0

I just joined a new team, their habit is : sprints of 2 weeks, but, reviews and retrospetives are not in the last day sprint, when they do this ceremonies, they still have half a day of developing and working,then in the afternoon they have sprint planning then they start new sprint !

According to the scrum guide (or just to logic) this is wrong, it means we do reviews and we still have tasks in progress so we do not speak about them and maybe they are almost done.. so far this is my argument as a scrum master to make them change and accept the idea of : review, retrospective, sprint planning, new sprint. What else is a good argument ?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

There's no requirement that the Scrum events that bookend a Sprint - the Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective, and the next Sprint's Sprint Planning - all happen consecutively. Especially for the Sprint Review, it's important to schedule that at a time where the key stakeholders are able to be present and participate to synchronize and coordinate with the Scrum Team. For the Scrum Team, having all of the events consecutively can be grueling and tiring, considering the maximum timeboxes of 4 hours for Sprint Review, 3 hours for Sprint Retrospective, and 8 hours for Sprint Planning.

There is value in having time for the team. Ideally, I try to have this time fall between Sprint Retrospective and Sprint Planning. However, this time isn't for development, but rather refinement. The Sprint Review and the Sprint Retrospective can generate work for the team. At the Sprint Review, the Product Backlog is adjusted, which may result in unrefined Product Backlog Items being moved up or new Product Backlog Items being added. At the Sprint Retrospective, the team identifies changes and improvements that may require effort to implement. Spending time to refine the post-Sprint Review Product Backlog and the improvements from the Sprint Retrospective would be a good use of the team's time and make the upcoming Sprint Planning more effective.

Beyond refinement, holding time for non-developmental work at the time around the boundaries of a Sprint can help the team include overhead activities (like company-mandated training) or just take some regularly time off to help the team maintain a sustainable pace (a principle of Agile Software Development).

In your particular case, if I were coaching the team, I would suggest that the team build their Sprint plans around making sure that the Sprint Goal is achieved prior to the Sprint Review. Any other work that will be done within the Sprint should also be done prior to the Sprint Review. Any time outside of the Scrum events between the end of the Sprint Review and the start of the Sprint Planning session would not be on building the product. Instead, I'd suggest that the team focus on refinement, training, skill building, or resting.

Improve this answer
3
  • As we have 3 developers, 2 weeks a sprint so the review is maximum 30 minutes, retrospectives are 1 hour and sprint plannings are also 1 hour! You mean 8h is for a PI planning I guess. How to call this tasks that are not done during the review but will be done tomorrow morning before the end of the sprint ? Should we show them to stakeholders ?
    – BestAboutMe
    Commented May 14, 2022 at 7:15
  • 1
    @BestAboutMe The timeboxes that I name are right out of the Scrum Guide. The Guide does say that "the event is usually shorter" for shorter Sprints, but that doesn't change the maximum timebox. In my experience, teams usually aim for proportional length events - a 2-week Sprint would have a 2-hour Sprint Review, 1.5-hour Sprint Retrospective, and a 4-hour Sprint Planning. Either your team is very, very efficient and effective at completing the events or you're probably missing the intention of the events and not hitting the objectives.
    – Thomas Owens ♦
    Commented May 14, 2022 at 12:17
  • @BestAboutMe I'd also say that you shouldn't have any tasks done between the review and the end of the Sprint. Read my last paragraph. The team should plan their work around achieving their Sprint Goal and getting the work done before Sprint Review. The time between Sprint Review and Sprint Planning should focus on refinement (particularly with an eye toward Product Backlog changes made in Sprint Review), skill building and training (to become a more cross-functional team), or even be time off to rest or do things outside of work (to help maintain a sustainable pace).
    – Thomas Owens ♦
    Commented May 14, 2022 at 12:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.