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The Scrum Guide - Sprint Review Meetings

Last post 12:01 pm June 19, 2013 by Charles Bradley
5 replies
11:45 am June 5, 2013

Hi,

In the Scrum guide which is supplied as a revision aid for the PSM I Exam, there is a section headed Sprint Review, and in the first paragraph there is a sentence stating:

'Based on that [what was done in the last Sprint] and any changes to the Product Backlog during the Sprint, attendees collaborate on the next things that could be done'.

There is also a bullet point stating:

'The entire group collaborates on what to do next, so that the Sprint Review provides valuable input into subsequent Sprint Planning Meetings'.

I would have put these activities down as taking place during Sprint Planning meeting(s).

Can anyone explain the point that I am missing?

Thanks.

Grant Sugars.




04:05 pm June 5, 2013

Hi Grant

A Sprint Review should look at what has been done and what remains to be done. It is quite separate from planning.

The activity you have highlighted is sometimes referred to as "backlog grooming", and it is increasingly common to have other backlog grooming sessions *before* the sprint review, so there is enough time to remove any impediments (e.g. inadequate user stories or acceptance criteria) prior to planning.

I recently wrote an article which touches on this matter:

"Sprint Reviews in Practice": http://agile.dzone.com/articles/sprint-reviews-practice

Hope this helps.


03:44 am June 19, 2013

As part of the Sprint Review, it is very helpful to have stakeholders present.
You can then discuss te changes made to product and review the current business conditions, the current Product Backlog, and the current Release Plan or Product Roadmap.
After reviewing each of these elements, then as a response to the discussion that follows, the Product Backlog (and Release Plan/Roadmap) is updated to reflect the discussion.
The key point is that the stakeholders are there, and not in the Product Backlog Review meetings held within the Sprint. It builds transparency and gets them to connect with the Scrum Team (SM, PO and Dev Team)


10:57 am June 19, 2013

Grant,

> 'The entire group collaborates on what to do next, so that the Sprint Review provides valuable input into subsequent Sprint Planning Meetings'.

>> I would have put these activities down as taking place during Sprint Planning meeting(s).

The stakeholders are not present at the Sprint Planning Meeting, which is why the "entire group" collaboration occurs at Sprint Planning. The real point of this is "Given what you've just seen demo'ed to you[stakeholders], let's collaborate on how the results of the demo should possibly affect the ordering and content of the PB" (re-ordering, new PBI's, changes to existing PBI's,etc).

This collaboration happens at the Sprint Review, while the Scrum Team and key stakeholders are present. The Scrum Team then goes through the retro, and the very next thing they(Scrum Team only) do is Sprint Planning, which will now have a a "ready backlog" that reflects any changes made to it in the Sprint Review collaboration.

Does that clear it up at all?


11:08 am June 19, 2013

HI, thanks for all of your responses,

Charles Bradley - the fact that there are Stakeholders at the Review meeting that are not present at either Planning Meeting means that this now makes more sense form the point of view of providing input into the next Sprint Planning Meeting(s).

Thanks.

Grant Sugars


12:01 pm June 19, 2013

Glad I and others could be of help Grant. Don't be afraid to come back for more help!

Scrum On!


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