In AGILE, we no longer ask: How long do we need for what complexity? Instead, we ask: How much complexity can fit into a 2-week sprint? That’s Timeboxing.

Timeboxing is the prerequisite for ensuring that, despite all the unpredictability that comes with innovation, we still achieve repetition. We repeat 2-week sprints. The brain learns through repetition. Synapses form. Trampled paths become highways. We inevitably become better at estimating the workload for a 2-week sprint.

This makes us more confident. We gain more self-confidence.
Confident people are bolder, they trust themselves more, and they achieve more.

Every 3 months, teams meet and synchronize with each other.
A milestone plan is created for the “Timebox” of the next 3 months (= 6 sprints).

It’s about leading many people over a day to achieve commitment. This is very demanding.

Such a meeting must be extremely well-prepared and facilitated.

“How does a Big-Room Meeting work?”

For our Big-Room Meeting, we have a tight agenda. The goal is for everyone to be actively involved throughout the entire day. Our project management team has prepared a large wallpaper. On it, the next six 2-week sprints are laid out horizontally. Vertically, all the project’s involved departments are listed in swim lanes. As each department sequentially sets its milestones, the big picture for the project with all cross-functional connections emerges.

Now we discuss dependencies and time conflicts, define no-gos, and form targeted breakout groups for solution finding. The solutions are integrated into the shared wallpaper. The result: a realistic overall plan co-created by everyone, reflecting intensive collaboration.

After each department has defined results and clarified team dependencies, the highlight follows: a commitment check via thumbs-up. In the end, this leads to a revised and realistic overall plan. It was hard work. Everyone contributed. The result looks similar to the beginning—with one crucial difference: now it is a part of everyone involved.