The Planning Agenda feature centralizes the organization and execution of your Program Increment (PI) or Big Room Planning event. It provides a dynamic, multi-time zone scheduling tool that handles location management, time synchronization, centralized meeting links, and clear assignment of presenters, ensuring a structured and accessible planning session for distributed teams.
Key Benefits of the Planning Agenda
Benefit | Description |
Multi-Site Coordination | Manage planning sessions across multiple geographical Locations (e.g., San Diego, Helsinki). The system automatically calculates and displays local event times based on the Default Location. |
Time Awareness | Provides visual cues (+1 or -1 indicators) on local time zones for events that span across different calendar days due to time differences. |
Resource Centralization | Easily add Attachment Links (for presentation decks) and dedicated Room Links (for Zoom, Teams, WebEx, etc.) to each specific agenda item. |
Presenter Context | Assign one or more Presenters to each session, supporting both licensed Kendis users and external participants (who do not consume a Kendis license). |
External Sharing | Generate a Public Share link to provide real-time, read-only agenda visibility to stakeholders or team members outside of the Kendis platform. |
Setup Efficiency | Quickly scaffold the entire schedule using the predefined 2-Day Planning Agenda Template or customize the structure entirely using the custom days option. |
I. Initial Setup and Enabling the Feature (First-Time Access)
This section covers how to enable the Planning Agenda functionality and access the configuration view.
A. Enabling the Planning Agenda (Board Settings)
The Planning Agenda feature, along with related capabilities like Capacity Management, may be hidden by default on older Kendis boards. This setting is managed at the Board Level.
Navigate to Board Settings: Click the Settings Gear Icon (⚙️) in the top right corner of your Kendis board.
Open Edit Mode: Click on "Edit Board Settings" to open the configuration modal.
Toggle Feature Visibility: Look for the section related to PI Planning capabilities.
Uncheck the box labeled: "Hide Planning Agenda and related capabilities (Capacity Management, Planning SoS, etc...)".
Save: Click "SAVE" to apply the changes. The main navigation menu will refresh, and the Planning Agenda option will now be visible under the More menu.
B. Accessing the Agenda Tool
Access Menu: Click the "More" menu (e.g., the word "More") in the top navigation bar.
Select Agenda: Click the "Planning Agenda" option from the dropdown menu.
Enter Setup View: Click the "Setup Agenda" button to enter the main configuration screen.
II. Agenda Setup Configuration (Defining Structure)
The Agenda Setup view is where you define the mandatory structural elements of your PI Planning: Global Teams (Locations), Planning Days, Program Events, and Iterations.
A. Global Teams (Locations) Configuration
This section defines the locations and time zones for your planning event.
Add Location: Click the "+ Add Location" button in the top right of the "Your Global Teams" section.
Search and Select: The "Add Location" modal will appear.
Use the Search Location field to find the desired City, State, or Country Name.
Once selected, the system automatically pulls in the corresponding Timezone (e.g., America/Los_Angeles (GMT-7)).
Set Default: Check the "Set as default timezone" box if this location should be used as the base for calculating all agenda item times.
Finalize: Click "Save".
Managing Existing Locations:
Default Indicator: The current default location is marked with a "Default" label in its row.
Reorder/Change Default: You can use the drag-and-drop handles on the far right of each location row to reorder the list. The location at the top of the list will always be the default time zone.
B. Planning Days (Defining the Schedule Duration)
This section defines the chronological duration and time boundaries of your PI Planning event.
Add Planning Day: Click the green "+ Day" button above the Planning Days table.
Configure Day: The "Add Planning Day" modal will appear.
Title: Enter a title for the day (e.g., Day 1, Day 2, Final Review).
Start: Select the Start date using the calendar picker and the Start Time (HH:MM format). The current time zone for calculation is displayed next to the time field (e.g., America/Los_Angeles (GMT-7)).
End: Select the End date and the End Time for the day.
Finalize: Click "Save".
Review: The configured days (e.g., "Day 1," "Day 2") will be listed, showing the defined Title, Start Time, and End Time columns.
C. Program Events (Global Sessions)
This section is used to define key, recurring, or global events that may need a dedicated link or definition separate from the main planning schedule.
Select Event Type: Use the Select Event dropdown in the "Program Events" table to choose the event type.
You can select from a list of predefined or previously used Program Events (e.g., "Business Context," "Inspect & Adapt," "Need Assistance").
To create a brand new event type, click "+ Create Event" at the bottom of the list.
Enter Details:
Dates: Use the calendar picker to specify the date for this event.
Description: Add a brief description of the event's purpose.
Join Link: Click "+ Add Room Link" to add the URL for the meeting (e.g., Zoom link).
Add Event: Click the "Add" button at the end of the row to save the Program Event.
D. Iterations (Sprints)
This section is automatically populated with the Sprints (Iterations) associated with your connected boards.
View Only: This table displays essential details about your iterations, including the Iteration Label (e.g., S1, S2, S3), Start Date, and End Date.
Contextual Role: These iterations define the columns in the main PI Planning view for team capacity management and story mapping, but they are configured upstream in your connected Agile tool (e.g., Jira, Azure DevOps).
III. Agenda Content Management and Sharing (Daily Editing)
Once the structure is set, you can exit the setup screen to enter the main agenda view and manage event details, resources, and sharing.
A. Agenda Settings and Column Visibility
The Settings Panel (accessed via the ⚙️ icon) allows you to control the visibility of information for all users.
Setting Control | Action |
Edit Mode Toggle | Must be ON to make any changes to times, events, links, or presenters. |
Hide Attachments | Toggle ON this option to globally hide the attachment links column from the agenda view. |
Column Visibility Toggles | Toggle the visibility of specific columns/locations, including: Locations (e.g., Amsterdam, Bangalore), Planning Event, Description, Presenters, Attachments, and Virtual Rooms. |
Export | Provides options to download or export the current agenda data. |
Public Share | Use this section to Create Link (or Stop Sharing) and Copy the read-only public URL for external stakeholders. |
B. Managing Agenda Items
The main agenda view is structured by day, accessible via the Day Tabs (e.g., "Day 1," "Day 2").
Add New Day: To expand your planning beyond the initial template, click the "+ Add Day" button located next to the day tabs.
Adding New Items: To add a new session, click the "+ Add" button in the top right corner of the agenda view.
Add Event: For standard sessions like 'Business Context' or 'Draft Plan Review'. A modal will prompt you to Select Event from a list, or click "+ Create Event" to define a new type.
Add Breakout: For creating specialized Team Breakout items, which link to team-specific resource configuration.
Enable Edit Mode: To modify event times, names, or details, you must activate the edit mode.
Note: This step is covered in the Agenda Settings table above, which must be enabled first.
Modify Event Time and Details:
Click on any agenda item row to expand the details for editing.
Change the Event Name, Start Time, or End Time for the event in the default time zone.
Automatic Update Feature: Changing the time in the default time zone will automatically calculate and update the corresponding local times for all other locations.
Important Sorting Feature: If you modify a start time, the agenda items will be automatically sorted based on the new time upon saving the entire agenda.
Interpret Time Indicators:
Check the time column for each location. A +1 or -1 indicator will appear next to a local time zone (e.g., "01:30 +1") if the event spans over to the next (or previous) day for users in that specific location.
C. Centralizing Resources: Links and Presenters
Add Attachment Links:
Click "+ Add" next to the Attachment Links column.
In the "Add Attachment" modal, enter a descriptive Title and the full URL in the Attachment Link field.
Room Links (Virtual Meeting Details):
Use this column to add the specific URL for your virtual meeting room (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx).
Each individual agenda item can have its own separate, dedicated Room Link.
Assign Presenters:
Click "+ Add Presenter" next to the Presenters column.
You can select an existing Kendis user, search for users from your connected Agile tool, or create a new user by providing a Name and Email Address.
Contextual Information: Users added from an Agile tool or created manually are tagged as non-Kendis users and do not consume a Kendis license.
Team Breakout Configuration:
For the "Team Breakouts" item, the attachment link column will display a "View List" link.
This feature allows you to define specific breakout times and unique URLs for each individual team, enabling supporting roles (like Architects) to quickly join a specific team's session to provide assistance. The list of teams shown is automatically derived from the teams currently listed on the program board; users can select which teams to include in the breakout session and which to leave out.