Going Agile with Planio¶

Planio supports agile methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban or Extreme programming.

• Table of contents
• Going Agile with Planio
  • Agile Methodologies
  • What you can do with Planio's Agile App?
  • Getting Set Up
  • Keep It Simple & Snappy
  • Create the Backlog column
  • Plan a Sprint
  • View Items on Your Agile Board and Create Sprint Views
  • Graphs, Graphs, Graphs!

Agile Methodologies¶

Agile methodologies includes a group of software development methods such as Scrum, Kanban or Extreme programming. They’re all based on the idea that requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams.

We’ll look at how you can use Planio for one of these methodologies.

What you can do with Planio's Agile App?¶

Here’s what it will look like once it’s set up:

• see all the sprint items on one board
• drag-n-drop items or update them on the board
• plan your sprints and create issue backlogs
• generate burndown charts, cumulative flow charts, velocity charts and more

Getting Set Up¶

First, create a new project in Planio.

Then, make sure that the Agile app is activated. Go to the Apps tab and install the Agile app.

Keep It Simple & Snappy¶

We've found that you'll have the most success if you start off with a simple set-up and work from there. Once you've completed a few sprints with Planio, you'll be in a better position to see what customizations will make sense for you.

Create the Backlog column¶

Click on the 'Agile board' in the navigation bar. Then, click on 'Sprint planning' under Issues in the right sidebar. Click on 'New Sprint'.

Name this sprint 'Backlog' and don't give it any date.

Then, we'll move stories into the Backlog column. You can use the Issues without sprint column as an Icebox.

Plan a Sprint¶

You now have a backlog of items, and it's time to plan your next sprint. Click on the 'Agile board' tab in the navigation bar. Then, click on 'Sprint planning' under Issues in the right sidebar. Click on 'New Sprint'.

Give a name to your new sprint such as Week 27 2015 and set the start date.

Now, you can drag an issue from the Backlog column onto the sprint you just created.

View Items on Your Agile Board and Create Sprint Views¶

Click on 'Agile board' in the navigation bar and you'll see the the issues laid out on the Agile board. By default, you'll see all issues in the project, rather than just the issues for the current sprint.

Therefore, we'll create and save a filter for the current sprint. Click on 'Add filter' in the top right hand corner and select the 'Sprint/Milestone'. Make sure the filter is Sprint / Milestone is set to the current sprint and click 'Save'.

On the next page, you can name this filter and set it as the default board, so you don't have to select this filter each time.

It will appear in the right sidebar under 'My agile boards'.

Graphs, Graphs, Graphs!¶

Burn down charts show you how a project is progressing. They highlights the impact of adding new feature requests, and they'll let you know if things aren't going according to plan.

The velocity chart shows you the output of a team per sprint.

Lead time is the time between an issue being opened and being closed. Teams using a kanban approach often favor this method over the velocity chart, and they'll focus on improving the lead time rather than velocity.

Cumulative flow shows how issues are 'flowing' through different statuses. This chart helps answer questions such as:

1. Are issues reaching their final state?
2. Is there a particular status that's tacking a lot of time?
3. How long does it take you to go from an idea to value?
4. Is the scope of the project changing over time?