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About this lesson
Within the Agile/Scrum project management methodology there are a set of meetings that are used to plan and manage the process. Rather than analytical tools, this methodology relies heavily on the use of specific targeted meetings.
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Quick reference
Sprint – Scrum Meetings
Within the Agile/Scrum project management methodology there are a set of meetings that are used to plan and manage the process. Rather than analytical tools, this methodology relies heavily on the use of specific targeted meetings.
When to Use Sprint – Scrum Meetings
The project level meeting and each of the five sprint level meetings that are described are an essential part of the Agile/Sprint project management methodology. They all occur at prescribed points in time during a Sprint.
Instructions
Agile project management methodologies focus less on documentation and more on collaboration. Therefore, the role of meetings is very important. Meetings are a primary element for planning and managing the project. Some meetings are focused at the project level, others at the Sprint level.
Project Level Meetings
The project level meetings create the structure of the project, Releases, and number of Sprints. These are typically conducted between the business stakeholders and the Scrum Master and Product Owner. The Scrum team has not yet been established. These meetings are sometimes blended into one meeting. The results of these meetings are the goals and objectives for the overall project along with the number and timing of Releases and Sprints. These meetings are not as structured as the Sprint level meetings. The nature and structure of these meetings is often driven by organizational structure and organizational culture.
Sprint Level Meetings
There are five Sprint level meetings. Each occurs at specific times and has a specific purpose. These meetings will be addresses in more detail in later sessions. A description of the participants, actions, and outcomes is found in the table below.
Meetings |
Participants |
Actions |
Outcomes |
Sprint Planning |
Product Owner Scrum Master Scrum Team |
Clarify Storycards Volunteer for stories Estimate stories Initiate Scrum Control |
Prioritized Product Backlog (PB) Sprint Backlog Scrum Board Sprint Burn Down chart |
Scrum Meeting |
Scrum Master Scrum Team Product Owner |
Report completed tasks Update estimates Identify impediments |
Update Scrum Board Update Burn Down Chart |
Sprint Demo |
Business Team Product Owner Scrum Master Scrum Team |
Demonstrate completed Stories Explain uncompleted stories |
Potentially Shippable Product |
Retrospective |
Scrum Master Scrum Team |
Review positives & why Review problems & why |
Improved Sprint process |
Refinement |
Product Owner Business Team |
Review and update Product Backlog |
Re-prioritized Product Backlog |
Hints and Tips
- Most of us hate meetings. However, Agile/Scrum relies on meetings. You need to be there and participate.
- If one or two individuals dominate and derail the meetings, the Scrum Master should intervene and ensure full collaborative team interactions.
- 00:03 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
- 00:05 I need to talk with you about the meetings in the Agile Scrum methodology.
- 00:10 Rather than a heavy reliance on analytical tools and
- 00:13 documentation, Agile scrum relies on meetings to plan and manage the project.
- 00:18 Recall that a key principle of agile scrum is collaboration.
- 00:22 Meetings are where much of that collaboration takes place.
- 00:25 Now, don't start to groan.
- 00:27 These aren't the endless dull meetings where someone drones on and
- 00:31 on about things that are irrelevant, these are directly tied to what you are doing or
- 00:36 will be doing.
- 00:38 Several meetings will typically occur before any sprints are started,
- 00:41 to plan out the project.
- 00:43 These meetings create a high level project plan with the project goal or vision,
- 00:47 and they determine how many releases and sprints will be used in this project.
- 00:51 These meetings are not as well defined as the ones conducted at a sprint level
- 00:56 because these meetings must interface with your existing organizations,
- 00:59 stakeholders and culture.
- 01:01 The project plan, release plan and sprint identification
- 01:04 may be accomplished in one meeting, but it is more likely to take several meetings to
- 01:08 get all of the business leadership onboard with the approach.
- 01:12 The sprint level meetings are much more prescriptive.
- 01:15 They have a very specific purpose and
- 01:17 there are some tools in several of these meetings to make them more productive.
- 01:21 These Sprint level meetings are Sprint planning, to plan the Sprint activities,
- 01:25 the daily Scrum where day to day progress and issues are tracked, the Sprint Demo,
- 01:30 which is the opportunity for stakeholders to interact with the team, and
- 01:33 review results, the sprint retrospective which is the lessons learned session for
- 01:37 the Scrum team, and the sprint refinement which is used to update the product
- 01:40 backlog in order to prepare for the next Sprint.
- 01:44 Let's go through each of these meetings in a little bit more detail.
- 01:47 As I go through each meeting, I will discuss who attends that meeting,
- 01:50 the types of actions or discussion that occur and the outcome of that meeting.
- 01:55 First is the project planning meetings.
- 01:57 These occur between the business team leadership and
- 01:59 the project scrum master and product owner.
- 02:01 We talk about both of these roles in other sessions, but essentially the scrum master
- 02:06 is the process facilitator and keeps the team on track.
- 02:09 And a product owner is the requirements manager who defines, consolidates, and
- 02:13 prioritizes the desired deliverables.
- 02:16 As I mentioned, this is often a series of meetings with different business leaders.
- 02:20 The discussions around the outcomes, that's the overall project goal or vision.
- 02:24 The release planning and
- 02:25 the number of sprints in each release will also be discussed.
- 02:28 During this time, the product owner often creates a high level product backlog as
- 02:32 part of organizing the Sprints.
- 02:34 The next meeting is the first part of Sprint planning.
- 02:37 I've divided Sprint planning into two parts
- 02:40 because they have two very different actions and outcomes.
- 02:42 I often will take a short break between the two parts
- 02:45 to help everyone understand that they have a changed focus.
- 02:49 In the first part,
- 02:49 the focus is to understand the Prioritized Product Backlog.
- 02:53 The Product Owner, Scrum Master and all members of the Scrum Team meet and
- 02:56 the Product Owner describes every relevant deliverable to the team.
- 03:00 These deliverables are referred to as either product backlog items or stories.
- 03:04 I will generally use the term story but either term is acceptable.
- 03:08 The team asks questions about each story to be certain that they understand what is
- 03:12 being requested.
- 03:14 Now on to part 2 of Sprint Planning.
- 03:16 The Product Owner may or may not stay for this session but if they stay,
- 03:19 they must remember that they are only there to answer clarifying questions,
- 03:23 not to challenge the team's estimates.
- 03:25 The Scrum team works down through the prioritized list of stories selecting
- 03:29 a story and estimating the activities and effort needed to do that story.
- 03:33 Based upon the length of the Sprint and the number of team members, the stories
- 03:36 that will hopefully be accomplished during that Sprint are identified as the Sprint
- 03:40 backlog and a Scrum board and burn down chart are initialized.
- 03:44 More about those in a later session.
- 03:47 Next is the Scrum Meeting.
- 03:48 This is normally held daily and
- 03:49 attended by all the Scrum Team members, the Scrum Master and Product Owner.
- 03:53 The Scrum Team reports progress by the number of completed tasks and
- 03:57 any roadblocks.
- 03:58 In addition, they will update the estimates to the remaining work
- 04:01 on the unfinished stories.
- 04:02 The Scrum Master will then update the Scrum Board in the Burn Down Chart.
- 04:06 Next is the Sprint demo.
- 04:08 In this meeting, the Scrum team demonstrates the results of
- 04:11 each completed story to the product owner and
- 04:13 any other members of the business management team that are invited.
- 04:16 This is the only time senior management interacts with the Scrum team.
- 04:20 The Scrum master is there to help facilitate the process.
- 04:23 The Scrum team must also explain the reasons for any uncompleted stories.
- 04:27 Results of this meeting should be what is called a minimally viable product.
- 04:31 Meaning it is something that works well enough that the business team can
- 04:34 decide whether to share it more broadly for further feedback.
- 04:38 The retrospective meeting now happens.
- 04:40 This is the lessons learned session with the Scrum team and a Scrum Master.
- 04:44 They discuss what were the positives and negatives of the Sprint and why.
- 04:48 They then were able to improve the Sprint process on the next Sprint,
- 04:51 which is often about to start.
- 04:54 The last meeting is the Refinement of the product backlog.
- 04:57 Based upon the results from the Sprint demo, the product owner will meet with
- 05:01 business team leaders to revise and update the Product Backlog, both the description
- 05:05 of the stories and the priority, prior to the start of the next Sprint.
- 05:09 Meetings, love ' or hate '.
- 05:13 They're a key part of an Agile sprint, and that is where the communication and
- 05:17 collaboration takes place.
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