An iteration plan itemizes the work to be accomplished within an iteration. There are two possible ways to draft an iteration plan in MSF. The first way utilizes Microsoft Project and presents an entire view of the iterations over the life of the project. The second way is to use Microsoft Excel. A new iteration plan is created in each iteration using this method.

Procedures:

To create the first iteration in Microsoft Project

Visual Studio Team System contains a set of tasks to get the project started. These tasks logically belong in the first iteration called Iteration 0. This procedure outlines how to initially set up the project plan with these pre-populated tasks.

1. In Visual Studio Team System, open Team Explorer. Locate your team project and expand the Documents folder.
2. In the Project Management folder, find the file Development Project Plan.mpp. Open the file. A new project plan appears in Microsoft Project.
3. On the Team menu, click Get Work Items.
4. From the Get Work Items dialog box, select Saved query. From the selection list, choose the Project Checklist query.
5. Click Find. The new work items appear in the dialog box. Close the Get Work Items dialog box by clicking OK. The work items are transferred into the project plan.
6. Select the first task in the project if it is not chosen already. From the Insert menu, click New Task to create a new task. Name the new task "Iteration 0."
7. In the Publish and Refresh column for the new task in the task list, set the value to No for the iteration task.
8. Choose all of the tasks in Iteration 0. On the toolbar, click Promote to make Iteration 0 a summary task.
9. With the tasks below Iteration 0 highlighted, right-click and select Task Information from the context menu. In the Advanced tab, change Task type to Fixed Duration. Set the Duration to the iteration length if it has been determined. If not, use a default of 14 days.
10. From the File menu, click Save to save the file to the project portal.

To create an initial iteration plan in Microsoft Project

The initial iteration plan is a critical part of planning each iteration. After you have created the first iteration or iteration 0, subsequent iterations follow a pattern.

1. In the Microsoft Project task list, collapse all of the subtasks under the summary tasks. Type "Iteration n+1" in the empty task slot below the collapsed summary task, where iteration n is the previous iteration that was just collapsed. Make sure the Iteration n+1 task is fully promoted.
2. Link the n and n+1 iterations by selecting both tasks and clicking Link Tasks on the toolbar. The "finish to start" relationship appears in the Gantt chart.
3. In the Publish and Refresh column for the new task in the task list, set the value to No for the iteration task.
4. On the Team menu, click Get Work Items. From the Get Work Items dialog box, select Saved query. From the selection list, select the Project Checklist query.
5. Click Find. The new work items appear in the dialog box. Click OK to close the Get Work Items dialog box. The work items are transferred into the project plan.
6. Select the new work items and click the right arrow to move them into the iteration.
7. Right-click the tasks below the iteration, and select Task Information from the context menu. On the Advanced tab, change Task type to Fixed Duration and set Duration to the iteration length.
8. On the File menu, click Save to save the file to the project portal.

Break down scenarios into tasks in Microsoft Project

1. In the task view in Microsoft Project, choose the task for the desired scenario or quality of service requirement that you wish to separate into tasks.
2. From the Insert menu, click New Task.
3. Enter the name of the new task in the empty row.
4. Set the Work Item Type to Task.
5. Set the name of the task owner in the Assigned To field.
6. With the desired tasks in Iteration 0 selected, right-click, and select Task Information. On the Advanced tab, change the Task type to Fixed Duration and set the Duration to the iteration length in days.
7. On the Team menu, click Publish Changes to publish the tasks to the work item database.
8. From the File menu, click Save to save the Project Plan.