Planning is the second stage of the Change lifecycle. Projects arrive scoped, with high-level designs, and prioritized. Resource Management and planning practices then break each one into goals and milestones for delivery within about 3 months.
What it is
Planning runs on a fixed quarterly cycle. Each quarter is six two-week sprints. In the four weeks before a quarter starts, three things happen in order:
| When | Activity | Led by |
|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks before | Resource and capacity planning: how many team-sprints each Home Team has, the Run allowance, and who joins which project team | Program Manager |
| 3 to 2 weeks before | Goals and milestones: a milestone plan for each project | Project Manager |
| Last week before | Quarterly Planning: a one-day session where teams confirm their plans and Business Executives sign them off | Program Manager |
The final portfolio prioritization of the quarter happens just before capacity planning. It decides which projects pass Gate 2 and come into this cycle.
Why it matters
- Plans fit the capacity we actually have. Capacity planning takes the Run allowance out first, so incidents and Platform Health work don't eat the plan.
- Three months is short enough to be honest. Milestones in the next quarter can be planned with real people and real dates. Anything longer than a quarter is split.
- One sign-off moment. Business Executives see every project, every dependency and every trade-off at once, at Quarterly Planning.
Who's involved
- Program Manager: leads capacity planning and runs Quarterly Planning.
- Project Manager: builds the milestone plan for each strategic project and owns its risks.
- Product Owner: checks that milestones match the backlog and turns the first milestone into backlog items ready for refinement.
- Product Manager: keeps goals tied to the outcome in the business case.
- Business Executives: sign off the quarterly plan.
Home Teams in Planning
Home Teams don't need a milestone plan for their Discretionary work. Capacity planning does reserve their Discretionary share, and their Product Owners bring the main Discretionary items to Quarterly Planning so that dependencies show up.
How it connects
Planning takes its input from Discovery and hands each project team a milestone plan to start Delivery on the first day of the quarter.