6. Planning a Scrum Project

The Scrum planning process sets stakeholders’ expectations. These stakeholders include those who fund the project, those who intend to use the functionality created by the project, and those who will be otherwise affected by the project. The plan is a way of synchronizing stakeholders’ expectations with the Team’s expectations. In the case of stakeholders who will be users of project functionality, the plan helps them organize their work so that they can be ready to take advantage of the functionality as it is implemented. In the case of stakeholders who are funding the project, the plan details their expectation of what funding is required and when the benefits of the project should be realized. The plan is also the basis of project reporting. At the end of the Sprint, the stakeholders attend the Sprint review meetings and compare the project’s actual progress against its planned progress. Changes in course and revisions to the plan made in Sprint planning meetings are explained to the stakeholders. For those who are unable to attend the Sprint review meeting, the project reports compare actual results to the plan—both the original plan and the plan as it has been modified since the project’s inception.

The Scrum planning process involves resolving three questions: