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SCRUM EVENTS & CEREMONIES

SCRUM CEREMONIES

Agile Ceremonies is a critical part of the Agile discipline that makes agile teams highly effective. There are reasons for the order and every ceremony has a specific purpose in serving the team.

Sprint Planning

Attendees: PO, SM, Team (mandatory)

Facilitator: Scrum Master

The PO ensures:

  • the backlog is ready for Planning
  • the backlog is reviewed with the team
  • the backlog is adjusted accordingly

The Scrum Master ensures:

  • the team capacity is understood before commitment is made
  • the team is present, rescheduling can be very disruptive
  • the sprint goals are captured and committed by team

The Event

  • Timebox 2-4 hours (per iteration/sprint); mature teams are super fast!
  • Team understands velocity, capacity and commitment.
  • Team aligns on final clarification on stories
  • Team aligns on Sprint commitment (stories and priority)
  • SMEs and external teams’ members are present ONLY as needed

Daily Standup

Attendees: PO, SM, Team (SMEs and Project Manager may attend as observers).

This is a “committed team” meeting.

Facilitator: Scrum Master

The PO attends to answer any requirement questions that arise

The Event

  • Timebox 15 minutes (daily)
  • Delivery team collaborates with each other
  • Scrum Board updates are done prior to stand up

The Agenda

  • Are you blocked? Name what is blocking/impeding you and how you need help!
  • What you did yesterday (since last Stand Up)
  • What you plan to do today

Effective Daily Stand Up Approaches

  • Same time/place each day
  • A “meet after” following Daily Stand Up may be held accordingly (e.g. tech huddle, blocker discussion)
  • Focused, time boxed meeting with concise discussion only about current sprint.

Backlog Grooming

Attendees: PO, SM, Team

Facilitator: Scrum Master & Product Owner

The PO ensures the:

  • Backlog contains the appropriate items
  • Items are prioritized
  • Items at the top of the backlog are ready for estimating

The Event

  • Timebox 1-2 hours per week (up to each team)
  • Helps the team consider new stories before Iteration Planning
  • Provides time to identify dependencies and issues that could impact the next iteration
  • Ensures the PO has a ready backlog for Iteration Planning
  • Agile team members are in attendance and actively engaged
  • SMEs and other teams’ members are invited as needed

Backlog Grooming activities include

  • Create new user stories in response to newly discovered needs
  • Split user stories so that they fit in an upcoming sprint
  • Story description and acceptance criteria alignment
  • Story sizing/estimating established by team
  • Story prioritization reviewed with team
  • Backlog and story quality reviewed by team

Sprint Review

Attendees: Dev Team, Product Owner, Scrum Master, Business Stakeholders, Anybody in the organization with an interest in the product

Facilitator: Scrum Master

PO Role: Proactive participant, Leads System Demo, respond to questions

Rest of Core Team: Proactive participant; Tech Lead/Devs/Testers support Demo

The Sprint Review:

2 parts: Demo & Review always

  • Is open to everyone
  • It is NOT for team but is a time for the team to show off their work to others, get feedback & celebrate accomplishments
  • Is a report out where they could use help on organizational blockers.
  • Comprises a demo that should be shared with stakeholders, business users and end users.

The Event

  • Timebox 1-1.5 hours per sprint / iteration
  • Conduct a Demo of everything completed during sprint
  • Share Team accomplishments from sprint using Dashboard / Metrics
  • Share team struggles or blockers from sprint that negatively impacted team

Sprint Retrospective

Attendees: PO, SM, Team / Facilitator: Scrum Master

PO Role: Participatory*

NOTE: This is often considered a team therapy session.

The Event

  • Timebox 45 minutes-1 hour per sprint/iteration
  • Core Team mandatory
  • Focus on continuous improvement for all things related to the team
  • Held AFTER Sprint Review so that information is fresh in everyone’s mind.
  • Many formats used for this ceremony but most common is:
    • What did we do well? or What is working well?
    • What can be improved?
    • What actions (only 1-2) can we commit to taking on this next sprint to improve upon as a team?
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