Agile Sprints In Scrum
What is a Sprint?
A sprint is a short boxed period during which a scrum team works to complete a set amount of work. Sprints are the heart of Agile and Scrum methodologies.
What is a Scrum sprint?
In the Scrum process, a product is developed through a series of iterations called sprints. This approach breaks down complex and large projects into smaller, more manageable parts. Each sprint has a consistent duration, and once one sprint concludes, the next sprint begins immediately.
Steps for sprint?
- Before Sprint – Before the sprint begins, a Sprint Planning Meeting will be held. The duration of this meeting is proportional to the length of the sprint. For a one-week sprint, the meeting should last no more than two hours, while for a four-week sprint, it should not exceed eight hours. During this meeting, the team will establish the sprint goals.
- During Sprint – No new features will be added, and sprint goals will remain unchanged. The team will complete a sprint ahead of schedule.
- Daily Standup in sprint – The daily scrum is a brief stand-up meeting where
team members ensure that tasks are appropriately assigned and addressed in a timely manner.
Every day, the project team gathers for a 15-minute stand-up meeting to discuss the following points:
- What did I do yesterday?
- What will I do today?
- What, if anything is impeding or blocking progress?
Sprint workflow and process
The sprint workflow is designed to help team members evaluate their work and engage in discussions throughout the process. This workflow is followed for each sprint and includes the following steps:
- Backlog - This is a list of tasks that need to be completed before the product can be released. The product owner creates the backlog and prioritizes the items, which are then provided to the scrum master and the scrum team.
- Sprint planning - During this phase, the team discusses the top-priority user stories and determines what can be delivered within the sprint.
- Sprint backlog – This list specifies and outlines what the development team aims to complete during the sprint. It is agreed upon by the entire team.
- Sprint – This defines the time frame in which the work should be completed, typically lasting 30 days.
- Daily scrum – Organized and led by the scrum master, this daily meeting allows team members to discuss what they have accomplished, what they are currently working on, and any obstacles they are facing.
- Outcome – The ideal outcome of a sprint is a usable product. The product owner decides if the product is ready for use or if additional features are required.
- Sprint end - At the end of a sprint, two meetings are held:
- Sprint review – The team showcases their work to the product owner.
- Sprint retrospective – The team discusses what they can improve in their processes, with an important focus on continuous improvement.
Scrum vs. sprint
Scrum is a framework designed to develop complex products using agile methodology.
Sprints are time-based periods that last from one week to one month. During this time, the product owner, scrum master, and scrum team collaborate to make specific enhancements to the product. A new sprint begins immediately after the current sprint ends.
Scrum productivity tools
The list below highlights the most popular scrum tools -
- QuickScrum
- Jira
- nTask
- ScrumDo
- Scrum wise
- Vivify Scrum