The power of the timebox is key to unlocking the benefits of incremental delivery. When you scale time down you scale down uncertainty. This works for organizations large and small.

Does it solve all problems. No. But its the first step towards greater certainty.

Okay, that sounded very Zen like but how do you put it to use.

Well it depends on what time scale you are interested in timeboxing. 

In today’s warp speed business and technology landscape any plan past 12 months is more wishful thinking than planning. Three to Five year plans, to quote a mobster, “fuhget about it!” 

For organizations that want to be fast moving, responsive and reactive, planning timeboxes around 12 weeks, 24 weeks and 52 weeks are  more than enough to be strategic without stilfing the tactical. You can pick and choose which intervals work for you.

Within those intervals, your agile teams, whether scrum or kanban, should have their own timebox interval they commit to. Scrum teams can pick what works for them, 1 to 4 week iteration timeboxes while kanban teams should also select a kanban custom timebox that works for them.

What? A kanban team is all about flow and does not need timeboxes. Well, that is a purist view but its not practical. Kanban teams need more than flow they also need cadence. Cadence to govern the human need for connecting and as a tribe working to a calendar and dates. Cadence to undersand capacity and WIP contrainsts.

When you integrate the various tactical timeboxes of the agile teams and the strategic timeboxes of the organization that is when you are truly leveraging the power of time.

To learn more about the power of timeboxes, lets discuss. https://agileatanyscale.com/contact/