Go Beyond Merely Completing Work Lists with a Sprint Goal Research shows that people, whether acting individually or as a team, achieve more when working toward an objective that is specific, challenging, and concrete.[1] For that, we need clear Sprint Goals. A Sprint should be so much more than just completing a number of User […]
Sprint
The Sprint Backlog: A Truly Complete Guide with Examples
We might not be able to make Sprint Backlogs exciting, but we can make them more effective. Let’s look at what a Sprint Backlog is, what purpose it serves, and how to create, manage, and improve it. What is a Sprint Backlog? A Sprint Backlog is a list of Product Backlog Items (PBIs) that the Developers think they can complete during the […]
Scrum by Example – Don’t Let Sprint Review be a Missed Opportunity
When last we left our World’s Smallest Online Bookstore team, their Sprint was rocky. To have an effective Sprint Review story, let’s assume that they magically wound back the clock (shazam!) and implemented the changes. As a result, they had the more effective Sprint Planning that we discussed in the last blog post. So let’s […]
Scrum by Example – How Sprint Planning Mistakes Can Derail a Team
Sprint Planning is the most underappreciated Agile event. Unfortunately, that leads to a whole host of errors and problems, as we will soon see. The ScrumGuide says: “Sprint Planning initiates the Sprint by laying out the work to be performed for the Sprint. This resulting plan is created by the collaborative work of the entire […]
Choosing a Scrum Sprint Length – Shorter Beats Longer
How long should a Scrum Sprint be? A Scrum Sprint is a short period of time when the Scrum Team works, but there is no hard rule as to how long that should be – in this post, we cover the pros and cons of shorter and longer Sprints and how you can discover what […]
Scrum Anti-Patterns: The Hardening Sprint
Hardening Sprints are one of the most common kinds of Scrum Anti-Patterns: ways of addressing recurring problems that seem like effective solutions at the time but in fact hamper productivity or create more problems later on. Here we introduce why they are used, why they are not an effective design pattern, and how you can […]
Scrum by Example – The Story of an Incomplete Sprint
A Scrum Sprint is incomplete when the Team can’t deliver the working features they committed to. We cover the reasons for this and how you can help your Team. Dramatis Personae Steve – a ScrumMaster and the hero of our story Paula – the Product Owner of Steve’s Team Tonia – the Team’s Quality Assurance […]
Is There a Best Day to Start and Finish a Sprint?
No, of course not. So when should your Team start and end Sprints? The usual rules of Scrum apply – ask the Team. Run an experiment. There is an instinctive tendency to want to wrap up things at the end of the work week so we can unplug our brains for the weekend, and start […]