Developers Shows less interest during Sprint Reviews

How closely do they collaborate with the Product Owner during the Sprint? Is there good evidence of timely feedback being obtained as the work is being completed?

I want to conduct my next Retro to make them realize the importance of the Sprint review by doing some case study. 

You may want to explore a separate meeting to engage your team around the benefits of the Sprint Review.   



You certainly don't want to "re-purpose" the Sprint Retrospective to try and convince the rest of the Scrum Team of anything.   That is not what the Sprint Retrospective is for.

How closely do they collaborate with the Product Owner during the Sprint? Is there good evidence of timely feedback being obtained as the work is being completed?

- The product owner and team collaboration is mostly when sprint backlog is changed or evolved and not on the feedback. Although sometimes we flag the stories for which we need an early feedback from stakeholders, but not every time and not for all. Team develops throughout the Sprint and QA provides the feedback on issues/bugs if any. But there is no timely feedback provided when the work is being completed. 

You certainly don't want to "re-purpose" the Sprint Retrospective to try and convince the rest of the Scrum Team of anything.   That is not what the Sprint Retrospective is for.

Thanks Timothy for your response !!

Actually i thought on this but there is no other time slot where i can have this meeting with team. Our Sprint Retro will take place like usual and will not be re-purposed.

I just wanted to extend the Sprint Retrospective with some activity/game/case study to make team realize about how important demo can be for them. I will be happy if there is some other better way i can do this. :)

Actually i thought on this but there is no other time slot where i can have this meeting with team. 

Harshal, why is there no other time available to meet with the team?   This is a "red flag" to me, if calendars are so packed that individuals have little if any slack.

there is no timely feedback provided when the work is being completed.

Does this cause problems, such as rework or other waste?

- if not, why not? Is the work being done actually quite low-risk and predictable?

- if it does cause problems, are they acknowledged by the team?

Thanks Ian , 

When there are not much feedbacks from the stakeholder, then generally the increment is Low risk and not so complex.

We find many feedbacks from the stakeholder when items are complex and involves risks.

This do involves product backlog optimization and rework on some items. This is acknowledged by team. 

But their wish is to have these feedbacks provided to them instead of their active participation.

Harshal, why is there no other time available to meet with the team?   This is a "red flag" to me, if calendars are so packed that individuals have little if any slack.

So apart from the 4 scrum events the developers have no other meetings but they have the tasks and the Sprint goal  to achieve. So, i don't want to divert their focus or distract them in between the Sprint and would like to take this meeting at the very end. 

I think may be i made you misunderstand about this meeting. As stated before i want to 'extend' the retro meeting not replace it with this. Once we are through with our Sprint Retro, I would like to end it with some game/activity. Which will give them some insight about 'why the Sprint demos are important for them'. For that i need ideas if there is any.

This do involves product backlog optimization and rework on some items. This is acknowledged by team. 

But their wish is to have these feedbacks provided to them instead of their active participation.

Do the team see any link between rework and a lack of timely participation in obtaining feedback?

What transparency have you been able to put over rework and waste, so that the value of ongoing participation and feedback may become more evident? What does the Product Owner think about the opportunity to maximize value by improved collaboration with the team?

Do the team see any link between rework and a lack of timely participation in obtaining feedback?

-- I doubt they do , that's the reason of their lack of interest probably.

What transparency have you been able to put over rework and waste, so that the value of ongoing participation and feedback may become more evident? 

-- So, for all the rework we have a re-voted tasks with summary as 'rework' to make it obvious for everyone and also we can track the task and count the total time spent on work+rework. But this outcome only comes when we are through with Demo. But i think team think their focus is to - 'develop right' and not 'right development' . They need to be guided in the later part. If they develop something else and has to rework after Demo, they just do it without having any problem with it. 

I think problem is they always want to be told about which tasks to be done , its like programming the programmers to achieve goals.

What does the Product Owner think about the opportunity to maximize value by improved collaboration with the team?

-- PO provides the feedback when there are questions/doubts in the team and then we re discuss the solution or change the sprint backlog items. But its usually in reactive mode. Otherwise PO focuses on the Product Backlog.

Should we try to get more early feedbacks ? 

Should we try to get more early feedbacks ? 

I would say so. There's no reason to defer the demonstration of work and the elicitation of feedback to a Sprint Review. That is just a "formal" opportunity to do so. Getting feedback early and often is good practice, and I suspect that the less structured formality you put around this basic agile hygiene, the more accommodating the team might be.

Thanks Ian for all your inputs.

I will do this and will encourage more early/regular Feedback.

But i don't know this will solve the problem of team's interest for Sprint demo.

I need their active participation with interest and not just they must and have to do it.

Would do suggest/think the best way to start building their interest ? 

 As stated before i want to 'extend' the retro meeting not replace it with this. Once we are through with our Sprint Retro, I would like to end it with some game/activity. Which will give them some insight about 'why the Sprint demos are important for them'. 

Harshal, one of the 5 Scrum values is "Focus".   The approach you suggest doesn't seem to support that value (extending an existing ceremony to transition to another activity/topic).   

You have the option of making your concern (lack of Sprint Review interest) known during the Sprint Retro if you choose to.   Another option is to schedule a separate, focused meeting specifically around the observed lack of Sprint Review interest.

Thanks Timothy Baffa I agree with you