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Who will set Sprint Goal?

Last post 11:17 am February 4, 2014 by Andy Roth
8 replies
12:24 am January 25, 2014

I would like to know about who will set the sprint goal on a Sprint ?

Thanks a lot !


02:54 am January 25, 2014

Check the Scrum Guide section about Sprint Planning. Refer to Topic One: What can be done this Sprint. There's a link to the Guide at the foot of this web page.


08:10 am January 25, 2014

I would say sprint vision/goal is identified by PO and he aligns PBIs accordingly. Though team may not commit everything so as a team they decide the goal.

Cheers
Sanjay


09:23 am January 25, 2014

Yes, thank for your answer. I did read from Scrum Guide. But I confused. So I asked on this forum.

In Page 9, topic One, I see this sentence:

"After the Development Team forecasts the Product Backlog items it will deliver in the Sprint, the
Scrum Team crafts a Sprint Goal."

--> I can think that all the Scrum team will set the Sprint Goal

But in topic Two, I see this sentence:

Having set the Sprint Goal and selected the Product Backlog items for the Sprint, the
Development Team decides how it will build this functionality into a “Done” product Increment
during the Sprint.

--> I can think that the Development team will set the Sprint Goal

So can you help me clearify this.
Sorry for my poor English.

Thanks :)


10:53 am January 25, 2014

The Development Team is part of the Scrum Team. After the Scrum Team set the Sprint Goal, the Development Team decide how they'll do the work they've agreed with the Product Owner.


12:37 pm January 30, 2014

I have seen that the Sprint Goal is often ignored . It has to be a separate text ( a few lines at most) that will list what will be achieved in the sprint by the team. It is not the same as the list of sprint backlog stories. As a scrum master I have crafted the sprint goal and got agreement from the team. The PO can also write this based on what the( specific stories) team has put on the backlog. The sprint goal has to be high level description of what is being achieved in the sprint and I use it to communicate with external stakeholdes


10:07 am January 31, 2014

What confuses me is the sequence. The Guide says:


After the Development Team forecasts the Product Backlog items it will deliver in the Sprint, the Scrum Team crafts a Sprint Goal.



That seems backwards to me. Shouldn't the goal be agreed upon first, then use that to help determine which PBIs get included?


11:58 am January 31, 2014

> Shouldn't the goal be agreed upon first, then
> use that to help determine which PBIs get included?

No, because the PBI's that would have to be included to meet that goal might exceed the Development Team's capacity for that Sprint. The PBI's that are negotiated into a Sprint Backlog should represent an achievable and valuable increment of work.

The Sprint Goal should be a succinct expression of the value that the Development Team has agreed to deliver.


11:17 am February 4, 2014

Thanks, Ian. That makes sense.


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