agile principles and Scrum.
Course

Managing Projects Using Visual Studio and Scrum Training

This three‐day course will help take your team and project to the next level. Using a combination of lecture, demonstrations, hands‐on activities, and team‐based exercises, attendees will experience how to deliver software using the Scrum framework and the corresponding tools and practices in Visual Studio.
Course

Applying Professional Scrum (APS) Course with Certification

Enables all members of the Scrum Team to learn Scrum while doing it, experiencing what it is like to deliver products using the Scrum framework

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

Concepts


Categories


Tags

GitHub (3)
MVP (2)
Scaling (15)
Windows (96)

Our Happy Clients​

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.​

YearUp.org Logo
MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd. Logo
Ericson Logo
Schlumberger Logo
ALS Life Sciences Logo
Big Data for Humans Logo
Healthgrades Logo
Slicedbread Logo
Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd Logo
SuperControl Logo

CR2

Kongsberg Maritime Logo
Cognizant Microsoft Business Group (MBG) Logo
Teleplan Logo
Epic Games Logo
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company) Logo
Graham & Brown Logo
Lean SA Logo
New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo
Nottingham County Council Logo
Ghana Police Service Logo
Washington Department of Transport Logo
Department of Work and Pensions (UK) Logo
Washington Department of Enterprise Services Logo
YearUp.org Logo
Freadom Logo
Slaughter and May Logo
Boeing Logo
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company) Logo
Kongsberg Maritime Logo