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Delivery cycle

In January 2024 the team will begin using a new 3-weekly delivery cycle which will be followed by a reflection week. This documentation explains what happens at each stage of the cycle.

3 week sprint

The new delivery model focuses on fixed time, variable scope cycles, with an expectation of generating insights that can be shared or shippable code at the end of each cycle.

Squads will form around a brief which has been prioritised by the team leads. Most team members will only work in one squad, however there may be occasions when they play a supporting role in another squad. Each brief will have an epic lead who is the pragmatic co-ordinator of the work and acts as a conduit between the squad and the product and delivery managers. You can read more about the responsibilities of an epic lead.

The squads can change in shape and size depending on the stage of development. There will be the option for team members to move squads if they want to work on something new, however this will depend on availability and requirements of the briefs in play at the given time.

Squads will have autonomy in deciding how they will deliver a brief. The squads will be able to decide when and how often they have stand ups and will be expected to self organise.

Throughout the 3 week cycle, there will be opportunities for support and feedback from the wider team. Fixtures such as:

  • check ins with product and delivery managers for all epic leads
  • mid-cycle demo to get early feedback from the team
  • “how are we doing” chats at the end of each week with the team leads to address any issues or blockers which have arisen
  • utilising our Slack channel and playbook guides on how to ask other roles for help

There will be a no-meetings day each week to give the team focused, quiet time to work on aspects of the brief.

Reflection week

At the end of each cycle, we will hold a reflection week. This week is designed to host reflection activities but also create space for team building and experimentation on a more regular basis.

Reflection week will begin with show & tell, where the squads will fulfil the “shippable / showable” instruction. Over the following days, the team will also take part in a retrospective and a facilitated learning and development session.

Planning for the next cycle will also happen in reflection week. The team leads will tend to the briefs, and the team will have opportunity to submit new briefs for consideration in future cycles. A cycle planning meeting will happen towards the end of the week giving the team time to review the briefs and plan how it will be delivered in the next cycle.

In between these core ceremonies, the team is encouraged to use the week to:

  • undertake further learning and development activities such as hosting skill sharing sessions
  • write weeknotes, blogs and update decision logs
  • write feedback for others
  • organise team building or social activities
  • experiment with new ideas which could be prioritised in a future brief

At the end of each reflection week we will also look to do a release of GOV.UK Frontend so settle into a regular cadence of releasing new features.