Are You Getting Real Value from PI Planning… or Just Going Through the Motions?
Are You Getting Real Value from PI Planning… or Just Going Through the Motions?
Scrum Master Meetup · May 2026
Many organisations are investing significant time and effort into PI Planning and Big Room Planning. Teams come together. Plans are created. Dependencies are mapped. Boards are filled.
But here's the uncomfortable question: Have we become so focused on creating the plan that we've forgotten why we are planning in the first place?
Too often, success is measured by whether the planning event happened, whether the board is complete, and whether everyone left with a plan.
But a plan has very little value on its own.
The real value comes from the conversations that happen during planning. The transparency that is created. The risks that are exposed. The decisions that are made. The alignment that happens across teams and leaders.
If those things aren't happening, then planning can quickly become an expensive exercise that consumes time without changing outcomes.
In this Scrum Master Meetup, Malene Jacobsen and Bevan Williams challenge some of the assumptions behind traditional planning events and explore what organisations should really be trying to achieve.
Because the goal isn't to create a plan. The goal is to create alignment, improve decision-making, and help the organisation move forward together.
In this session, you'll learn:
🔥 Why many PI Planning and Big Room Planning events fail to deliver the value they promise
🔥 The difference between creating a plan and creating organisational alignment
🔥 Common Agile Planning anti-patterns that waste time and effort
🔥 How to identify dependencies, risks, and bottlenecks earlier
🔥 What leaders should really be looking for during planning events
🔥 How to improve predictability without creating more process
🔥 Practical ways to increase the effectiveness of PI Planning and Big Room Planning
Who is this for?
✔ Scrum Masters
✔ Agile Coaches
✔ Delivery Leaders
✔ Product Managers
✔ PMO Professionals
✔ Anyone involved in PI Planning or Big Room Planning
If your planning events feel like a lot of effort but little impact, this session is for you.
Real conversations. Real organisational challenges. Real lessons learned from facilitating planning events across enterprises. No Agile theatre. No framework worship. No silver bullets. Just practical insights you can apply immediately.
💡 Want to go deeper?
Explore more training with Agile Training Alliance:
https://agiletrainingalliance.co.za
📌 Chapters
00:00 – Introduction: Are You Getting Real Value from PI Planning?
02:14 – PI Planning vs Big Room Planning: What's the Difference?
06:35 – Why Many Planning Events Become Expensive Events
12:05 – The Real Purpose of PI Planning and Big Room Planning
23:54 – Creating Alignment Across Teams and Leaders
26:10 – Managing Dependencies Before They Become Delays
31:15 – Planning vs Predicting: Why Plans Constantly Change
38:20 – How to Measure the Success of a Planning Event
45:05 – Common PI Planning Anti-Patterns
53:10 – Summary
💬 Join the conversation
What is the biggest value you get from PI Planning or Big Room Planning?
And if you stopped doing it tomorrow, what would your organisation actually miss?
Drop your thoughts in the comments 👇
Topics covered in this session: PI Planning, Big Room Planning, Agile Planning, SAFe Planning, dependency management, cross-team alignment, organisational transparency, Agile transformation, portfolio planning, predictability, flow, and practical techniques for improving planning effectiveness in complex organisations.
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