Key Points

• Big Room Planning remains a popular way to bring together key stakeholders every quarter. 
• There is a question about how relevant Big Room Planning is in the age of digital transformation. 
• The hope is that BRP will allow everyone to be on the same page. 

If you’re working for any organization these days, big or small, there is a good chance that you have at least heard of Big Room Planning (BRP). While there are mixed reviews on whether Big Room Planning works, some companies and employees feel the opposite. 

In the world of agile methodologies, Big Room Planning has gained popularity as a work method for bringing people together and improving collaboration. The hope is that everyone in one room can align their goals and know that their efforts are in complete sync. 

The real question is, in today’s era of agile, is Big Room Planning still relevant? 

What Is Big Room Planning? 

This agile collaborative practice, Big Room Planning, involves bringing together cross-functional teams, leadership, key stakeholders, and anyone else who needs to be involved in a project. The hope is that this process can break down any current walls or barriers and ensure that everyone on the team is working toward the same goals. 

When it comes to Agile workflows, Big Room Planning has often played a key role in this process. The main objective is to ensure everyone is on the same page and that nobody is missing out on the end goal, which means there is a clear path forward for everyone involved. 

How Often Should Big Room Planning Take Place?

Under the best circumstances, the right approach is to bring everyone who is a key stakeholder together as part of a process for a few days a quarter. During this time, all of the advantages of these meetings can play out, and two to three days should be more than enough time to address any elephants in the room. 

What Are Big Room Planning Advantages? 

If you look at Big Room Planning as a process, there is definite hope that it is advantageous and can get everyone on the same page about software development. 

Collaboration 

One of the biggest advantages is collaboration, specifically around cross-functional communication. It won’t come as any surprise to learn that teams sometimes need to be in the same room to share their best ideas and problem-solve. The goal with this process is to ensure nobody or no team is working in a silo and that every member of the team is working toward delivering the best possible project launch. 

Alignment 

It won’t come as any surprise to learn that Big Room Planning that there is an alignment benefit as part of Big Room Planning. With everyone in the same room, there shouldn’t be anyone who isn’t abundantly clear on the goals and priorities of this project launch. More specifically, nobody should leave a Big Room Planning session with any misunderstanding or feeling like they are wasting time. 

Transparency

While a Big Room Planning session is taking place, there should be an opportunity for everyone working on a project, no matter their role, to have complete visibility on the work that is going on. The hope is that being completely transparent will allow anyone to point out potential bottlenecks they are finding, as well as identify any ways two people or teams are seeing conflicting priorities. 

Real-Time Decision Making

Real-time decision-making and big room planning should be the norm with every team member in the same room. This process should mean that every decision is reviewed and determined on the spot, as the meeting is happening. By getting same-day answers, there should be easy ways to move forward without scheduling another meeting or going back and forth via email. 

Addressing Tension

Anyone who has ever been involved in a Big Room Planning session knows that these meetings aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. Unfortunately, these meetings can get heated, sometimes frustratingly so. When this happens, BRP is an opportunity to hash out any issues causing two teams to get at each other and hopefully resolve these issues so everyone is working well together. 

Why Big Room Planning Should Continue 

While you might be able to argue that Big Room Planning isn’t for every business and team, there seems to be a strong argument in favor of BRP, which is still very relevant during an era of agile and digital transformation. 

As it stands, agile remains one of the strongest methods for bringing about a digital transformation. However, digital transformations can be a tumultuous experience, with many changing parts and key initiatives, and keeping everyone on the same page can be challenging.

For this reason, BRP still feels very relevant, but the good news is that there isn’t one reason BRPs should continue; there are many reasons. 

Complex Transformations 

Any digital transformation is a complex process involving multiple key stakeholders, departments, and systems. Big Room Planning allows a team to structure and map out the current state of affairs, define the end game, and examine how to close gaps between these two stages. 

In Agile environments, BRP can help be the “north star” that guides Agile teams and keeps them on track with the overall business objectives. For example, a cloud migration is critical to a digital transformation, and having a BRP can help define the project’s scope and kick everyone off on the right foot. 

Risk Mitigation 

Multiple compliance risks must be covered to ensure a smooth launch, any time a digital transformation occurs. Fortunately, Big Room Planning ensures a mechanism is in place for all key stakeholders to identify and document any risk and compliance needs early in the digital transformation process. 

In addition, BRP can help mitigate any potential risk associated with digital transformations. Unsurprisingly, digital transformations are not small undertakings, and plenty of things can go wrong. What you don’t want to go wrong is anything that could compromise data security or disrupt the business. 

Utilizing a Big Room Planning session to address risks proactively allows organizations to identify potential problems, especially those that could result in significant system damage, and mitigate these risks. 

Strategic Business Objectives 

It won’t come as any surprise to learn that a big challenge that often presents itself during a digital transformation is a communication gap between the business and its IT stakeholders. This is where Big Room Planning comes into play, as it can bring key stakeholders from these teams together to ensure everyone is on the same page. 

Better yet, BRP ensures that communication continues to flow so the business and IT can define each other’s requirements and have a shared understanding of the immediate project and its goals. This is why neither team is working in a silo and there aren’t duplicate workstreams taking place at the same time that could end up being more of a headache. 

Long-Term Roadmaps

In the case of agile, which focuses on small “sprints” and iterative development, long-term vision is still needed as part of this process. This is where Big Room Planning can come into play as it can help be the catalyst to ensure that a long-term vision is in place so when the time comes to start focusing on it, the business isn’t starting from scratch. 

There is also the hope that having a roadmap in place will help guide agile teams and steer their work in line with the overall strategic direction of the business. Teams in this process will help create an initial product roadmap, which can be broken down into agile workflows and shorter sprints. 

Unsurprisingly, digital transformations are not just one-time events. This process is ongoing as new and better software and cloud services are released. Having Big Room Planning as a tool available to teams involved in a digital transformation will help ensure these software programs evolve to save business costs and provide better customer service. 

Other Useful Tools and Concepts

Anyone involved in Agile and digital transformation knows that no one-size-fits-all process works for everyone. In many ways, certain teams like to handle things differently, and this is okay, but when push comes to shove, the benefits of maintaining Big Room Planning in the age of Agile and digital transformation are clear. 

This isn’t to say that Big Room Planning is perfect, as there could be some reasons why it’s an imperfect system that doesn’t work in every scenario. Agile is very focused on change, while some people look at BRP as not being as welcoming with feedback or as being more resistant to change. However, these potential negatives are vastly outweighed by the positives. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, Big Room Planning will continue to have its place during the Agile and digital transformation era. It might take a bit of kicking and screaming to get everyone into one room for a few days every quarter, but there is no question that all stakeholders should come out of these meetings better prepared for any digital transformation changes.

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