The Sprint is a container for all other events. Each event in Simplified Scrum is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt Simplified Scrum artifacts. These events are specifically designed to enable the transparency required. Failure to operate any events as prescribed results in lost opportunities to inspect and adapt (learn). Events are used in Simplified Scrum to create regularity and to minimize the need for meetings not defined in Simplified Scrum. Optimally, all events are held at the same time and place to reduce complexity.
(entire chapter based on the Scrum Events chapter in the 2020 Scrum Guides)
The Sprint
Sprints are the heartbeat of (Simplified) Scrum, where ideas are turned into value.
They are fixed length events of one month or less to create consistency. A new Sprint starts immediately after the conclusion of the previous Sprint. All the other events, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrums, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospectives, happen within Sprints.
Sprints ensure learning at least at the pace of the heartbeat in place. When a Sprint is too long the acquired learning will possibly bring too much rework, complexity may rise, and risk may increase. As a result all involved will have a tendency to overly structure and analyse incoming work trying to avoid the learning required to build the right things right. Shorter Sprints can be employed to generate more learning cycles and limit risk of cost and effort to a smaller time frame. Each Sprint may be considered a short and significant impactful experiment towards learning more how to maximize value in the future, next Sprint. In complex environments, what will happen is unknown. Only what has already happened may be used for forward-looking decision making.
(entire chapter based on the Sprint chapter in the 2020 Scrum Guides)
Sprint Planning
Sprint Planning initiates the Sprint by zooming in and focussing on the most significant impact the Teams want to achieve in relation to the Product Owner’s wish. Selecting the related items from the Product Backlog and zooming in on those to generate an initial high level of transparency of the work to engage in within the Sprint. The outcome is created by the collaborative work of the entire Team with support of their Product Owner, and is called the Sprint Backlog. The Team may also invite other people to attend Sprint Planning to provide advice.
The question to ask here is “Does this result provide the highest level of transparency possible for us to truly collaborate and share our learnings on a day-to-day basis?”. If not, experiment and uncover better ways by doing and helping others do it.
After Sprint Planning the Teams and Product Owner are aligned on the impact of, the why, this Sprint is valuable to their customers. Teams have an initial idea of what and how to achieve this and created a basis for daily, shared Team learning.
Sprint Planning is timeboxed to about eight hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter.
(entire chapter based on the Sprint Planning chapter in the 2020 Scrum Guides)
Daily Scrum
The purpose of the Daily Scrum is to share the learnings acquired and adapt the Sprint Backlog as necessary, adding more details to foster collaboration, removing details that became obsolete and redirecting towards the significant impact set forward. The purpose is to absorb the learning on the work level. A high level of transparency on all the ongoing activities and shared details of the things to accomplish improves Team collaboration and self-management.
Daily Scrums improve communications, identify impediments, promote quick decision-making, and consequently eliminate the need for other meetings.
The Daily Scrum is not the only time the Team is allowed to adjust their plan. Team members often collaborate throughout the day, more detailed discussions on their challenges, adapting and changing their Sprint Backlog accordingly. The Daily Scrum is a more formal event to share the learning from their collaboration to the entire Team.
The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for the Team. To reduce complexity, it is held at the same time and place every working day of the Sprint.
(entire chapter based on the Daily Scrum chapter in the 2020 Scrum Guides)
Sprint Review
The purpose of the Sprint Review is to inspect the outcome of the Sprint and determine future adaptations. One could say the purpose is to absorb the learning on product level.
During the event, all involved review what was accomplished in the Sprint and what has changed in their environment. Based on this transparent information, attendees collaborate on what to do next. The Product Backlog may also be adjusted to meet new opportunities. The Sprint Review is a working session and all involved should avoid limiting it to a presentation.
The Sprint Review is the second to last event of the Sprint and is timeboxed to about four hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter.
(entire chapter based on the Sprint Review chapter in the 2020 Scrum Guides)
Sprint Retrospective
The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to absorb learning on the level of collaboration within the Team and its larger organization. Continuously looking for new experiments to uncover better ways to increase quality and effectiveness.
The Team challenges itself and possibly others to continuously learn and find better ways to collaborate and generate qualitative impact towards their customers. The Scrum Master helps to bring the right level of transparency to the Teams to support the Team having a focus on the most impactful domain to engage in. Experiments resulting from the Sprint Retrospective are added to the Sprint Backlog as they contribute to a higher level of transparency on the ongoing activities of the Teams within their Sprint.
Although experiments and improvements may be implemented at any time, the Sprint Retrospective provides a forma opportunity to focus on inspection and adaptation. (copy from 2017 Scrum Guides)
The Sprint Retrospective concludes the Sprint. It is timeboxed to about three hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter.
(entire chapter based on the Sprint Retrospective chapter in the 2020 Scrum Guides)
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