Importance of sprint planning in Scrum

Introduction

While the role of sprint planning is overlooked in the world of Scrum and Agile, sprint planning is important for a successful iteration. Whether you want to launch a new product feature, refine an existing process, or build a digital product, sprint planning helps your team to kick off each sprint with a clear goal or purpose in mind. 

The important members of the Scrum team, including the Scrum Master, Developers, and Product Owner, collaborate with each other. The set of tasks that should be carried out during the current sprint should be decided in the sprint planning meeting. When Scrum Masters or Product Owners miss the tasks which are coming, it can be hard for the team members to know what they have to do.

 If you are one of those professionals who is still not sure about the importance of sprint planning in Agile Scrum, then this blog post will guide you on every aspect of it. We will answer this question in our blog. But first, we will look into the basics of sprint planning. 

What is Sprint Planning?

Sprint planning holds first place on the list of Scrum sprints. The Scrum team, including Developers, Scrum Master, and the Product Owner, are directly involved in deciding both the work to be done in the current sprint and the process through which the work will be done. One meeting, called the sprint planning meeting, is done for a short period at the start of every sprint. Don’t miss out on your chance to attend a CSM certification training if you want to find out how to make the sprint planning meeting successful. 

The event includes discussions related to the purpose of the sprint, the product backlog items that should be completed within a specific event, and the strategies that will be followed to achieve the final goal. 

Just as the sessions of reviewing and inspecting, the Sprint planning event is a discussion where the development team has to be present physically to find out what are the next things that the team needs to do based on not only the product goal, sprint review feedback, most relevant elements of the product backlog, but also recently added increments. 

In this, the development team has transparency on the product backlog, and hence they can decide on the next most important tasks that they should do collectively. Benefits of Sprint Planning in Agile Scrum

Earlier, Agile methodologies like Scrum were used only in the context of software development. However, due to the dynamic nature of today’s business environment, the dependency on the Scrum framework is rising. Now, businesses can implement sprint planning to help their teams get things done on time, regardless of their nature of operation. Let’s take a look at why sprint planning is prioritised by Scrum teams all over the world:

Helps Deliver Excellent Quality Work

Sprint planning provides thorough insights to team members in terms of the tasks that should be carried out and the strategies that should be implemented to find the best solution to solve complex problems. Most importantly, through sprint planning, team members can deliver high-quality work as it allows them to incorporate user stories and focus on specific objectives. 

Improved Transparency

 All the members who are currently participating in the Scrum or Agile team should be invited by the Scrum Master to contribute to the sprint planning meeting. Once, during the meeting, team members get to know the work of the others, it can have a positive effect rather than a negative one. An open meeting will enable the members of the team to be informed about what the others are undertaking, thus they will all be on the same page. Attend the CSPO training to learn how to foster collaboration and transparent communication among team members. 

Improved Focus

When you’re able to provide clear insights into what needs to be done throughout the sprint which is conducted for two weeks, it keeps your team members focused towards a specific goal. This prevents other tasks from getting in the way of the project. The two-week sprint offers a crystal-clear idea to each team member on what needs to be done during the current sprint. Achieving milestones within the specified time limit becomes easy when the tasks are completed by the entire team on time. 

Helping each team member stay focused on a specific list of tasks is the major objective of the Agile and Scrum framework. Delegating tasks to team members based on their knowledge and skillset helps them to get huge volumes of work done by blocking minor distractions from getting in the way. The Scrum team shares a common definition of the term ‘done’ in the context of a completed task. This implies that each completed task should align with the criteria laid out by the team for a backlog item. A product that fulfils the quality benchmark set by the team can be marked as ‘complete’. 

Conclusion 

Sprint planning lays the foundation for the complete Agile procedures. It helps the team members to understand what the final goal is, while ensuring the workload is realistic. When sprint planning is carried out effectively, it ensures the sprint is productive and minimises risks and confusion.