A scrum team comprises different cross-functional groups working together in the same framework. Some come from the development, product owner, and quality assurance teams. All the people work together on the same project to build or deploy software. Scrum has sprints in which the team needs to complete the dedicated tasks. Sprint is the core of Scrum, which allotted a finite period to complete the work. After the end of a sprint, a review is conducted to demonstrate the working details. CSM training helps you to understand Scrum and sprint properly.

However, after working for a long time on a project, productivity is expected to drop after a certain point for many reasons. Therefore, sprint planning can help improve the team’s productivity. This blog will identify how to structure and manage the sprint for maximum productivity.

What is Sprint Planning?

Sprints are the time blocks in a Scrum that are sustained for 2-4 weeks. Hence, a sprint planning meeting is a periodical meeting that involves the entire team. It includes the Scrum master, the product manager, and the team members. In the meeting, the team identifies the scope of the current sprint along with the backlog items needed for the next sprint. Thus, it is a collaborative process that allows team members to discuss their work in detail. Your sprint planning session will help you identify the following:

• Sprint Goal: A brief description of the plan that your team will achieve in their next sprint.
• Sprint Backlog: The team agreed to work on the list of stories and other things in the product backlog during the next Sprint.

How to Do the Scrum Sprint Planning

Whenever you are performing Scrum sprint planning, just ask three questions about your sprint planning events:

1. Why?

We all know that sprints indicate investments in terms of money and time. In addition, it is an irreversible process; whatever you spend is used. Scrum demands that the team have an idea about the investment and, for this reason, answer the following questions that will help you underrate the sprint goal.

• Why do we invest in this service or product?
• What are the results we are expecting from this investment?

2. What?

Now that you understand the purpose and motive behind running the sprint, you may wonder how to achieve the goal. Therefore, we must select the backlog items to help us achieve the desired goal in a sprint. In this segment, we will predict our actions to achieve the goal.

3. How?

The next question that comes to mind is, how do we get the work done? Where will we do the research? Where must we research, work together, design, reuse, or throw out? When there are many unknowns, planning carefully to minimize waste is important.

Things To Be Done Before Scrum Sprint Planning

Some planning needs to be done before a Sprint starts. You should accomplish many things before your first Sprint so that it goes well. If you want to improve your sprint planning skills, then A-CSM Certification can help you upgrade them. At this event, the product owner and the Development Team talk about the product backlog. The Scrum Master helps run the Scrum Team meeting, where work estimates are made. The product list needs all the necessary information to analyze it, like due dates, specific steps, what to do for which customer group, and so on. Before the estimate, the product owner has to answer any questions that might come up about what is in it.

Some points are mentioned that you must cover before your first Sprint:

1. Internalize the Scrum values

Incorporate the Scrum values into your team’s work to help them take charge and plan well. If the team can communicate well, everyone will know what to do, and no one will need to be in charge.

2. Decide the Roadmap

The product owner should talk to the right people about high-level versions of the end goals, short-term goals, and a plan that can be changed as the project progresses. Remember that planning and flexibility are essential to judging the Agile method. Your plan should not be finished or perfect immediately; it should be made as the project progresses so that it can be changed as your business grows and changes.

 3. Collaborate with Stakeholders

As a product manager, you must collaborate with your team and stakeholders to prioritize and review the product backlog. This helps decide the sprint goal and builds confidence in the team.

Advantages of Sprint Planning

Sprint planning helps in many ways. A few of them are mentioned below:

• It establishes a communication platform for the Scrum team. Sprint planning enables opportunities to recognize the ability and dependencies of the team members to achieve the goal. In addition, the team members can chalk out their path to achieve the goal.
• Helps prioritize the deliverable within the timeframe. The product owner can select the items from the backlog required in a sprint. Regarding sprints, the product owner decides which items are the most important and may shorten or remove things to make them more “doable.” This way, during early development, only the most essential parts of the product get finished.
• It prevents Scrum team burnout. The team will have clear goals because the members will choose the goals based on what they think they can achieve. So, there is no need to involve the third party, and they cannot give the Scrum Team goals they cannot reach.

Conclusion

Sprints are an important component of any Scrum team and the first step in any agile path that requires mastering the whole process. Effective sprint management improves the productivity of the entire team. So, start planning your sprint with the help of a certified Scrum master and manage it effectively.