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Art of Agility

Sprint Review

The sprint review is a time to not only review the items completed during the sprint but also a time to review the product backlog and factors impacting the direction of the product (including the market, budget, etc.). Although this seems like a fairly straightforward process, there are plenty of ways that this process can be handled inappropriately and hinder the team’s progress.

One way in which teams fail in terms of the sprint review is by focusing on just the items that were completed during the sprint. However, a true inspection of the work includes a discussion of the items that were not completed (and why) as well as a review of the backlog items and how they are impacted by the work in the current sprint. If you do not discuss the reason why items were not completed in a sprint, you may be overlooking issues that need to be addressed that will cause the team to continue to fall short of their sprint goals.

  • Are requirements not being clearly defined and communicated by the product owner?

  • Are there issues blocking development that are not getting resolved?

  • Are individuals failing to communicate in a timely manner when they are being blocked by members of the team?

You can only answer these and similar questions if you are looking at the work that has not been completed.

Conducting a review of the product backlog is also important so that stakeholders have a clear view of the product and timelines for delivering features. If the current work has uncovered major product defects that must be addressed before new features can be implemented, stakeholders need to be made aware.

Another way in which teams can fail to conduct a productive sprint review is when members of the team (including developers and stakeholders) do not attend. The sprint review is not simply a formality that has to be completed to check a box. Developers need to attend the sprint review to answer questions by the product owner and stakeholders about the work (completed and not completed). The product owner and stakeholders need to attend to discuss the current market and internal factors such as budgets and resources to determine to direction of the upcoming sprint. The sprint review is an interactive meeting not just a one-sided demonstration on new product features.