5 Reasons to Keep PI Planning Remotely in 2024
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It feels like only yesterday that enterprise organizations that had adopted a highly effective Agile PI Planning strategy were suddenly forced to move their crucial planning ceremonies online.
Today, some companies have gone back to hosting these large planning events in person, but many agile organizations have made the decision to keep these ceremonies remote or hybrid.
Agile PI Planning was born under the premise of face-to-face collaboration, and despite remote work making collaboration more challenging at times, SAFe confirms that "many ARTs have been flourishing in creating a hybrid situation where several teams join remotely."
If your organization has been considering switching to, or keeping, remote PI planning ceremonies, this article will help you understand the key advantages of doing just that.
5 Key Benefits of Remote Agile PI Planning Sessions
Reduced costs
The most significant benefit comes down to dollars and cents. Taking senior developers and upper management off of important projects to plan yet another increment comes at a cost. Not only do headcount costs accumulate quickly over three days spent planning, but ceremony logistics also need to be considered.
Planning a multi-day PI session often involves booking a comfortable and functional location for dispersed teams to fly into. These spaces must include enough space for breakout rooms for workgroups. Finding such a facility can be time-consuming and expensive, and of course, it doesn't include the cost of accommodation, food, beverages, and airfare to bring your entire team together.
By holding planning sessions remotely, or at least partially remotely, many of these costs are forfeited. This can save an organization thousands of dollars in just a single session.
How much could you save your company with remote PI Planning?
Use this PI Planning cost calculator and add up how much you could save this year planning projects remotely.
Zero commute
The results are in! 60% of remote workers consider the biggest perk of flexible work to not commuting. Most planning sessions are held outside of the office, meaning that all employees—whether locally based or globally dispersed—will have to travel for the three-day ceremony. Skipping the travel stress, time, and associated costs lets your team ease into PI planning in a more relaxed and positive mind frame.
By holding your session remotely, the commute for distributed teams goes from jumping on a plane to simply walking down the hall to a home office. And it's better for the environment, with remote workers helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54%.
Increased productivity
With agile PI Planning, the days are long and follow a strict schedule. This requires sustained focus and self-directed work. By empowering employees to manage their schedules and limit distractions in a remote setting, you can tap into their full potential for productive planning sessions.
Over the past few years, we've seen an array of new tools developed to facilitate remote work. Agile teams now have several advanced tools at their fingertips specifically made for facilitating remote PI Planning sessions and other agile collaborations.
Having the right tools that enhance your backlog and make planning visual not only boosts remote collaboration but saves time after each session from manually updating your Jira backlog after the event. You might even save a full day from PI Planning like one of our customers did!
Better engagement
We've all been in those ceremonies where some speak up while the quieter folk blend into the wallpaper. Remote PI planning software allows the underdogs and introverts to become involved in the conversation and give their input.
Letting your team leave their camera off may boost their confidence and prevent them from feeling "Zoom fatigue" after days of working while on camera. You might instead allow a mix of engagement through polls and chats to weigh ideas and feedback equally.
Or say you're having a confidence vote at the end of a PI planning session - where everyone has to raise their hand as a show of confidence. Using a virtual whiteboard for voting might feel safer, especially when the vote can be carried out anonymously.
Happier employees
Did your team get a taste of remote work during the pandemic and like it? It may benefit you to stay remote. A new study by Forbes reveals that:
Employees who always work from home are 20% happier than those who don't
Work happiness strongly correlates with overall happiness
Those who work remotely are less likely to suffer feelings of burnout
This translates to a more positive and engaged agile workforce, which can significantly impact the success of not only your remote planning sessions, but the spirit that follows.
PI Planning Remotely: Is it still worthwhile in 2024?
Source: Canva
While face-to-face collaboration has its merits, remote PI Planning offers a combination of benefits that can save company resources, boost participation, and empower your teams.
By embracing remote PI Planning, you can empower your Agile teams to thrive in a flexible, cost-effective way. And that's a win-win for everyone.
Interested in planning your next PI remotely?
See how Stormboard can help you dramatically improve your agile planning processes and see how one of our customers saved a full day in PI Planning.
[See it in Action]
About the Author
Celina Dawdy is a freelance writer in Edmonton, Alberta. When she isn’t writing, she’s volunteering and spending time with her three dogs.
Originally posted May.11, 2020
*Updated June.13, 2024
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