State the range and constraint
5 min · Keep release evidence decision-ready
The range supports a choice among date, investment and scope; it does not promise an individual item’s fate.
Reading
coreMake the range serve a decision
Place ordered work against at least two defensible outcomes, then state which constraint governs the current choice: a fixed date, an investment ceiling or minimum scope. The range shows exposure between the evidence and that constraint.
Avoid “guaranteed”, “safe” and “impossible” labels. A green band can be mistaken for certainty even when it is only the result of a historical low rate. Prefer “supported within the current range”, “exposed to the range” and “outside the current range”. These phrases keep assumptions visible.
Cost needs the same boundary. A team burn rate may include labour, employment overhead and recurring delivery tools. It may help compare the investment implied by twelve periods with the investment implied by eighteen. It is not automatically a full cost estimate, business case, accounting record or return-on-investment calculation.
The US GAO Cost Estimating Guide recommends documenting assumptions, analysing sensitivity and uncertainty, and updating estimates with actual costs. Its context and method are much broader than this lightweight record. The transferable discipline is to show what is included and which assumptions drive the result.
Failure mode: a sponsor fixes date, cost and scope, then asks the team to “improve velocity”. The range cannot resolve an impossible constraint set. It should expose the decision: reduce scope, move the date, change investment or accept named risk.
Worked example and transfer practice
All examples below are fictional teaching material. Use synthetic notes; no workplace or personal data is required or uploaded.
A scenario range with an owner. Using synthetic scenario rates of 5 and 9 items per fortnight, three periods imply 15 and 27 items. This arithmetic illustrates exposure; the historical minimum and maximum are not a statistical interval or a promise. With 24 ordered items and a fixed date, the date owner must decide which items to defer or what named risk to accept. Items are not interchangeable, and new work may consume capacity.
Try before reading the guide: If the investment ceiling funds only two periods, recalculate the two scenarios and name the resulting choice. State what the calculation omits.
Practice review guide
The scenarios become 10 and 18 items. The owner may reduce or defer scope, change investment, or stop. Different item sizes, order, dependencies and acceptance conditions limit simple count arithmetic.
Knowledge check
corePractice · formative check
State the constraint honestly
Select the release-plan statement that does not overclaim.
Concepts: planning range, constraint
There is no attempt limit or pass/fail state. Completing the check only enables the lesson's separate explicit completion control; it never records completion or certificate eligibility itself.
Activity ready. Attempts are unlimited. Completing this practice activity enables the lesson's separate, explicit completion control.
Equivalent non-interactive path
Answer and feedback guide
Several low-priority items fall beyond the current date-based range. What should the plan say?
- These items sit outside the current range under the stated date and assumptions (best answer): Correct. The statement preserves the evidence boundary and governing constraint.
- These items definitely will not be delivered: Historical evidence does not create certainty about each item.
- Every earlier item is guaranteed by the green band: A planning band is not a guarantee of item-level completion.
Sign in to save progress across devices.Sign in
Course outlineLesson 2 of 3
Keep release evidence decision-ready