Sprint Planning is an imperative process of achieving the objectives of any agile team. The entire team must come up with a set of backlog items that they need to complete during the Sprint Planning meeting. The length of the sprint will be defined by the agreement made by the team.
The Sprint meeting must be facilitated by the Scrum Master and clarifications about the product backlog items must be provided by a Product Owner. The Product Owner and Scrum Master must work together with the Agile Team towards achieving the sprint commitment. Failure to work as a team could lead to project failure, hence the need to consider the input of every member. The following tips will help you to conduct successful Sprint Planning meetings.
Have a clear sprint goal
The Product Owner has to come up with a specific Sprint goal to form the agenda of the meeting. This goal gives the meeting a direction, so that no time is wasted on less important items. Ensure that stakeholders do not go out of the main topic as the meeting progresses. Communicate the agenda of the meeting in advance so that team members can prepare in advance.
Ensure your backlog items are the right size
Backlog items should be precise enough to be completed in a sprint. If the items are too large to be completed within the meeting, resize by eliminating the stories that are not good enough to be backlog candidates. Stories that are incomplete or those that cannot spend on their own should not be included in the sprint.
Hold a meeting to prepare for the sprint
You might not have enough time to discuss all the items during the sprint. The best thing is to have a meeting prior to the actual sprint meeting, which will help create a stronger agenda as well as reduce time wastage. This meeting should be held between the Product Owner and the Scrum Master; other team members should only be briefed to prepare them for the Sprint.
Concentrate on working and ready stories
By applying the Definition-of-Ready (DoR), select the stories that are refined and ready for Sprint Planning. Do not bring stories that are too detailed to the sprint because they will consume a lot of time. You might end up discussing only one item if your stories are too detailed and complex.
Give room for questions
For an effective Sprint Planning meeting, give room for stakeholders to raise questions to the Product Owner. When stakeholders air their concerns, this will be vital in helping to identify loopholes within the project. Every stakeholder should be given a chance to ask at least one question for the items to be satisfactory.
Set dates for each story
Have a rough plan of due dates for each story. This will create a timeline when every story should be done, and it will be easier to keep track of each story’s progress.
Following these tips will help you to have an organized sprint backlog grooming. You will be able to conduct object sprint planning meetings.
