Perform PI planning in EAP

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Perform PI planning in EAP

    Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP) enables ServiceNow customers to perform Program Increment (PI) planning by using a Planning board designed for coordinating work across multiple teams and iterations. This tool supports Big Room Planning, allowing you to track progress, visualize and manage dependencies, and reschedule work to adapt quickly while ensuring alignment with business priorities.

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    Planning Board Layout and Configuration

    The Planning board layout varies based on the team level within the Agile hierarchy:

    • ART (Agile Release Train), Solution Train, Portfolio: Use a two-dimensional Kanban board with variations in horizontal and vertical lanes.
    • Agile Team: Uses a simpler Kanban board where vertical lanes represent the state of work items (e.g., Stories), displayed as cards in either compact or full size with relevant data points such as item number, state, and indicators for dependencies or blockers.

    Work items are grouped according to the team hierarchy and configured iterations:

    • Agile Team: Cards represent Stories grouped by state within a sprint or iteration.
    • ART: Stories are grouped horizontally by child teams and vertically by iterations (e.g., sprints within a PI).
    • Solution Train: Grouped horizontally by ARTs and vertically by item state.
    • Portfolio: Grouped horizontally by Solution Trains and vertically by item state.

    The board can display dependencies and team capacity if toggled on. By default, only certain work item types are shown based on configuration (e.g., Features for ART in Full Configuration). To view other types such as Capabilities, Epics, or Stories, administrators must update the EAP configuration.

    Kanban Team Layout

    • Portfolio Kanban Board: Displays assigned work items with teams as horizontal lanes and work states as vertical lanes. Unassigned work appears in the Portfolio section.
    • Team Kanban Board: Shows assigned work in a one-dimensional Kanban format.

    Work item types can be customized and created directly from the Planning board.

    Using PI Planning in EAP

    • Plan work for an ART: Organize and schedule work for all teams within an ART across multiple Planning Intervals.
    • Coordinate across teams: Manage dependencies and resolve blockers in real time using the Planning board.
    • Visualize dependencies: Understand and track work item dependencies clearly on the board.
    • Personalize the board: Customize cards to display key metrics and indicators for quick insight during planning sessions.

    This functionality helps ServiceNow customers streamline PI planning, improve visibility, and maintain business alignment throughout the Agile Release Train and broader portfolio.

    Using the Planning board of Enterprise Agile Planning, plan work for multiple teams across iterations (for example, Big Room Planning). Track the progress of work, create and visualize dependencies between work items, and reschedule work to react quickly to changes while confirming alignment with business priorities.

    Layout of Planning board

    Figure 1. Planning Board for an Agile Release Train (ART)
    ART planning board in EAP.
    Based on the EAP configuration, the layout of the Planning board across different team levels such as Agile Team, ART, Solution Train, or Portfolio is:
    • ART, Solution Train, and Portfolio: Two-dimensional Kanban board layout with differences in the horizontal and vertical lanes.
    • Agile Team: Simple Kanban board with work item States as the vertical lanes.

    The work items are represented as cards. You can choose to display cards in the compact or full size. Full size cards have data points on them such as item Number, State, and indicators for enabler, dependencies, or blocked whereas compact cards display just the short description.

    Default grouping of work items

    As you go bottom to top in an Agile structure, the cards are grouped as follows for each team:
    Important:
    The team hierarchy and the iterations within teams are based on your EAP configuration. The following information applies to the default Full Configuration.
    • Agile Team: For an iteration, vertical lanes represent the State of the story.

      For example, if Sprint is the planning calendar configured for an Agile Team, the cards on the Planning Board represent the work assigned for the selected Sprint. For an Agile Team, you can see Stories on the planning board.

    • ART: For an iteration, the Story cards are horizontally grouped by child teams and vertical lanes represent the iterations of the child teams.

      If Planning Interval (PI) is the planning calendar configured for ART, the vertical lanes represent the Sprints within the selected PI.

    • Solution Train: Horizontally grouped by child ARTs and vertical lanes represent the state of the item.
    • Portfolio: Horizontally grouped by child Solution Trains and vertical lanes represent the state of the item.
    • If the Dependency toggle is enabled, you can visualize the dependencies between work items.
    • If the Capacity toggle is enabled, you can visualize the work load of the teams.
    The Planning board for an EAP team shows only those work items that are enabled in its default configuration. For example, for an ART with Full Configuration, the Planning board shows only Features by default. If your product managers or team members want to switch to viewing other work item types such as Capabilities, Epics, or Stories, work with your admin to update the required EAP configuration details. For more information, see Configure display of other work item types in EAP.
    Switch between viewing Feature and Story on ART planning board.
    Tip:
    For an ART, if you switch from viewing Story to another work item type on the planning board for the first time after updating this configuration, you might not have your work item cards displayed. To resolve this, ensure that the Vertical lane selection in the Planning board personalization is not set to Enterprise agile iteration.

    Layout and default grouping for Kanban teams

    The Planning board for Kanban teams is grouped as follows:
    • Portfolio: Assigned work items are displayed in a two-dimensional Kanban board, with the teams as the horizontal lanes and state of the assigned work as the vertical lanes. Any work item that is not assigned to the child teams is displayed in the Portfolio section.

      Planning Board for an EAP portfolio of the type Kanban.

    • Team: Assigned work is displayed in one-dimensional Kanban board.

    As with Backlog, you can change the Type of work items displayed and create work items of multiple types from the Planning board.

    Use the following tasks to get started with PI Planning within Enterprise Agile Planning.