Reimagining how and why we use epics: Getting teams in alignment

Have you heard a client midway through a project say ‘we talked about this in Discovery,’ but the requirement fell through the cracks? Or perhaps you’re a teammate unsure how your individual pieces of work advance the overall project. These are common symptoms of a team not being in alignment around a shared project direction.

At Palantir.net, we developed an innovative agile project planning framework that focuses on setting a well-defined vision, set of goals, and project-level acceptance criteria early in a digital project. An output of discovery workshops, we start by defining a one sentence project vision. We then begin to consider our epics. Gone are the days where epics are quickly named by discipline and have no content within them. We have reimagined how and why we use epics.

Our framework captures business and audience goals and project level acceptance criteria within each epic, to be shared with and validated by the client early in the project. Our epics are meaningful, serving as the cornerstone of the project and used in every agile ceremony. They allow the team to quickly discuss and capture new requirements, and enables the client to knowledgeably consider what is in or out for MVP.

The goals-oriented epic framework is the way the project team and client navigate the complexities of the project, assuring flexibility, efficiency, and effectiveness. Join to learn how you can bring meaning to your epics to shepherd your digital projects to success.