2 Start of an iteration
This guidebook is written following the diátaxis “how-to guide” style. And because this document reflects how we work in the Seedcase Project, it is living and constantly evolving. It won’t ever be in a state of “done”.
We track our iterations’ progress and tasks on GitHub with this project board.
- It’s good practice to assign a timekeeper to keep us on track and so we avoid spending too long on any one topic.
- While this guide can apply to all members of the team, several parts of it are specific to the team lead. Those parts will be explicitly marked to indicate that they are only for the team lead.
An iteration starts with a planning meeting at the start of each month. It should ideally be between 30-45 minutes. If you are the team lead, you should already have prepared for and made a general plan for the iteration, so this meeting should not be used as a way for everyone to write out and list all the tasks needed. Rather, the main purpose of this meeting is to get everyone aligned on the aim(s) and overall plan.
This meeting should ideally not be held the same day as the previous iteration’s debrief and retrospective meeting. Two intense meetings in a row tend to tire most humans out, and being tired is counterproductive for an effective meeting.
A basic agenda could be:
- Review and agree on the iteration aims and end date.
- Review the longer-term roadmap
- Review the list of tasks on the project board for this iteration.
- Brainstorm and add any other issues as needed.
2.0.1 Before meeting
In general, if you are not the team lead, you don’t really need to prepare for this meeting. If you are the team lead though, you do need to prepare. So if you are the team lead:
Before the planning meeting you need to refine (or create) the iteration aim(s) and move any existing tasks (GitHub Issues) into the iteration that are relevant to the aim(s) of the iteration. An iteration aim (or aims) should be something that is achievable within the iteration timeframe. The iteration should ideally have only a few main, larger aims, but can include a few more smaller aims.
create any issues that are missing from the current list of issues. While making issues, keep them as small as is reasonable and as descriptive and targeted as possible.
If you are not the team lead, you can optionally review the aim(s) and output of the iteration board, review the list of issues already listed, and write out any potential issues as needed to complete the iteration aim.
2.0.2 During meeting
During the meeting, someone will share their screen (if virtual) and the team will go through the tasks on the board together. Ideally, the team lead would be the one faciliatating the meeting, but it can be anyone.
You all will go over the roadmap or the longer term plan, to keep everyone aligned and updated. Then, you all will discuss and decide or agree on the iteration aim(s) (the “increment” or “milestone”).
Finally, everyone will briefly review the current list of tasks on the board and brainstorm any other tasks that are needed. You’ll agree on the number of tasks in the iteration as well as the distribution of priority labels of the tasks.
After that, you’re done! Remember, this meeting is not meant to take up too much time.