9. EXECUTION & MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

Project Name: [Your Project Name]
Owner/Lead: [Your Name]
Created: [MM/DD/YYYY]
Status: [Planning / In Progress / On Hold / Completed]

Overview

This document defines how the project will be executed day-to-day, including development methodology, sprint structure, ceremonies, communication plans, and quality assurance strategies.

Connections: Uses Sections 4, 5, 6, 7; Feeds into Sections 9 (Monitoring), 11 (Governance)

Development Methodology

Selected Methodology: [Scrum / Kanban / Hybrid / Other]

Rationale: [Why this methodology fits the project]

Key Principles:

• Iterative development with regular feedback
• Continuous integration and deployment
• Test-driven development where applicable
• Regular retrospectives for improvement
• Transparent progress tracking

Sprint Structure

Sprint Duration

Length: 2 weeks
Rationale: [Why 2 weeks - balance between flexibility and planning]

Sprint Cycle

Week 1:

• Monday: Sprint Planning (2 hours)
• Tuesday-Friday: Development work
• Friday: Mid-sprint check-in (30 min)

Week 2:

• Monday-Thursday: Development work
• Thursday: Sprint Review preparation
• Friday: Sprint Review (1 hour) + Retrospective (1 hour)

Sprint Planning

Participants: Core team
Duration: 2 hours
Agenda:

1. Review sprint goal
2. Select user stories from backlog
3. Break down stories into tasks
4. Estimate effort (story points or hours)
5. Assign tasks to team members
6. Identify dependencies and blockers

Output:

• Sprint backlog
• Sprint goal
• Task assignments
• Definition of Done checklist

Daily Standup

Participants: Core team
Duration: 15 minutes
Time: [9:00 AM]
Format:

• What did I complete yesterday?
• What will I work on today?
• Any blockers or impediments?

Rules:

• Keep it brief
• Focus on blockers
• Update task board after standup

Sprint Review

Participants: Core team + stakeholders
Duration: 1 hour
Agenda:

1. Demo completed features
2. Review sprint metrics
3. Gather feedback
4. Update product backlog

Output:

• Demo recordings
• Stakeholder feedback
• Updated backlog priorities

Retrospective

Participants: Core team
Duration: 1 hour
Format: [Start/Stop/Continue / 4Ls / Other]

Agenda:

1. What went well?
2. What could be improved?
3. Action items for next sprint
4. Update process documentation

Output:

• Action items
• Process improvements
• Team morale assessment

Execution Workflow

Feature Development Flow

Idea/Requirement
    ↓
Product Backlog
    ↓
Sprint Planning
    ↓
Development
    ├── Code
    ├── Test
    ├── Review
    └── Deploy
    ↓
Sprint Review
    ↓
Production

Task States

• Backlog - Not yet started
• To Do - Ready to start
• In Progress - Currently working
• In Review - Code review in progress
• Testing - QA/testing phase
• Done - Complete and deployed

Definition of Done

A task is considered "Done" when:

• Code written and reviewed
• Unit tests written and passing
• Integration tests passing
• Code review approved (2 reviewers)
• Documentation updated
• Deployed to staging
• QA testing passed
• Product owner acceptance
• Deployed to production (if applicable)

Communication Plan

Communication Channels

Communication Rules

• Urgent issues: Use phone/Slack DM
• Non-urgent questions: Use team channel
• Decisions: Document in ADRs or meeting notes
• Status updates: Weekly email to stakeholders
• Blockers: Escalate immediately

Quality Assurance Strategy

Testing Pyramid

        /\
       /  \  E2E Tests (10%)
      /____\
     /      \  Integration Tests (30%)
    /________\
   /          \  Unit Tests (60%)
  /____________\

Testing Strategy

Unit Tests:

• Target coverage: 80%+
• Run on every commit
• Fast execution (<5 minutes)
• Focus on business logic

Integration Tests:

• Test API endpoints
• Test database interactions
• Test third-party integrations
• Run in CI pipeline

End-to-End Tests:

• Critical user flows
• Smoke tests for releases
• Run before production deploy
• Manual testing for edge cases

Code Review Process

Requirements:

• Minimum 2 approvals required
• At least 1 reviewer from different area (frontend/backend)
• All CI checks must pass
• No blocking comments unresolved

Review Checklist:

• Code follows standards
• Tests included and passing
• Documentation updated
• No security vulnerabilities
• Performance considered
• Error handling appropriate

Quality Gates

Before Merge:

• All tests passing
• Code coverage maintained
• Linting passing
• Security scan clean
• Performance benchmarks met

Before Production:

• E2E tests passing
• Load testing complete
• Security audit passed
• Documentation complete
• Rollback plan ready

Issue Escalation

Escalation Levels

Level 1: Team Member

• Resolve within team
• Document solution
• Update documentation if needed

Level 2: Technical Lead

• Technical decision needed
• Architecture impact
• Resource allocation

Level 3: Project Lead

• Timeline impact
• Budget impact
• Scope change

Level 4: Steering Committee

• Strategic decision
• Major scope change
• Budget approval needed

Escalation Process

1. Attempt resolution at current level
2. Document issue and attempted solutions
3. Escalate to next level if unresolved
4. Provide context and recommendations
5. Document decision and rationale

Decision-Making Framework

Decision Types

Technical Decisions:

• Owner: Technical Lead
• Process: Propose → Review → Approve → Document (ADR)
• Timeline: 1-2 days

Product Decisions:

• Owner: Product Manager
• Process: Research → Propose → Stakeholder Review → Approve
• Timeline: 3-5 days

Strategic Decisions:

• Owner: Steering Committee
• Process: Analysis → Options → Recommendation → Approval
• Timeline: 1-2 weeks

Decision Documentation

All significant decisions documented in:

• Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
• Meeting notes
• Project documentation
• Change logs

Tools & Infrastructure

Development Tools

• IDE: [VS Code / IntelliJ / Other]
• Version Control: Git (GitHub/GitLab)
• Project Management: [Jira / Linear / GitHub Projects]
• Communication: [Slack / Teams / Discord]
• Documentation: [Notion / Confluence / GitHub Wiki]

CI/CD Tools

• CI Platform: GitHub Actions
• Testing: [Jest / pytest / Other]
• Linting: [ESLint / pylint / Other]
• Deployment: [Vercel / Render / AWS / Other]

Success Metrics

Execution Success:

• Sprint velocity stable or increasing
• Definition of Done met for all tasks
• Code review time <24 hours
• Deployment frequency: 2+ per week
• Mean time to recovery <4 hours
• Team satisfaction score >4/5

Last Updated: [Date]
Next Review: [Date]
Owner: [Name]