PI Planning

Future product development tasks can’t be predetermined. Distribute planning and control to those who can understand and react to the end results.

—Michael Kennedy, Product Development for the Lean Enterprise [1]

Definition: PI Planning is a cadence-based event for the entire ART that aligns teams and stakeholders to a shared mission and vision.

What is PI Planning?

PI Planning is a cadenced event used for an Agile Release Train (ART) to align Agile Teams and ART leadership to a shared mission, vision, and committed plan. PI planning is essential in SAFe.

PI planning delivers many business benefits, including:

• Establishing face-to-face communication among all Agile Team members and stakeholders
• Aligning development to business goals with the business context, vision, and Team and ART PI objectives
• Identifying dependencies and fostering cross-team and cross-ART collaboration
• Providing the opportunity for just the right amount of architecture and Lean User Experience (UX) guidance
• Matching demand to capacity and eliminating excess Work in Process (WIP)
• Making fast decisions
• Creating a holistic, transparent view of where and when value will be delivered

Where possible, everyone is physically together. It may not always be practical for the entire Agile Release Train (ART) to collocate. While physical face-to-face planning has benefits, the focus is that the people who do the work plan the work. Real-time, virtual, and face-to-face planning has also proven effective when physical presence is not possible, as long as all members of the ART participate.