Scrum Primer - Sprints

Sprints are kind of like the heartbeat of Scrum. It's the methodology itself.

Each Sprint has four phases, just like most software development cycles that have been around - Plan, Build, Measure & Learn. Sprints can last anywhere between two to four weeks.

Plan - Plan based on gathered requirements for the Product to be built.

Build - Develop the requirements.

Measure - Testing what has been developed

Learn - Learnings from Testing and alterations to the Plan

...and repeat

All initiatives/projects are executed over multiple sprints, so these four phases repeat themselves. The Learning phase improves the Planning phase for subsequent sprints.

Sprint Events

Sprint Planning (see here)

Planning for each Sprint. Typically owned by the Product Owner.

Daily Scrum (see here)

These are the Daily Stand-Up that occurs as long as the Sprint is in session.

Sprint Review (see here)

Review the Sprints outcome (Increment) with relevant stakeholders

Sprint Retrospective (see here)

Learning from the team about what worked, didn't work and what can be improved before the next Sprint.

Product Backlog Refinement (see here)

Not an official event in a sprint, but done as good practice to improve the Product Backlog. It's where additions, deletions or updates happen to Items (requirements) on the backlog. The Sprint Review usually triggers these changes.

Sprint Inputs and Outputs

Product Backlog (see here)

The backlog contains the master list of all current and future sprints requirements. The Product Owner owns the Product Backlog.

Sprint Backlog (see here)

The chosen subset of the product backlog items for a single sprint. The Development Team owns the Sprint Backlog.

Scrum Board

A working output of the Daily Scrum. It's a status board for tasks in Daily Scrums.

Product Increment

It's the final tangible Outcome of any given Sprint. It's tangible because it's not a theory on paper but an actual part of a product that can be tested and felt.