Perform PI planning in EAP

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Perform PI planning in EAP

    Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP) enables ServiceNow customers to perform Program Increment (PI) planning effectively by using a Planning board that supports multiple teams and iterations. This tool facilitates Big Room Planning by allowing teams to plan, track progress, visualize dependencies, and reschedule work dynamically to maintain alignment with business priorities.

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    Planning Board Layout and Grouping

    The Planning board layout varies based on the EAP configuration and team hierarchy:

    • Agile Team: Uses a simple Kanban board where vertical lanes represent story states within an iteration (e.g., Sprint). Work items appear as cards, which can be viewed in compact or full size, showing details like item number, state, and indicators for dependencies or blockers.
    • Agile Release Train (ART): Displays a two-dimensional Kanban board where story cards are horizontally grouped by child teams and vertical lanes represent iterations (e.g., Sprints within a PI).
    • Solution Train and Portfolio: Also use two-dimensional Kanban boards, with horizontal lanes representing child ARTs or Solution Trains and vertical lanes showing item states.

    The default grouping and display of work items depend on the level in the Agile structure and EAP configuration. For example, an ART typically shows Features by default. Administrators can configure the board to display other work item types like Capabilities, Epics, or Stories as needed.

    Dependency and Capacity Visualization

    By enabling toggles for Dependency and Capacity, teams can visualize dependencies between work items and workload distribution across teams directly on the Planning board. This functionality supports proactive coordination and blocker resolution during PI planning.

    Special Considerations for Custom States and Kanban Teams

    • When using custom story states as vertical lanes, these must be mapped to state buckets in the system dictionary to ensure proper display after page reloads.
    • Kanban teams have specific board layouts: Portfolios display assigned work in two dimensions (teams by state), while individual teams use a one-dimensional Kanban board. Work item types can be customized similarly to Agile teams.

    Getting Started and Personalization

    ServiceNow customers can begin PI planning in EAP by:

    • Planning work across all teams in an ART for multiple planning intervals.
    • Coordinating dependencies and resolving blockers in real-time using the Planning board.
    • Personalizing the Planning board by selecting key metrics and indicators to be displayed on work item cards, providing quick access to important information.

    This flexibility helps teams maintain alignment, adapt to changes efficiently, and improve cross-team collaboration throughout the PI planning process.

    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.

      If you use custom state choices as vertical lanes on the Planning board, you must map them to state buckets in the rm_story dictionary. Otherwise, story cards in those custom states don't appear after a page reload. For more information, see Configure state bucket mapping for custom story states in EAP.

    • 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.