Increment Planner
Increment Planning involves estimating and prioritizing backlog items, then breaking them down into smaller sprints or iterations of work.
Permission requirement: Viewing increment plans requires read access to projects and increments. Creating and modifying increment schedules requires modify permissions on projects and teams.
Who Uses Increment Planner
Increment planning supports different roles and planning approaches:
- Product Owners prioritize and schedule features for increments using tactical planning to assign individual stories to sprints based on capacity and priority.
- Program Managers coordinate strategic increment planning across multiple teams, scheduling portfolio items to quarterly or PI-level increments.
- Scrum Masters facilitate tactical sprint planning within increments, helping teams commit to achievable work based on velocity and capacity.
- Release Train Engineers plan program increments for SAFe implementations, balancing strategic feature commitments with tactical iteration-level story distribution.
Increments are also called Releases. These terms are used interchangeably throughout Digital.ai Agility.
Two types of increment planning activities exist:
- Tactical increment planning is done at the backlog level by scheduling individual backlog items, defects, or test sets for inclusion in a increment.
- Strategic increment planning is done at the feature level by scheduling entire portfolio items, (which automatically includes all lower level backlog items). To drive good strategic plans, teams can use factors such as business value, risk, team velocity, and cost (Swag at the portfolio item level or Estimate at the backlog item level) to help create an optimal increment schedule.
Ideally, increment schedules should be kept short in duration in order to facilitate as many functional increments as possible within a given period. The goal of the increment plan is to communicate which features are intended to be delivered by the increment deadline.
Increment planning typically takes place prior to or at the beginning of a increment. Throughout the increment, the same group can gather to review progress and course-correct based on product owner feedback, team velocity, and any new information discovered.
Accessing the Increment Planner
To access the Digital.ai Agility increment planning features, click the hamburger menu
> Increment followed by one of the following options under the Planning section:
- Increment Scheduling
- Regression Planning, or
- Team Scheduling
Reporting
View project or increment and sprint metrics to measure your progress towards increment.
- Standup Dashboard Report
Use Cases
Product Owner Planning Tactical Increment with Individual Backlog Items
A product owner prepares for a two-week increment and uses tactical increment planning. They navigate to Team Scheduling (hamburger menu > Increment > Team Scheduling) to view unscheduled backlog items. They see 45 stories in the backlog with a team velocity of 32 points per two-week sprint. The product owner drags 15 high-priority stories totaling 30 points from the backlog into Sprint 14. The Team Scheduling page shows the sprint at 94% capacity (30/32 points). They add one more 2-point story, reaching 100% capacity. The increment plan is set with stories scheduled based on capacity and priority.
Program Manager Using Strategic Increment Planning with Portfolio Items
A program manager plans the next quarterly increment at the feature level (strategic increment planning). They open Increment Scheduling (hamburger menu > Increment > Increment Scheduling) and view unscheduled epics and features. They see six epics with Swag estimates ranging from 20 to 80 points. Based on business value, risk assessment, and team capacity (average 100 points per increment), they drag four epics into Q2 Increment totaling 95 points. When an epic is assigned to the increment, all underlying backlog items automatically get scheduled. The remaining two epics are scheduled for Q3, creating a multi-increment strategic roadmap.
Scrum Master Balancing Cost and Business Value During Increment Planning
A scrum master facilitates an increment planning session with the product owner. They use Increment Scheduling to view epics sorted by business value. The top-ranked epic "Mobile Checkout" has a Swag of 55 points and high business value. The second epic "Admin Reporting Enhancements" has a Swag of 30 points but lower business value. The team's velocity is 80 points per increment. They schedule "Mobile Checkout" (55 points) and add a smaller epic "Payment Gateway Update" (20 points) to reach 75 points, leaving buffer for unplanned work. The lower-value "Admin Reporting" epic is deferred to the next increment, optimizing the increment schedule based on value and capacity.
Release Train Engineer Planning Multiple Short-Duration Increments
A Release Train Engineer (RTE) plans a Program Increment (PI) consisting of five two-week iterations. They use strategic increment planning to assign features to the PI first, then switch to Team Scheduling for tactical planning. At the PI level (Increment Scheduling), they schedule twelve features totaling 240 points across four teams (averaging 60 points per team for the 10-week PI). They then drill into Team Scheduling for each iteration within the PI, distributing the 240 points of feature work across the five iterations. This two-level planning creates both strategic (PI-level feature commitments) and tactical (iteration-level story scheduling) plans.
Product Team Reviewing Progress and Course-Correcting Mid-Increment
Midway through a month-long increment, a product team gathers to review progress. They open Increment Scheduling and see that three of five scheduled epics are marked "In Progress" with 60% complete. However, one critical epic "API Performance Optimization" is only 15% complete due to discovered technical complexity. Using velocity data and remaining capacity, they realize the epic won't finish in the current increment. They remove one lower-priority epic from the increment and move it to the next increment, allowing the team to focus on completing the critical API work. This mid-increment course correction prevents overcommitment and adjusts the plan based on actual progress.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between tactical and strategic increment planning?
Tactical increment planning involves scheduling individual backlog items (stories, defects, test sets) for specific sprints or iterations. Use tactical planning when you need detailed, story-level schedules based on team capacity and velocity. Strategic increment planning involves scheduling entire portfolio items (epics, features) to increments. When you schedule a portfolio item, all its child backlog items are automatically included in the increment. Use strategic planning for high-level roadmapping and feature-based commitments when detailed story-level scheduling can happen later during sprint planning.
How does scheduling a portfolio item affect its child backlog items?
When you schedule a portfolio item (epic or feature) to an increment using strategic increment planning, all backlog items that roll up to that portfolio item are automatically included in the increment. For example, if you schedule an epic "Customer Portal" with 15 associated stories, all 15 stories inherit the increment assignment. This cascading behavior simplifies high-level planning; you don't need to individually schedule each story. Teams can later distribute the stories across specific sprints within the increment using tactical planning in Team Scheduling.
Which increment planning approach should I use for my team?
Choose tactical increment planning if you work with small, independent teams that plan sprint-by-sprint and prefer story-level scheduling. Choose strategic increment planning if you manage larger initiatives, coordinate multiple teams, or want to plan at the epic/feature level with automatic rolldown to stories. Many organizations use a hybrid approach: strategic planning for quarterly increments (schedule epics to quarters), then tactical planning for sprints within the quarter (distribute stories across 2-week sprints). Match the planning approach to your organization's planning horizon and coordination needs.
How do I know if my increment plan is realistic based on team velocity?
Use historical velocity data to validate increment feasibility. In Team Scheduling, capacity indicators show planned work against team velocity. For example, if your team averages 40 points per two-week sprint and you schedule 42 points, the capacity bar may show yellow (near capacity) or red (overcapacity). In Increment Scheduling (strategic planning), compare the total Swag of scheduled portfolio items against the team's expected capacity for the increment duration. Capacity indicators require configured team velocity and sprint schedules; verify that velocity is tracked for your team and that sprint schedules are properly defined with start and end dates.
Why can't I access Increment Scheduling or Team Scheduling or why doesn't my portfolio item show?
These features require read access to the projects and increments you want to view. Contact your Project Admin to verify permissions. Some organizations restrict increment planning to specific roles. If a portfolio item doesn't appear in Increment Scheduling, verify it's assigned to the correct project and check that it isn't already scheduled to an increment (unscheduled items appear in the backlog section). Ensure you're viewing the correct planning level (Strategic vs Tactical).
Should increment schedules be updated as work progresses?
Yes, increment schedules should be living plans that adapt to reality. Review increment progress regularly (weekly or bi-weekly) and adjust schedules based on actual velocity, discovered work, changing priorities, and team capacity. If an epic is taking longer than expected, consider deferring lower-priority portfolio items to maintain focus and quality. If the team completes work faster than planned, pull additional high-priority items from the backlog into the increment. This adaptive planning approach aligns with agile principles of responding to change and keeps increment commitments realistic.