The Purpose of the Sprint Review

(Netherlands)

September 8, 2020

Photo by Rachel Forrez - https://unsplash.com/@rachelforrez — *Photo https://unsplash.com/@rachelforrez*

Imagine you want to have a book written. You find a good author and have many discussions with him about the subject, ensuring he understands what should and shouldn't be included. Once the author has enough information, he begins writing, and after a year and a half, the book is finished. However, when you start reading, you discover numerous inaccuracies. Consequently, large portions of the book need to be rewritten. In such a situation, wouldn't you prefer to meet with the author every two weeks to review his progress? This way, you could correct him if needed, providing guidance along the way.

This is precisely why Scrum includes a Sprint Review at the end of every Sprint: it provides stakeholders with the opportunity to review and influence the product's development regularly.

The Sprint Review is not merely a "Demo" or a presentation. It is a collaborative event where the Scrum Team interacts with business stakeholders. During this event, the Scrum Team demonstrates what they have been working on during the past Sprint. Stakeholder involvement is highly valued by both the Product Owner and the Development Team, as it helps them make informed decisions about future work and provides valuable business insights, including context, background, challenges, methods, and needs.

While it is beneficial when the business is pleased with the solutions presented, the team also values hearing other perspectives, even if they are less positive. If stakeholders disagree with the prioritisation of items on the Product Backlog, this is the perfect time to voice those concerns. The Sprint Review allows stakeholders to be critical and express their views, fostering a collective discussion with all involved parties. This collaborative environment enables the team and stakeholders to make decisions together without the need for separate meetings, achieving the best results for the organisation. The business identifies opportunities, problems, and needs, while the Scrum Team commits to finding the best possible solutions.

So, the next time you are invited to a Sprint Review, don't ignore it. Attend and help the Scrum Team help you.

www.michelvandermeulen.com

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Comments (3)

ogheneruno

04:02 pm September 9, 2020

Indeed great and valuable tips are shared here.

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Kurtis Papple

08:41 pm September 9, 2020

Hi Michel, thanks for this, I have saved some quotes for later use 🙏

I do have a question though - you said it is not a "Demo" but then go on to say the team demonstrates what has been done.
In my limited experience a lot gets done or at least progressed in a meaningful way - all of which valuable to have stakeholders across and giving input on.
How do you demonstrate something without it being a one way conversation?

Many times we would be showing and explaining what was done, asking them if it makes sense and if they have any questions as we went, and they were usually pretty quiet.
We found it difficult to create an atmosphere of candid back and forth conversation, when the agenda per se was exactly that of one party showing and telling the other party information (a one-directional activity).

Maybe stakeholders being quiet is actually a good thing as it's a sign of alignment? Maybe I'm reading into it too much? (Although I don't feel like I am)

I'd love your thoughts and elaboration on this if you have time

Cheers 😊

Michel van der Meulen

07:06 pm September 13, 2020

Hello Kurtis,

Thank you for your question. If you read the article again, you will see that I did not write "it is not a "Demo"", but that I wrote that it "is not just a "Demo" or a presentation". A lot of Sprint Reviews are not really Sprint Reviews, but a one-way direction of sending information to an audience, very often with a PowerPoint presentations etc. And in a lot of Sprint Reviews I watched the Stakeholders did not say anything, because of different reasons. In other words, just a demonstration, but not a Sprint Review.
The reason I wrote this article is especially to tell stakeholders that the Sprint Review is a collaboration, that input from them is very welcome (needed), even negative input. You don't want Stakeholders being Yes-men. You want to deliver value and quality, so as a Scrum Team you have to know if you are going in the right direction. And if the direction is changing, you want to hear that. Not only the Product Owner, but the whole Scrum Team.

A lot of stakeholders don't say anything, because they don't dare to, or they think is is not allowed or not polite, or they think that nothing can be changed anyway, or for whole other reasons. Whatever the reason, the Scrum Teams needs input from the Stakeholders, it is part of the feedback they need. I.m.h.o. Stakeholders being quiet is not a good thing, you don't know if there is alignment unless they say so.

Yes, the Sprint Review does contain a demonstration, but this is just a part of it. The Scrum Team demonstrates the Increment (especially what it has accomplished this Sprint) in order to receive feedback from the Stakeholders. And not only about the results of the last Sprint, but also about former releases.
The product is build to reach a certain goal. For instance increasing market share, or eliminate certain risks, or increase customer satisfaction, or increase employee satisfaction, reduce costs, etc, etc. If already some increments have been released and there is already some experience with this product, the Sprint Review is also the perfect place for the Stakeholders to share this experience with the Scrum Team.

I hope this helps.

My English is not so good, but I hope good enough.