How to Conduct A Sprint Planning Meeting

Meetings are an integral part of business communication. Hosting regular meetings builds bonds between the team members while also enabling a healthy flow of ideas. 

In project management, a successful planning meeting lays at the foundation for the entire project. However, most organizations struggle with hosting agile planning meetings, as the organizations and meetings both lack structure. To ensure that they are productive, these meetings must have a proper outline.

In this guide, you will find detailed tips on how to increase the efficiency of your sprint planning meetings, so you can accomplish all your meeting goals and start the project on a positive note. 

What Is An Agile Planning Meeting?

Planning meetings enable employees to brainstorm ideas before initiating a new project. These meetings assist companies in coming up with creative ideas, creating plans of action, and holding discussions on the project's scope. The primary objective of a planning meeting is to plan out the tasks, create execution strategies, and assign roles to team members. These meetings also strategize on the chronological order in which the tasks should be performed to meet project deadlines.

An agile planning meeting has a proper structure. However, according to research, managerial and executive-level employees believe that half of the meetings are a waste of time. Therefore, for a planning meeting to be successful, it must be precise, to the point, and meet all its objectives in a limited duration of time.

When Should You Conduct A Sprint Planning Meeting?

As stated earlier, sprint planning meetings are held before starting work on a new project. However, to make the meeting more productive, you need to consider a few factors. 

Availability 

An agile planning meeting must include all the relevant personnel. This means all team members that play a role in the project should be present in the forum. For this reason, you need to arrange the meeting at an optimal time when all team members can attend. 

In the unfortunate case that you can't find a suitable time for all employees, arrange the meeting in a hybrid format to make sure that all workers are present. This way, you can discuss the ideas in detail and ensure that the entire team is on the same page. 

Budget 

Another factor that you need to consider is the project budget. Schedule a meeting only after the funding for the project has been approved by the key stakeholders. This way, your teams can plan the tasks appropriately and ensure that the cost does not go over the set amount. 

Project Deadline

The project deadline is another factor that you need to consider before hosting a planning meeting. An agile planning meeting is set as early as possible, as it provides the team with ample time to execute the tasks sensibly. 

Three Best Practices for Agile Planning Meetings

The success of a sprint planning meeting is determined by how well it meets its objectives. You can schedule an agile planning meeting by implementing the following steps:

Create A Planning Committee

The most important factor in an agile planning meeting is the people attending it. Essentially, before scheduling a meeting, you need to decide on an attendee list. The attendee list can vary from project to project, as you must invite relevant individuals to the meeting. This practice ensures that the discussion remains engaging and other workplace operations are not disturbed. 

You can create a planning committee by doing the groundwork on the project first. Identify the roles and responsibilities required for the project, and invite relevant members accordingly. Depending on the project requirements, you can exclusively ask managerial employees or add executive employees who are directly assigned the task into the mix. This measure can ensure that the meeting concludes faster while ensuring that all the points are adequately discussed. 

Create An Outline

The next thing you need to consider is the meeting structure. This helps you stay on schedule, cover all the points, and facilitate better discussions among the team. You can create an outline by researching the project and inspecting the client's requirements.

Encourage Discussions 

Meetings are all about effective communication. Considering this, you must devise the meeting structure to accommodate a flow of ideas between the meeting host and the attendees. You can also send the discussion material and meeting outline to the attendees in advance to prepare themselves and save time during the meeting.

Why Sprint Planning Meetings Are Important

These play an integral role in making sure the project runs smoothly. A successful planning meeting can: 

• Distribute tasks 
• Facilitate teamwork 
• Encourage teams to stay on schedule 
• Give teams clear direction to accomplish project goals 

Wrapping Up

Conducting an agile planning meeting can give your teams a clear idea of how to go about a project.  To plan an agile meeting, you must strategically create a meeting committee, design a meeting structure, and encourage discussions among the attendees.