Effective Personal Sprint Planning

Today marks the end of my personal challenge: posting daily on LinkedIn for four weeks straight. Why did I put myself through this? Simply put, it made me feel super uncomfortable. A year ago, I had never written publicly. I forced myself to open this newsletter, then post weekly on LinkedIn, and now daily. Why? Because I want to help people, and writing is a great mechanism for that, so I want to make it a strength by getting out of my comfort zone - I've heard that this is where growth happens.

[Side note: I learned that posting something "controversial" can backfire. One post reached 100k+ people but had low engagement, causing LinkedIn to reduce visibility for my new posts this week by more than half. It’s frustrating, but it’s part of the learning process. Now, I need to rebuild my rapport with the LinkedIn algorithm, so if you could engage with my recent posts, I'd greatly appreciate it.]

Moving on to today’s topic: Embracing Agile principles can greatly enhance team productivity, and I believe the same principles can be applied to managing your personal workload. Here’s how:

THE THEORY

Sprint planning is a core component of the Scrum framework that helps tech teams apply Agile principles to achieve better results. According to "Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time," it involves breaking down large projects into manageable chunks and focusing on short, time-boxed periods called sprints. This method allows for iterative progress and quick adjustments.

Here’s how Scrum principles align with managing our weekly workload:

• Product Roadmap: Determines the direction, goals, and timeline for a product. Similar to our Personal Goals.

• Product Backlog: A prioritized list of work items or features derived from the roadmap. Similar to our Project List.

• Sprint Backlog: A subset of the product backlog, broken down into tasks that fit within a sprint's timeframe. Similar to our prioritized Task List after applying the concept of "Breaking the Lion into Small Kittens."

• Sprint Planning Meeting: Where the team decides what to work on during the sprint and how to complete it. Similar to our Weekly Review process, where we decide which tasks to prioritize for the coming week.

• Sprint Execution: The period (usually 1-4 weeks) where the team focuses on completing the assigned tasks. Similar to our hustling through those tasks during the week.

• Sprint Review & Retrospective: Moments for the team to review completed work and implement improvements. Similar to our weekly reflection (first part of a Weekly Review) or Quarterly Reviews.

• Refined Backlog: The updated list of tasks and goals for the next sprint. Similar to the start of a new week.

MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Jeff Bezos said, "We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details." This captures the essence of effective sprint planning: maintain a long-term vision while being adaptable to changes and uncertainty.

If the full system feels overwhelming, focus on three key Agile principles: (1) Have a clear plan while learning to accept that change will likely come; (2) Obsess about breaking goals into actionable tasks (from goal to projects to weekly tasks); and (3) Reflect and adapt weekly to adjust your plans. These principles will help you stay on track and continuously improve your productivity.

HOW TO PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE

1. Define Your Personal Roadmap: Set your long-term goals.

2. Create Your Personal Backlog: Break goals into specific projects.

3. Create Your Weekly Backlog: Break projects into a prioritized list of tasks.

4. Plan Your Weekly Sprints: Prioritize your week by moving tasks from your weekly backlog to your calendar.

5. Execute During the Week: Focus on completing your assigned tasks.

6. Reflect, Adjust, and Iterate: At the end of the Weekly Sprint, review what worked, make adjustments, and improve continuously.

Embrace this iterative process to boost your personal productivity.

Sprinting off,

Jorge Luis Pando