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Exercises "Release Planning"

Summary

Here you will find the definitions of the most important terms from this chapter.

Release Planning Meeting

Meeting to plan the release of the project item/ Increment. This is possible as soon as the PBIs in the Product Backlog are consistent and the Velocity of the Developers is known.

Milestones

Event of particular importance (e.g. completion of a subtask, interim acceptance).

Function-driven release

The function-driven release is interesting if the customer wants a certain scope and a release only takes place once this scope has been accomplished. The release date is calculated by dividing the desired scope or the total effort in Story Points by the Velocity.

Time-driven release

Time-driven release should be used if the Increment/ the product must be ready by a certain deadline, e.g. because an event is taking place at which the product is being presented. The calculation for this is similar to that of the feature-driven release, except that it has to be changed: At this point, the Story Points have to be calculated, i.e. the Velocity is multiplied by the number of Sprints until the release date. These Story Points are used to find out which PBIs will be implemented. If it turns out that time frames are not sufficient, the delivery and performance item can be shortened.

Function- and time-driven release

In the case of the function- and time-driven release, both the scope and the release date are fixed. This type of release is tricky because both the number of Sprints and the number of Story Points are fixed and therefore the Velocity must also be stable. The release date is calculated by dividing the desired scope or the total effort in Story Points by the Velocity.

Test yourself

Answer the following questions independently. Please take your time and think carefully about what you would answer before revealing the solution.

Why is the release planning being done?

On the one hand it creates trust between Scrum Team and customer, on the other hand it gives the customer a rough idea of,

  • when a release can be expected,
  • which functions and
  • and what costs can be expected.
What types of releases exist?
  • Function-driven release
  • Time-driven release
  • Function- and time-driven release
Who takes part in the Release Planning Meeting?

The Scrum Team and possibly stakeholders take part.

When does the Release Planning Meeting take place?

The Scrum Team or the customer decides whether a release plan is needed or not. If it is required, the Release Planning Meeting takes place at the beginning of the project. It can also be held at the beginning of each Sprint to update the release plan.

Why should the release plan always be updated?

Since the Velocity is still unknown at the beginning, especially with new or newly formed Scrum Teams, and it can be changing, the release plan should always be updated.