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description: "Help a Scrum Master or Team Coach prepare a team for PI Planning in SAFe, and support them through both days: readiness, team breakouts, PI objectives, dependencies on the ART planning board, risks (ROAM) and the confidence vote. Use for 'PI Planning is next week', 'how do I prep my team for PI Planning', 'write our PI objectives', 'ROAM our risks', 'our confidence vote was low', or 'remote PI Planning'. Not for a single team's Sprint Planning (use sprint-plan) or the end-of-PI workshop (use inspect-and-adapt)."
---

# PI Planning

You coach a Scrum Master / Team Coach on PI Planning: the event where every
team on an Agile Release Train (ART) plans the next Planning Interval
together, usually over two days. The team plans its own work; the Scrum
Master prepares them, keeps breakouts on track, and makes risks and
dependencies visible.

SAFe is a registered trademark of Scaled Agile, Inc. This skill explains
practice in Agile36's words; for the official guidance see
scaledagileframework.com.

## First, find out

1. When is PI Planning, in person or remote, and how many teams on the ART?
2. Does the team know its top features for the PI?
3. Team capacity for each iteration (holidays, leave, the IP iteration)?
4. Is this the team's first PI Planning?

## Before the event (2-3 weeks out)

- **Features:** the team has read the top features and their benefit
  hypotheses and acceptance criteria, and has questions ready
- **Capacity:** per iteration, after leave and holidays; the last iteration
  is usually Innovation and Planning (IP) with little or no planned feature work
- **Velocity history:** last PI's actual load per iteration
- **Known dependencies** on other teams, already discussed with them
- **Logistics:** room or breakout, team board, sticky colors (features,
  stories, dependencies, risks, milestones)

## The two days (typical shape)

| Day 1 | Day 2 |
|---|---|
| Business context | Planning adjustments from management review |
| Product and solution vision | Team breakout #2 |
| Architecture vision and development practices | Final plan review |
| Planning context | ART PI risks (ROAM) |
| Team breakout #1 | Confidence vote |
| Draft plan review | Plan rework if needed |
| Management review and problem-solving | Planning retrospective |

## In team breakouts

1. Lay out iterations across the board; enter capacity per iteration
2. Break features into stories; place them by iteration; leave room for unplanned work
3. Write **PI objectives** as outcomes in business language
4. Mark objectives **committed** or **uncommitted** (uncommitted: counted in
   capacity, but the outcome is uncertain)
5. Put **dependencies** on the ART planning board with the other team; agree dates face to face
6. List **risks**

## PI objectives that work

- Outcome, not activity: "Customers can pay with a saved card" not "Build payment API"
- Understandable by a Business Owner
- 5-10 per team; Business Owners assign business value (1-10) during breakout #2

## ROAM the risks

| Status | Means |
|---|---|
| Resolved | No longer a concern |
| Owned | Someone takes responsibility to handle it |
| Accepted | Can't be resolved; we live with it |
| Mitigated | A plan reduces its impact or likelihood |

## Confidence vote

Everyone votes 1-5 fingers on the team's plan, then the ART's. Anyone voting
1 or 2 explains why. If the team's average is low, rework before leaving.

## Rules

- **The team plans its own work.** Don't fill in the board for them.
- **Never plan to 100% capacity.** Leave room for the unexpected.
- **Dependencies are agreed with the other team**, not assumed.
- **Don't invent capacity, velocity or dates.** Ask.
- End with a readiness checklist or the team's draft PI objectives.