How Should Scrum Teams Plan Work To Be Performed Within Sprints?

What is a sprint and why scrum teams require it? If I explain in easy words, I would say a sprint is a short period during which a scrum team works to achieve the set goal. Properly devised sprints help teams provide better software with fewer errors. They connect and decide the most crucial backlog items to deliver in the upcoming sprint. With my experience in the Scrum Team, I will help you understand ‘How should scrum teams plan work to be performed within sprints’ and we will also explore the nuances of sprint planning, providing insights and strategies for teams to enhance their productivity and results in this blog. Let’s start. 

Overview of Scrum Methodology

You should know, scrum framework that helps your team collaborate for software development projects and ensures the work is streamlined towards a common goal. Your teams use Scrum to self-organize and maintain productivity at optimal levels.

Some features of Scrum are:

1. It emphasizes self-organization

2. It is easy to comprehend

3. It is a light-weighted framework

4. It helps teams collaborating

What is Sprint Planning?

Sprint planning meetings devise your product development goal and plan for the next sprint. If you want to explore ‘How should scrum teams plan work to be performed within sprints’, you need to know the sprint planning. It is important to understand that the main objective of sprint planning is to define the timely delivery of work. You plan sprints in collaboration with the entire scrum team. From there, the scrum master chooses some product backlog items that fit your sprint goals. Now, what is the Product backlog? Well, Product backlog is a set of tasks that need to be done for a specific product.

These are the members involved in sprint planning:

1. Scrum master(runs and coordinates the meeting)

2. Product manager(may or may not be the product owner)

3. Product owner( explains the product backlog items and defines the sprint goal)

4. Development team( manages work commitments)

During my journey, I learned that at the start of each sprint, the team comes together for a session known as sprint planning, which sets the foundation for a development cycle. This gathering involves discussions to map out the tasks and objectives for the sprint. It consists of breaking down high-level backlog items into steps and creating a roadmap to achieve the sprint goal. I believe sprint planning serves a purpose by ensuring everyone is on the page and understands what needs to be done to deliver the functionalities outlined in the sprint, which is salient for a successful delivery. 

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Importance of Effective Sprint Planning

Sprint planning serves a purpose by ensuring everyone is on the page and comprehends what needs to be done to deliver the functionalities outlined in the sprint. Understanding the importance of effective sprint planning will help you understand ‘how should scrum teams plan work’ for a smooth workflow. For the ease of product release, I would say, it is essential to have your sprints planned. From what I experienced, the listed points below explain the importance of sprint planning:

1. Improved focus and clarity: With your teams having an exact idea of your sprint, each member is responsible for that particular duration. This ensures that your team members get to focus on the allocated tasks. By identifying an area of focus for every team member, you can achieve a large amount of work with no distractions getting in the way.

2. More transparency: During your sprint planning sessions, you evaluate how much work you can take on and agree on the workload for the sprint. Now, this transparency helps set expectations for stakeholders like product owners and clients. But remember, overcommitting in the past can cause delays and dissatisfaction among stakeholders. So you better set goals, foster trust and ensure stakeholders know what to anticipate at the end of the sprint.

3. Identification of Potential Risks: Sprint planning is also helpful for you in proactively spotting any obstacles or hurdles that could pop up during the sprint. To tell you, this forward-thinking helps you develop strategies to handle risks or adjust your plan as needed. By being ready for challenges, you can create plans to deal with them, ensuring the sprint runs smoothly even if unexpected problems arise. For example, in one of my sprints, I noticed a risk linked to a third-party API we used in our team. By recognizing this risk during sprint planning, I helped them set aside time for integration and testing, making sure we had some leeway in case of any problems.

4. Enhanced Team Collaboration: During sprint planning, teamwork plays a role as it involves input and perspectives from all team members. This collaborative effort boosts communication and knowledge, enhances your problem-solving skills, and fosters a sense of ownership within the team. By discussing and organizing tasks, you tap into the expertise present in the team, leading to creative solutions and a more streamlined development process.

Preparation Before Sprint Planning

As an experienced member, I've learned that the groundwork laid before sprint planning is vital for a productive session. Here's let me explain you how we prepared:

1. Backlog Refinement

One of the steps is to tune the backlog. In simple words, it entails breaking down tasks into smaller, more digestible chunks and ensuring that the team clearly outlines and grasps each task. You should know this process simplifies handling the workload. We prepared by ensuring that acceptance criteria were clearly defined to minimize uncertainties and aligned everyone's expectations. 

2. Estimation Techniques

It's important to make estimates. We employed various methods to assess the workload. Sizing allowed us to compare the effort needed for tasks with a familiar reference item. Another helpful approach that we used was planning poker, where team members assigned story points to tasks through a fun voting system. Well, I believe such approaches make estimating more interactive and encourage discussions and agreement among team members. These techniques ensure a healthy debate so that everyone speaks and enhances the grasp of the work ahead. 

3. Capacity Planning

Knowing how much work you can handle for the sprint is essential. You always have to consider when team members are available, considering things like planned time and other obligations. For instance, if two developers are away in your team, you should change the amount of work planned for the sprint. You should also look at what tasks were left unfinished from sprints and any possible disruptions that might come up. Tools such as velocity charts help you review how well your team did before and estimate how much you can handle in the future. This detailed planning helps you set goals for the sprint, ensuring you only take on a little goals and keep a sustainable and steady pace.

I strongly believe this preparation for sprint planning enhances the efficiency and aligns the efforts toward common, achievable goals for any team.

Setting the Stage for Sprint Planning

The question ‘how should scrum teams plan work to be performed within sprints’ requires all the understanding of the sprint planning. With the groundwork laid, any typical Scrum team embarks on the core activity of sprint planning. Here’s how we ensured a comprehensive plan for efficient work execution:

What to Do?

To ensure a productive sprint planning session, we used to schedule the meeting well in advance, ensuring all team members and the Product Owner were present. We created a clear agenda covering key topics such as backlog review, estimation, and task breakdown. To perform this, the essential materials included were the refined product backlog, estimation tools like planning poker cards or online story point estimation tools, and a whiteboard or online collaboration platform for visual representation.

How to Do It?

We used online scheduling tools like Google Calendar to coordinate availability and notify everyone about the sprint planning session. The agenda used to get tailored based on the sprint's complexity and the volume of the backlog items. We employed collaboration tools such as Miro or Mural for digital whiteboarding and Jira or Trello for project management. Let me ensure, these tools enable you to visualize the sprint backlog, track task dependencies, and identify potential bottlenecks. 

Also Read : Sprint Refinement

Factors Scrum Team Should Consider

To know ‘how should scrum teams plan work to be performed within sprints’, it is essential to understand the factors that are considered before planning. Through my journey, I recognize the critical factors we considered during our sprint planning sessions to ensure effective execution. Here are some factors that I considered during my role:

1. Backlog Refinement

In our team's sprint planning sessions, we dedicate time to improving the backlog items for clarity and comprehension. This process includes having conversations that break down tasks into components when needed and establish precise acceptance criteria. For example, let’s say a general task like "Develop e-commerce functionality" could be broken down into assignments like "Adding shopping cart features," "Incorporating payment gateway," and "Designing user checkout process." This refinement guarantees that each task is practical and clearly outlined.

2. Estimation Techniques

We used methods to estimate the effort needed for each task in the backlog. Our aim was not to determine deadlines but to get a general idea of complexity within the team. We had practices such as sizing and planning poker play a role. With sizing, we measured backlog items against a familiar reference item. In planning poker, our team members assigned story points according to how complex they believed the task was, encouraging discussion and agreement. It means this method ensures that discussions involve teamwork and reflect the team's knowledge.

3. Capacity Planning

It is always important to consider a team's capabilities when choosing which backlog items to tackle in the sprint. We considered factors like team members' availability, current tasks, and any possible interruptions for our capacity planning. For instance, if your sprint capacity is 40 story points and you have backlog items valued at 10 points each, you should prioritize to prevent taking on too much load. This careful planning helps us establish objectives and keep pace during the sprint.

4. Collaborative Planning Sessions, Task Breakdown and Allocation

In our planning meetings, we worked together to break down chosen backlog items into more manageable tasks. We assigned each task according to the skills and expertise of team members. Now you should know that good communication is crucial to make sure everyone knows their roles so that they can contribute effectively. For example, a challenging task like creating user registration features could be split into tasks like designing the registration form, implementing validation logic, and testing the registration process. Owning tasks and collaborating smoothly helps you work efficiently and boost productivity.

5. Definition of Done (DoD)

Defining a Definition of Done (DoD) for each task is crucial to upholding quality and transparency. The DoD sets out requirements that need to be fulfilled for a task to be marked as finished. This factor is important as it helps avoid confusion and ensures your work aligns with the agreed-upon standards. For instance, when working on a task such as "Setting up login functionality," the DoD could include conditions like "Users can successfully log in with credentials, " "Proper error handling is in place for logins," and "Functionality undergoes testing on all supported web browsers." Adhering to these guidelines fosters uniformity and dependability in our outputs.

Conclusion

Overall, there are various things to consider to know ‘how should scrum teams plan work to be performed within sprints’ to achieve the set goals. Planning sprints effectively is like a craft that involves getting ready, working together, and setting goals. When Scrum teams carefully plan the tasks for each sprint, they set the stage for development rounds. I can ensure clear communication, teamwork, achievable promises, and staying ahead of risks are all signs of a well-organized sprint planning meeting. Scrum teams can consistently and efficiently deliver high-quality software products by following these approaches.

A Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification or a PSM course confirms your grasp of Scrum principles and your capacity to lead teams through the Scrum methodology. It is a certification to acquire and comprehend the workings of Scrum processes while working within the Scrum Team.

FAQ

1. How do Scrum Teams estimate the effort required for backlog items?

Scrum teams evaluate the work required for backlog items using methods such as sizing or planning poker. In these techniques, team members assign story points by considering their complexity and comparing them to reference items.

2. What is the role of the Product Owner in sprint planning?

During sprint planning, the Product Owner organizes tasks in order of importance, provides specifications, and ensures that the team comprehends the significance of each task chosen for the next sprint.

3. How long should Sprint Planning sessions last?

During Sprint Planning meetings, allocating up to 4 hours per week of the sprint's duration is expected. For instance, in a two-week sprint, the meeting should aim to wrap up within 8 hours.

4. What happens if the Development Team cannot complete all the planned work within the sprint?

If the Development Team cannot finish all the tasks as planned during the sprint, they discuss the items with the Product Owner. Together, they decide whether to carry them over to the sprint, adjust priorities based on information, or shift business focus.