Workflow Detail: Plan for Next Iteration

Topics

The purpose of this workflow detail is to create an Iteration Plan, which is a fine-grained plan to guide the next iteration. After creating the plan, adjustments may be needed to the Business Case (for example, if costs change, or the return-on-investment calculation is affected by changes to the availability dates of important features in the software). The Iteration Plan should be reviewed by the customer and other stakeholders, and, if satisfactory, should be approved through the Iteration Plan Review. This review also gives the customer visibility of the project's expectations of customer participation and resources—particularly if the iteration is intended to deliver artifacts or deploy software—so the customer can make appropriate plans. In the Rational Unified Process, it is strongly recommended that the scope and resources of an iteration are actively managed to meet the planned end date, that is, a timeboxing approach is used. This means that the Iteration Plan may be changed during an iteration, as schedule problems arise and are rectified.

How to Staff

The Project Manager needs a combination of planning, risk management and estimation skills, and an appreciation for the technical content of the iteration, because the iteration's contents will be decided based on considerations of risk, the need to demonstrate or deliver certain artifacts and capability, and the natural order imposed by integration. The Project Manager will work closely with the Software Architect in the preparation of the Iteration Plan. The Project Reviewer should have similar skills to the Project Manager, and also needs good domain understanding.

Work Guidelines

The Project Manager should work closely with the Software Architect to define the iteration's contents. The Iteration Plan should be evaluated internally, through walkthrough and review, before being presented for the Iteration Plan Review, in particular: