SCRUM: How to Define Sprint Goals for Success

SCRUM is an agile methodology that allows us to regulate the best practices of collaborative work and thus obtain the best possible result in a project. But do you know how to define sprint goals to succeed with your project?

We are talking about a way of working, implemented in large and small companies, that offers reaction capacity, drives innovation and creativity of teams, and allows to be more productive.

What is a Sprint?

The most important part of SCRUM is the Sprint, which is the name we give to each of the cycles or iterations that are carried out within any project. The advantage of Sprints is to configure a rhythm of work, with predefined times, that allow us to offer deliverables or fully functional products to the client.

Importance of Sprint objectives in a SCRUM project

On many occasions we find that teams forget a fundamental point in any SCRUM project: the Sprint Goals . These objectives are created in the planning of all Sprint and are the goals established and achievable by the development team in the defined period.

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The objectives give value to the Sprint, and are usually defined in the planning phase, although it is not strange to readjust them during the iteration depending on the incidents that occur. Thanks to the objectives we will have a motivated team and knowledgeable about the work to be done during the next period, giving meaning and coherence to the user stories, also known as business functionalities, and technical tasks included in the Sprint.

The Relationship of Sprint Goals to Achieving Results

It is quite common to see that teams only plan tasks, and that the basis of the success of the Sprint is the completion of these. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although from a productive point of view it may seem correct, from a Scrum approach it is a bad practice that will not help achieve the expected results.

How we can assess the success of a Sprint

Many teams complete 100% of the planned tasks, thinking that they have done their job. These teams feel that they have undertaken the development in the established time, but in reality they have not reached the main goal: to offer business value with the Sprint.

The key to every Sprint is that our customer can evaluate and use the completed development. If this is not possible, we are not conforming to the SCRUM philosophy, which is to deliver value in each iteration, and that value can be used by the recipient of the product.

Sprint Goal Example

Imagine we’re developing an invoicing app. In the definition of a Sprint of this project we can establish the objective of “creating invoices by the user”. In this Sprint we will determine the scope of this functionality to be developed, what data is necessary and what complementary actions must be configured (for example, “print the invoice”). From the planning and definition of the Sprint, our team will execute the tasks to achieve the objective in a measurable and valuable format.

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What happens if unforeseen events occur during the Sprint? In this case, you may be seriously committing to achieving the goal. It must be understood that such a situation does not change the objective at all, but what we must do is alter the scope of the Sprint to deliver what was agreed, not developing less important functionalities. In our example, we would not perform the “invoice printing” functionality, focusing on the relevant thing, the “invoice creation”. This guarantees us to offer the main development, fully functional and on schedule. Pending functionality will need to be moved to a new Sprint.

Thanks to SCRUM we offer product quality, consolidate the commitment to the client, increase the speed of execution and improve the productivity and motivation of the team. The definition of objectives generates trust in the client. At Pasiona we have been using
agile methodologies
in our projects for more than 10 years. This has allowed us to always deliver results to our clients. How about implementing a model in your business that guarantees success? Call us to advise you and help you in your initiatives!