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How To Sprint And Not Faceplant
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how-to-sprint.md

%author: attluh %date: 2025-02-24

                        ,////,
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                        //  _|
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  |_/`  `-._     `\/  `\   `.
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                              \_\__
                               \___)

-> Sprinting <-

-> Have any of you ever had a ticket assigned that <- -> we had to figure out AC for during sprint planning? <-

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-> faceplant <-

-> Ever gotten frustrated that sprint planning took 2 hours <- -> and there wasn't any other time <- -> to bring up team discussions? <-

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-> faceplant <-

-> Ever zoned out during demos? <-

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-> faceplant <-

-> Ever have someone ask you about something <- -> that you just demoed yesterday? <-

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                           +*+=-+:=                  %*+*@%#%#%%#        %

-> faceplant <-

Our scrum schedule is disorganized and time inefficient. It has long meetings with too many purposes packed in, and the dev team has very little meeting time to itself.

By refactoring our sprint schedule to more closely follow scrum ceremonies, we can spend less overall time in meetings, and gain more meeting time amongst the devs.

-> How To Sprint And Not Faceplant <-

Specific meetings, for specific people, produce results.

Sprint Planning, Standups, + Retros are scrum team meetings.

Demos, a roll call of the upcoming sprint, and sprint start are jammed into one meeting.

  • Sprint reviews inform the audience of completed work, and respects time with dynamic attendance.

Not much meeting time is allocated for devs to discuss amongst themselves.

  • Retros accommodate time for team bonding

-> Plan. Review. Retro. <-

Plan. Review. Retro.

|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Sprint
Planning
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

The First Day: Sprint Planning

  • SM + PM + Devs
  • Tickets were prepared + prioritized ahead of planning by the SM + PM
  • Tickets are weighed by devs + assigned + clarifications

Plan. Review. Retro.

|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Sprint
Planning
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sprint
Review
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

The Penultimate Day: Sprint Review

  • SM + PM always attend
  • Devs should attend when they have something to demonstrate
  • Anyone can attend if interested in 1 or more of the demos
    • including devs that may not have demos.

Plan. Review. Retro.

|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5
Sprint
Planning
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sprint Sprint
Review Retro
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

The Final Day: Sprint Retro

  • SM + Devs
  • Guided discussion about how the sprint went.
  • The best meeting for team reflection, synergy, and bonding.
  • Unless everyone has had a particularly bad sprint, this meeting is FUN!

How does this look when sprints start on Thursdays?

|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 1 Day 2
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sprint Sprint Sprint
Review Retro Planning
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

Now, let's add in standups.

|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 1 Day 2
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sprint Sprint Sprint
Review Retro Planning
Standup Standup
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Standup Standup
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

Standup

  • SM + PM + Devs
  • <=15 minutes to share updates + obstacles
  • Physically standing up encourages everyone to keep updates to the point
  • SM + PM give updates on intersections with other departments + any updates helpful to the devs

Finally, let's add the SM's + PM's meetings.

|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 1 Day 2
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sprint Sprint Sprint
Review Retro Planning
Product Sprint
Backlog Prep
Standup Review Focus Standup
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Standup Standup
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

Product Backlog Review

  • SM + PM meet with department leads to review their requests
  • Takes place after the sprint has been demoed

Sprint Prep Focus

  • A significant portion of the day should be blocked off for SM to prep the upcoming sprint
  • Jira tickets are updated, added, and/or removed according to the Product Backlog Review
                        ,////,
                        /// 6|
                        //  _|
                       _/_,-'
                  _.-/'/   \   ,/;,
               ,-' /'  \_   \ / _/
               `\ /     _/\  ` /
                 |     /,  `\_/
                 |     \'
     /\_        /`      /\
   /' /_``--.__/\  `,. /  \
  |_/`  `-._     `\/  `\   `.
            `-.__/'     `\   |
                          `\  \
                            `\ \
                              \_\__
                               \___)

And don't forget to tie your shoes.

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