Agile is an umbrella term for the iterative software development framework. It allows for flexibility and quicker product delivery. While more companies shift to the agile framework, there are multiple methodologies that can be used in the Agile world but, for today, we’re focusing on the Agile ceremonies in the scrum methodology.
Hold on to your swim trunks, we’re diving right into the Agile Scrum deep end (summer heat, amirite?).
The Five Agile Scrum Ceremonies
According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, Agile Scrum framework utilizes five key ceremonies: the Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective. Each ceremony plays an important role in driving outputs and delivering value within the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
I would even venture to say that the unofficial “Product Backlog Grooming” ceremony, which also occurs during the Sprint, is a critical event in scrum practices (I’ll explain further later in the article). All ceremonies should be held at the same time and place to help reduce complexity and extra meetings (we all know the ones that could have been an email) that are not defined in the scrum methodology.
1. Agile Scrum Ceremonies: The Sprint
The Sprint: it’s the main event. The center of the scrum universe or, as the Scrum Guide calls it, “the heartbeat of Scrum, where ideas are turned into value.” Why is the Sprint the main event, you ask? As my good friend Sophia from Golden Girls would say: “Picture it, Sicily 1912...” The Sprint is a timeboxed event, which contains all of the other Scrum ceremonies.
The Sprint has flexibility within the timebox to range from 1 to 4 weeks, which allows for adjustments based on the specific needs of the product goals and outputs.
Most people, myself and the Golden Girls included, find that working in 2 week sprints provides the right amount of development time for the scrum team as well as enough time to inspect and adapt based on the scrum team’s velocity.
Now that we know WHY the Sprint is the main event, we shift focus to the WHAT... chu talkin’ ‘bout Willis, of each Agile scrum ceremony that happens within the Sprint.
2. Agile Scrum Ceremonies: Sprint Planning
Similar to the Sprint, the Sprint Planning ceremony is also a timeboxed event. Continuing with the two-week theme, the Sprint Planning ceremony can take up to four hours. However, in my experience, if the backlog is groomed consistently it can be done in about two hours depending on the complexity of the work defined. With any good planning activity, the Scrum Team will need to know the work they will have to deliver.
The Sprint Planning ceremony is where the Scrum Team comes together to understand the prioritized Product Backlog items and how they map to the Product Goals. This is usually delivered by the Product Owner who should also be emphasizing the value add of the current Sprint.
In turn this helps the Scrum Team collaboratively define the Sprint Goal and why it is important to the stakeholders. Once the current Sprint’s “why” is defined, the team pivots, like Ross on FRIENDS...PIVOT! to “what” work can be done and “how” the work will be done.
There are many factors that are at play when determining what work will get done, such as:
- The team’s definition of ‘done’
- Their capacity
- Their past velocity to deliver each sprint
This helps define how the work gets done, with the developers often decomposing the Backlog Items into small workable tasks.
3. Agile Scrum Ceremonies: The Daily Scrum
Once the work is divided amongst the team they are off to the Sprint races, or at least headed to the Daily Scrum, which is the next ceremony on the Sprint journey (it’s definitely more than a feelin’). The Daily Scrum is pretty much what it sounds like: you guessed it; another timeboxed event that occurs every day during the Sprint for fifteen minutes. This is where the Scrum Team meets and discusses their progress of work. The team can choose the structure of the meeting, but usually most stick to answering three questions:
- What did I work on yesterday
- What am I working on today
- Are there any blockers/impediments with my work?
If a developer is facing any blockers/impediments, the Scrum Master will coordinate the efforts to clear these items for the developer.
Intermission: Product Backlog Grooming - An Unofficial Agile Ceremony
Before we move into the last two official Scrum ceremonies, as promised, I want to elaborate on the unofficial ceremony “Product Backlog Grooming” since it should occur prior to the last two events. Creating the Product backlog is the responsibility of the Product Owner to ensure that the features and user stories are fleshed out with proper acceptance criteria. Conversely, the Product Backlog Grooming event is a team effort (Teamwork makes the Dreamwork!).
This ceremony does not follow suit with the others as far as a formal timebox. With that said, usually allocating two hours once during the sprint is sufficient. During this time, the Product Owner will present the prioritized backlog and review with the scrum team. This gives the developer’s ample time to raise questions, break down stories into smaller tasks and move the work into the team’s definition of “ready”.
By including this event in your best scrum practices, it will help reduce the time spent in the Sprint Planning and make for an easy transition to the start of the new sprint.
4. Agile Scrum Ceremonies: The Sprint Review
As we make our way back on to the “official” scrum ceremony track, we are at the end of the Sprint. On the last day of the sprint, the Sprint Review and Retrospective ceremonies need to occur.
The Sprint Review brings the scrum team, Product Owners, any stakeholders and, possibly, Inspector Gadget to review what has been accomplished. Based on the two week sprint, the Sprint Review should be timeboxed to two hours, which is plenty of time to review, inspect and adapt for the next sprint and stay aligned on the overall product goal.
5. Agile Scrum Ceremonies: The Sprint Retrospective
Lastly, the Sprint Retrospective is the final timeboxed ceremony in the sprint. This event can take up to 3 hours for longer sprints but, since we are keeping with the two week sprint theme, it will likely take an hour. The audience in some cases can be the same as the Sprint Review.
However, keeping the audience to the individuals directly involved in the sprint (cough cough Scrum Team and Product Owner) tends to provide better feedback on improvements for quality and effectiveness. Once the team agrees on the most helpful improvements, they should be taken up and addressed as soon as possible.
Agile Scrum Ceremonies in Summary
Well folks, there’s the whistle. The lifeguard is saying it’s adult swim and we have to get out of the pool. Hopefully this quick guide to the Agile Scrum ceremonies brings some clarity and helps you to implement some best practices on your next agile engagement. Be on the lookout for more Agile content in the near future.