Jen's Mock Newsletter - Billy Joel Themed

Whooooooooo! We Didn’t Start The Fire but this train is sure running off of our fire! Full steam ahead as we close out Sprint X and round up this PI with our last sprint, Sprint X!

For this newsletter, we will pay tribute to the awesome Billy Joel. I hope you enjoy it, and I didn’t completely age myself with this attempt at humor.

Important Updates about Program Increment (PI) X 20XX!!

If you didn’t catch the multiple memos, we have moved the PIX Planning Event. This Is The Time To Remember we will now be meeting on <dates>. I know it’s exciting and seems like it’s for The Longest Time, but details to follow soon!

While I will send this via email as well, the RSVP Survey for the upcoming PI

Planning event link is below. You May Be Right,I may be crazy, and it might even seem like I Go To Extremes, but here’s my reasoning:

● I need an RSVP from everyone who gets our related emails, regardless of whether you’re attending or not. It’s A Matter Of Trust, but I really need this information:

○ Unfortunately, I cannot rely on calendar responses to manage this event. Not everyone sends a response. I get it, You’re Only Human, but help a lady out!

● We will be located off-site, and I need to ensure the room can accommodate our event, make sure we have food and dietary concerns addressed, etc.

The RSVP survey can be found <here>

● No Pressure, (ok maybe a little), just Tell Her About It, please, I need a response by <date>.

Again, I’d love to hear how the PI is going for you! You may use this survey to submit to my “suggestion box” as frequently as you’d like (there’s no limit on the number of times you can provide feedback). Here’s a link to the form: <survey> or if you are comfortable, please DO reach out to me!

What’s in work:

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, I have been working closely with

Product Management and a meeting scheduled with Architecture on documenting our Definition of Ready for features and enablers so that when we enter PI Planning we have the work in a good state for teams to consume. You might think, Don’t Ask Me Why, but the purpose is to ensure we’re ready to go for PI Planning.

At this time, I am crafting a Definition of Done for the Program Increment. Next, a team of individuals will review, and we will announce it at PI Planning and try it for PIX 20XX. We’ll then “retro” it at the end of the PI, measure against it, decide what tweaks are needed, and try again with an updated version. There is no Pressure; we’re working on this document so that our ART practices transparency with our business owners (stakeholders) and that we make our commitments and “own it,” thus resulting in accountability.

I thank you for Keeping The Faith as I make changes to help our Agile Release Train improve.

What’s up next:

Our next feature socialization meeting is XX/XX/XXXX. At this meeting, we will have a features/enablers meeting to discuss our Definition of Ready for our Development teams to pick up.

Innovation and Planning Sprint

The “IP” sprint starts June XX and will wrap up July XX! Coming up quickly!

What does “IP” stand for? Innovation and Planning, which also includes Training. Here is the <link> to the Innovation and Planning calendar. Let’s dive into what exactly IP means, as I’m sure you’re curious.

The IP Sprint is a time for innovation and exploration. Teams can work on whatever they want, but it must apply to the business. It may feel like it’s Sometimes A Fantasy, but it’s also a good time to work on continuous learning and development. I know that we have a course offering for Application Security during this time period.

At the end of this sprint, we will have an ART-wide system demo showcasing the feature work completed this Program Increment. This is also a great time to have our retrospective at the end of the PI, otherwise known as the Inspect & Adapt event.

What else will teams be doing during the IP Sprint? It’s definitely time to focus on the features the teams are considering for the next PI. This time can be used to gain familiarity with the features, start stubbing out user stories (backlog refinement), and start thinking ahead of PI Planning. This will make the event go much smoother for team planning.

Do you have any suggestions for future newsletter content? Shoot me a note! Thanks, everyone!

Jen Cracchiola

<Title>, Bad Comedian, and Captain Jack, but not a Big Shot