Scrum as many of us already know is a
goal driven framework. In the previous
video we have already learned about the
product goal. And oh, if you haven't
already watched that video, click the
card up here to watch that video first
because that video will be referred to
throughout today's video. Now Scrum has
another goal called the Sprint goal.
However there are quite a few Scrum
teams that I have worked with whom do
not spend enough time during the Sprint
planning to scrutinize their Sprint goal.
I personally think that the Scrum team
should not take the Sprint goal lightly,
because the Sprint goal can really affect
whether the Sprint will become a feature
factory or not ...
Because the Sprint goal can really
change the game, let's talk about the
Sprint goal in today's video. And if you
do notice that your Scrum team is more
like a Feature Factory and if you are
driven to change that situation by
changing how the Sprint goal is written
down ...
stick around folks because we are going
to talk about the Sprint goal right
after this one.
[Music]
Hey what's up everybody welcome back to
my channel. Joshua Partogi here ... recording
another Scrum content for you from
Brisbane, Australia. If you're new to this
channel, welcome on board to the
community of passionate change makers.
And if you have been a long time
subscriber to this channel, welcome back
to this channel everyone. And I would
like to sincerely thank you for all of
your support to this channel until today.
Hopefully you are doing something
amazing for your customers with your
team through the product that you're
currently developing. Alright folks,
without further ado let's get back to
today's topic, that is ... the Sprint goal.
As described in Scrum Guide, the
Sprint planning starts with the goal in
mind. The Sprint goal answers the why.
This is inspired from the idea "start
with why" popularized by Simon Sinek.
People don't buy what you do, people buy
why you do it. People don't buy what you
do, they buy why you do it. The goal is to
do business with people who believe what
you believe. Go read this book if you
haven't already. Like any kind of goal
that is made together by a team, the
Sprint goal is also created
collaboratively by the whole Scrum team
during the Sprint planning. So it's not
being dictated only by the Product Owner.
It's an agreement between the Product
Owner, the Scrum Master and also the
developers. The developers use the Sprint
goal as a discussion point when making a
plan every day during the Daily Scrum. So
you can say that the Sprint goal can
affect how the Daily Scrum will be
implemented by the developers. Some Scrum
teams do not have any Sprint goal. During
Sprint planning they only select the
product backlog items that needs to be
completed. And sometimes it is dictated
by the Product Owner or by the Scrum
Master. Which is quite sad. Without a
Sprint goal, the Sprint is more like a
mini-waterfall. Some Scrum teams
explicitly write down their Sprint goal. But
when you read it their Sprint goal is just
a list of product backlog items or scope
to be completed. For example like this
one right here.
Now when you think about it, it's
actually not much different to the teams
who do not have any Sprint goal at all.
Because their Sprint will also look like
a mini-waterfall. The Sprint goal should
not be about the scope of work to be
done or the list of product backlog
items to be completed by the developers
because that will just limit the room of
creativity for the developers. Remember
folks, that we are working with
developers who are smart people that use
their intelligence and creativity to
solve complex problems. As explained in
Scrum guide, the Sprint goal should
explain the value of the Sprint or the
outcome that the customers will get out
of the increments the Scrum team will
deliver throughout the Sprint. The goal
of Scrum is not to deliver as many
product backlog items as possible or to
deliver everything as planned during Sprint
planning. Remember, that Scrum is not an
"iterative-compressed-waterfall". We have
to move away from that perception. Having
a perception that the developer should
deliver everything as planned during
Sprint planning will only inspire the
developers to start gaming their Sprint
plans or their estimate. Yes I do
acknowledge that this chart that shows
committed versus completed that is
available in some tools is one of the
sources of this misperception about
Scrum. And if you think that chart is
problematic, do something about it like
move away from using that tool for
example. The Sprint goal should not
dictate the scope of work the developers
need to complete in that Sprint because
when you do so, that's actually not agile
at all. The Sprint goal should give rooms
of flexibility. That's what agile is
about. The activities and the product
backlog items selected should not be the
Sprint goal ... it's a means to the Sprint
goal. The Sprint goal should be about
delivering customer outcomes. I have to
say once again in this video ... we have to
keep in mind that the developers are not
feature factories, they are problem
solvers. After all, Scrum is a framework
for solving complex problems. With that
in mind, the Scrum team can meet the
Sprint goal without having to deliver
all of the scope that have been planned
during Sprint planning. Many of you have
already read the book about the Seven
Habits of highly effective people. Now,
during Sprint planning, I like to ask the
whole Scrum team to think with the end
in mind. I like them to imagine
what benefit or outcome the customers
will get out of the increments they will
deliver throughout the Sprint. Now
remember, it's outcome not output. And if
you haven't watched my video on outcome
over output, you can click the card up
here to watch that video first. Besides
connecting the Sprint goal with the
customer outcome, the Sprint goal should be
connected to the overarching product
goal. As we have learned from the
previous video, you can say that the
Sprint goal is a milestone towards
achieving this product goal. With that
thought preocess, this is a template
that the Scrum team can fill out during
Sprint planning as a guidance of an
outcome-oriented Sprint goal. Because the
Sprint goal should be connected to the
product goal, here is an example of a
product goal from the previous video and
here is an example of a Sprint goal after
the template is filled out and orienting
it towards the overarching product goal.
And here are some more examples of
Sprint goals that are outcome oriented
as an inspiration for you to improve
your future Sprint goals. You can pause
this video if you want more time to read
it. And remember folks, whenever you
create the Sprint goal you need to
connect it to the overarching Product goal.
If you haven't already got a product
goal, then collaborate with your Scrum
team to make it transparent first. How
the Sprint goal is written down, affects
the developers behavior throughout the
Sprint. As the Scrum team is committed to
the Sprint goal instead of the scope of
work, when the Sprint goal is customer
outcome oriented, the developers will be
committed to focus on the customer first.
As I mentioned earlier, the Sprint goal will
affect how the developers implement the
Daily Scrum. When the Sprint goal is
oriented towards the customer outcome,
the Daily Scrum will not become a status
update meeting, but instead it will
become the team's mini planning session.
That's a big difference. And on top of
that, how the Sprint goal is written down
will affect whether you will only have a
bunch of people working together or
"A true team collaborating towards One
Direction". That's a big difference. When
the Sprint goal is the about the "What", the
"How", or the scope of work that needs to
be completed, the Sprint becomes a
Feature Factory and a mini-waterfall. But
when the Sprint goal is about the "Why" and
the customer outcome, it will give a
sense of purpose for the developers
throughout the Sprint. So move away from
feature factories and mini-waterfall
that demotivates developers towards a
purpose-driven development. So that is
all from me today folks. Hopefully
today's video adds value to the time you
have spent watching it. And if you do
find it valuable, don't forget to click
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you haven't already. Until my next video
folks. Stay curious and continuously
deliver something amazing for your
customers. Enjoy the rest of your day
everyone. Bye now.