Expert facilitation of Program Increment (PI) planning events. Ensure alignment, dependency management, and commitment across teams.
2 days
Full event facilitation
100%
Teams leave with PI Objectives
Live
Dependency map by end of Day 1
Real
Commitments, not wishful plans
PI Planning, when facilitated well, is one of the most powerful alignment mechanisms available to a scaled engineering organisation. When facilitated poorly, it is two days of very expensive confusion followed by a set of plans that nobody trusts.
The difference is almost entirely in the preparation and facilitation quality. Teams need to arrive with pre-loaded context, clear product priorities, and an understanding of what a good PI Objective looks like. The event itself needs tight facilitation to move through the agenda without losing energy, surface dependencies before they become blockers, and produce commitments that teams actually believe in.
I have facilitated PI Planning for organisations ranging from 5 teams to over 20. I bring the facilitation structure, the artefacts, the experience of managing the energy in the room, and a clear-eyed view of when plans are unrealistic and need to be challenged.
When to Engage
For your quarterly PI Planning event, whether it is your first or your tenth. Also relevant when previous PI events have produced plans that fell apart immediately, when teams leave the event without confidence in their commitments, or when you are running PI Planning for the first time and want it to land well.
Teams arrive at PI Planning without clarity on the programme priorities for the increment
Product Management and Engineering speaking different languages during breakout sessions
Dependencies between teams identified too late, turning into blockers mid-increment
PI Objectives written at such a high level of abstraction they are unmeasurable
The event runs long, energy drops, and the final hours produce rushed and unreliable plans
No clear owner for cross-team risks after the event closes
Previous PI Plans treated as contracts rather than informed commitments
Four to six weeks before the event, I work with Product Management and Release Train Engineers to prepare the programme context briefing, draft the team capacity sheets, and align on the PI objectives format and quality bar.
The event opens with a sharp, engaging business context presentation, followed by facilitated product vision and architecture briefings. Teams then break out to draft objectives, identify risks, and surface early dependencies.
Teams present draft plans. I facilitate the dependency identification process using a structured board format that makes cross-team connections visible. Conflicts are resolved in real time rather than deferred.
Teams refine plans based on Day 1 integration outputs. I facilitate a structured risk review across the programme, ensuring every identified risk has an owner and a response strategy.
The event closes with a programme-level confidence vote and a final review of PI Objectives. I document the outputs, configure the programme board, and deliver a summary to leadership within 24 hours.
Pre-PI Preparation Package — agenda, artefact templates, team briefing guides, and facilitator notes
Facilitated 2-day PI Planning event with structured breakout and integration sessions
Consolidated PI Objectives — all team objectives reviewed for quality and measurability
Cross-team Dependency Map — visual, maintained, and handed to programme management
Risk Register — risks categorised by owner and response strategy
Programme Board — configured and live in your tooling before the event closes
Quick Facts
Topics Covered
What to expect
Direct, no-fluff engagements. You get honest analysis, practical recommendations, and hands-on support — not a 200-slide deck.
Get Started
Let's find out together what you need. Book a short session to map your challenges.
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