Does Nexus Sprint Planning replace the Sprint Plannings of the Scrum Teams?
Hi,
It is not clear in the January 2021 update of the Nexus Guide if the Nexus Sprint Planning replaces the Sprint Plannings of the Scrum Teams. It is clear for all Events, but not this one.
Quotes from the Nexus Guide:
Appropriate representatives from each Scrum Team and the Product Owner meet to plan the Sprint.
a Sprint Goal for each Scrum Team that aligns with the Nexus Sprint Goal
A Sprint Backlog for each Scrum Team, which makes transparent the work they will do in support of the Nexus Sprint Goal
So it seems it replaces the Sprint Plannings, but at the same time not all Scrum Team members are expected to be here.
So what's the impact on their feeling of commitment, of their understanding of the goals defined there?
Thanks for your help :)
I haven't spent that much time with the 2021 revision of the Nexus Guide, but I took a look at the description of Nexus Sprint Planning and compared it to the description of Nexus Sprint Planning from the 2018 revision. It seems like the authors of the Nexus Guide took a few hints from the most recent revision of the Scrum Guide and have removed some prescriptive elements.
Previously, the Nexus Guide said that "once the overall work for the Nexus is understood, Nexus Sprint Planning continues with each Scrum Team performing their own separate Sprint Planning", with the teams continuing to "share newly found dependencies with other Scrum Teams in the Nexus" and that "all members of the Scrum Teams should participate to minimize communication issues". However, all of these pieces of guidance appear to have been removed.
I don't see anything that would preclude you from practicing Nexus Sprint Planning in the manner described in the 2018 version of the Nexus Guide, but the new Nexus Guide also gives the teams more freedom. Perhaps, in a certain context, a single large planning session for everyone may be better than having individual team planning sessions. There also may be contexts, perhaps when the Nexus gets larger, where having all members participate in all aspects of the planning may be too large.
When working with multiple teams, I've found the advice in the previous versions of the Nexus Guide to be sound. It's also pretty close to how LeSS describes Sprint Planning One and Sprint Planning Two. I can't remember seeing many people share alternative structures, and it's been successful where the teams I've worked with haven't proposed changes.
I also believe that you're right - excluding people from the overall process would have a negative effect on openness, commitment, and perhaps respect. Transparency may also be reduced if people don't have good insight into what's happen when they arent directly involved. Looking at supporting these values would be key if you do make changes to how Sprint Planning is carried out in a Nexus.
The Nexus Guide says that events are appended to, placed around, or replace regular Scrum events to augment them. I'd suggest that Nexus Sprint Planning may conceptually be placed around the Sprint Planning events of constituent teams. A Sprint Backlog is expected to emerge for each of them.
Thank you for your quick answers Thomas and Ian!
That was my understanding as well, I just find it confusing that it is not clearly mentioned in the Nexus Guide, as it is the case with the other Events. Maybe a potential improvement for the next version!
Please remember that every Sprint Backlog contains not only PBIs and the Sprint Goal, but also a plan to deliver PBIs selected for the Sprint.
It's most likely to prepare a detailed plan mentioned above during Sprint Planning events of constituent teams ;)
No one else tells them how to turn Product Backlog items into increments of value
Does it make sense?