What Is a Sprint Execution? Definition, Framework & How It Works in 2024

Key Takeaways: What Is a Sprint Execution?
  • Sprint execution is led by a scrum master and begins with an initial planning meeting.
  • Development team members will execute a sprint over eight to 10 days for a two-week sprint.
  • Software like monday.com and ClickUp have excellent tools to help you improve sprint execution.

Facts & Expert Analysis: Sprint Executions 

  • Analysis: Effectively utilizing a sprint burndown chart is a surefire way to keep your team on track.
  • Harvest honesty: Creating a culture of honest communication in your team will help you identify issues that are hindering successful sprint execution.
  • Maximize retrospectives: Sprint retrospectives allow you to review your performance and find ways to improve. Treat them as an important part of your process. 

The best project management software platforms have tools that allow you to run and complete sprints efficiently. However, despite their benefits, these tools don’t guarantee successful sprint execution; that’s up to you and your team. If you want to successfully execute your next sprint, read this guide to learn how to reach your sprint goal effectively.

This article will define sprint execution, outline who oversees scrum teams and teach you how to assess the success of your sprint execution. We’ll also cover sprint duration so you can learn how long it should take to execute a sprint. 

Definition, Meaning & Summary: What Is a Sprint Execution? 

Sprint execution is the process of working on a series of tasks and ensuring they’re completed within a specific time frame. Successful sprint execution is also measured by the quality of the finished result. For example, if a development team builds a new feature that works as intended, you can view this as a successful sprint execution. 

Who Participates in a Sprint Execution? 

Traditionally, a scrum team is responsible for sprint execution. The team comprises a product owner, a scrum master and a development team. Scrum developers are responsible for working on relevant tasks that make up the sprint backlog

Who Manages the Team’s Work During a Sprint?

The scrum master oversees the scrum team’s work during a sprint. They’re heavily involved in sprint planning, and they work alongside the product owner. The scrum master also facilitates daily meetings to discuss sprint progress and ensure that the scrum team isn’t overcommitting, helping to prevent scope creep.   

Sprint Execution Process: How It Works 

To give you a clear understanding of the sprint execution process, we’ll take you through each step, from initial planning to task completion.

sprint planning
An execution starts with planning and requires daily communication to be successful.

1. Sprint Planning

The process begins with a sprint planning meeting. The product owner will communicate the objective to the scrum master, who will then create a sprint backlog. A conversation about the backlog will also take place. This helps everyone understand the requirements for the work, giving the scrum team the confidence and knowledge to perform at the highest standard.

When completing sprint planning, you must also decide how long the sprint will take. Usually, sprints last no longer than four weeks. Whether it’s a two-week sprint or four weeks, you’ll need to plan your resources effectively to ensure you complete the work within the set time frame. If a sprint is set to last two weeks, the execution process should be between eight and 10 days. 

2. Flow Management

Flow management is essentially task planning. Once the backlog is defined, the team needs a strategy for tackling each task, specifying how much time will be required and deciding who will work on specific tasks. The scrum master will create a selection of task priorities and dependencies so that the team can divide their attention effectively to reach the sprint goal.

3. Scrum Meetings

Each morning, the scrum master will hold a daily scrum meeting. These meetings are short, usually lasting no longer than 15 minutes. The objective is to check in with the team and share any relevant data relating to the sprint’s progress. The team can use this data to improve workflows, overcome issues and reach the sprint goal quicker.

the three daily scrum questions
During daily scrum meetings, the scrum master will ask each developer three questions to determine how the project is progressing.

4. Task Performance & Technical Abilities

A scrum team must have the required skill set to deliver the work. Whether it involves coding or building a physical product, everyone must understand how to complete each task. If someone is struggling, the scrum master must either get them up to speed or redistribute the tasks to a more knowledgeable team member. This will prevent roadblocks and bottlenecks in the sprint.

5. Communication

Aside from running the daily scrum meeting, you must prioritize communication during all stages of a sprint. To accomplish this, you can use the best agile tools, which all include communication features. These software tools also provide a real-time view of task progress, where you can document any concerns in task cards and tag relevant people to inform them.

clickup collaboration
You can use chat tools on platforms like ClickUp to
communicate with your team.

To communicate progress, you can also use sprint burndown charts. These allow the scrum master to analyze the current workflow and predict when the work will be complete. In addition, sprint burnup charts will let team members monitor the flow of the product backlog, where the goal is to have a steady rise in completion.

When Is Sprint Execution Completed?

Sprint execution begins after the initial sprint planning and ends before the sprint review. In practical terms, it should finish when the scrum team completes the product backlog. However, sometimes the product backlog will be too large for the team to complete all tasks within the sprint time frame.

Such issues should be brought up either in the daily scrum meetings or in the sprint review. The review shows stakeholders and clients the latest iteration of a product, allowing them to provide feedback. For more details on how to conduct a review, check out our guide that explains what a sprint review is

At the end of a sprint, the team will also conduct a sprint retrospective to discuss how the previous sprint went. During this event, the scrum team will celebrate wins, discuss losses and brainstorm how to improve the next sprint.

Final Thoughts 

The foundation of strong sprint execution is planning and communication. If you get those two right, then it’s much easier for all the other processes to fall into place. Also, using the sprint review to receive feedback from clients and stakeholders can help teams refine the sprint backlog and prepare for the next sprint. 

Using modern project management software is also the best way to lock down your processes, as they’re built to make your professional life easier. If you’re looking for new software, be sure to read our monday.com review and our ClickUp review. These platforms are both market leaders that offer plenty of tools to help you improve your sprint execution.

Did you find this guide useful? What helps you improve sprint execution? What else would you like to learn about project management? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading.

FAQ: Sprint Execution Definition, Steps & Activities 

  • In Agile, sprint execution refers to how a development team will complete specific tasks related to a piece of software. This often relates to building specific features and sections of a software product.

  • The four core steps of a sprint are planning, execution, review and retrospective. They allow you to build a strategy, complete the work effectively, discuss how the work went, demo the latest product iteration and identify improvements for future sprints.

  • Scrum sprint planning begins once the product owner has relayed the project objectives. The scrum master can then create a product backlog and assign specific tasks to appropriate team members so they can execute them correctly.

{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”FAQPage”,”mainEntity”:[{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What Is Sprint Execution in Agile?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”

In Agile, sprint execution refers to how a development team will complete specific tasks related to a piece of software. This often relates to building specific features and sections of a software product.\n”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What Are the 4 Steps Within a Sprint?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”

The four core steps of a sprint are planning, execution, review and retrospective. They allow you to build a strategy, complete the work effectively, discuss how the work went, demo the latest product iteration and identify improvements for future sprints.\n”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”How to Plan and Execute Scrum Sprints?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”

Scrum sprint planning begins once the product owner has relayed the project objectives. The scrum master can then create a product backlog and assign specific tasks to appropriate team members so they can execute them correctly.\n”}}]}

The post What Is a Sprint Execution? Definition, Framework & How It Works in 2024 appeared first on Cloudwards.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to our Newsletter