So, you are ready to begin holding Scrum meetings but don’t know how to start? This post is here to help. Outlining the Scrum meeting agenda, questions to ask, and providing templates for better understanding. Let’s dive in.
If you need more information on what the Scrum meetings are, check out this post first:
5 Scrum Ceremonies: Everything You Need to Know
Scrum Meetings – an Overview
According to the Scrum guide, there are 4 distinct Scrum meetings that happen during each Sprint.
- Sprint Planning
- Daily Scrum
- Sprint Review
- Sprint Retrospective
Each of these meetings has a specific purpose, time frame, and attendees in order to maximize value and reach the Product Goal. However, when it comes to running these meetings, many teams struggle in understanding how to begin, what questions to ask, and what agenda should be followed.
So, here is some guidance on how to run effective Scrum meetings with your team.
Sprint Planning
Agenda
The goal for the Sprint Planning is to pick out items from the Product Backlog to be completed during the Sprint. While there are some variations, these meetings usually follow an agenda like this:
- First, the Product Owner presents how they are looking to improve the product value during this Sprint. This is usually based on the priority items in the Product Backlog.
- Using this information, the whole Scrum Team then discusses and defines the Sprint Goal (this can be finalized at the end of the meeting).
- As the Sprint Goal is becoming more clear, the Scrum Team pulls items that adhere to this goal from the Product Bakclog to the Sprint Backlog. To make sure there is not too much work for the scope of the Sprint, these items may be refined.
- Lastly, the team divides the selected items into smaller tasks. Preferably, each lasting no larger than 1 workday. How the items are divided is entirelly up to the team and not part of the Product Owners responisibility.
- As the work is planned, the team finalizes the Sprint Goal in the Sprint Backlog, and the meeting ends.
Questions to Ask
To help your team during this Scrum meeting, consider asking the following questions:
- Why is this Sprint valuable?
- What can be done during this Sprint?
- How will this work get done?
Template
A clear and prioritized Product Backlog is essential for the Sprint Planning meeting. Using a task board like this one from Teamhood allows you to see all the items, categorize them and prioritize the most important ones. Making it easy for the Scrum Team to understand and plan.
Compare Free Backlog Management Tools
Daily Scrum
Agenda
The purpose of the Daily Scrum is to inspect progress towards the Sprint Goal within the team. There is no specific structure for this meeting, however, most of them carry a similar outline:
- The team members meet in one room or online and open their Sprint board to see the progress.
- Each team member gives a short update on what has been done and what is planned next.
- The Sprint Backlog may be adjusted when needed.
It is important to keep in mind, that this is a status meeting and any problems that arise during the Daily Scrum are usually discussed outside of it with just the key team members. This allows to save time and discuss issues more effectively.
Questions to Ask
- What was done yesterday?
- What is planned for today?
- What problems, if any, are there?
Template
During the Daily Scrum, it is a good idea to have your Scrum board open. Just like this example below, it allows you to quickly overview what is being done at the moment and what has already been finished.
Teamhood Scrum Board
Sprint Review
Agenda
The Sprint Review is held to present the completed work to the key stakeholders and check if it meets their requirements as well as the Product Goal. This Scrum meeting usually follows an agenda like this:
- The team shows what has been done during the Sprint by presenting the product Increment to the Product Owner and the key stakeholders.
- The key stakeholders then comment on whether this meets their expectations or needs adjustments.
- If adjustments are required, the Product Owner registers them in the Product Backlog and later prioritizes these items for the next Sprint.
Questions to Ask
- What was accomplished during this Sprint?
- How does it add to the Product Goal?
- Does it meet the Definition of Done?
Template
Depending on your project, this meeting may include a project demonstration or a presentation of what was achieved. All the issues and new requirements are registered in the Product Backlog, using the same template as in the Sprint Planning.
Sprint Retrospective
Agenda
The last Scrum meeting is held to review the process of the team during the Sprint. It gathers all the team members for a discussion on what can be improved next. This is done in the following way:
- The Scrum team gathers and reflects on how this last Sprint went. Each team member is asked to identify things that went well and things that require improvement. This can be done in advance or by giving some time to think during the meeting.
- The team discusses the issues and how they tried to solve them before.
- The team agrees on actions that will help solve those issues in the future and commits to implement at least 1 of them in the next Sprint.
It is important to put at least one of the discussed actions into the next Sprint to actually improve your process.
Questions to Ask
- What went well during the Sprint?
- What needs improvement?
- Did we do anything to solve the issues?
- What will we do to improve on these issues in the future?
Template
During the Sprint retrospective meeting, you could use a task board to register all the information. The team members would add their answers to the board as tasks and move the decided-upon actions straight into the next Sprint’s Backlog. By using such a board, the Scrum Team has a visual representation on their discussion and a document to reflect back on in the future.
Try out Teamhood for your Scrum Meetings
Interested in trying out the visual boards for your Scrum meetings? Check out Teamhood for easy information sharing and management.
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Dovile Miseviciute
Passionate content marketer looking to bring better solutions to the project management space.
2020 - Present Marketing specialist at Teamhood.
2014 - 2020 Marketing manager for Eylean.
I've spent years deeply immersed in agile methodologies and specifically in Scrum practices. I've worked hands-on with various teams, guiding them through the intricacies of Scrum ceremonies, fostering effective Sprint Planning sessions, facilitating Daily Scrums, Sprint Reviews, and Sprint Retrospectives.
The concept of Scrum Meetings outlined in the article essentially encapsulates the fundamental ceremonies prescribed by the Scrum framework:
-
Sprint Planning:
- Agenda: Focuses on selecting Product Backlog items for the Sprint, defining the Sprint Goal, refining items, and breaking them into manageable tasks.
- Questions to Ask: Clarifies the value of the Sprint, what can be achieved, and how the work will be accomplished.
- Template: Utilizes a clear and prioritized Product Backlog, often through tools like task boards.
-
Daily Scrum:
- Agenda: Inspects progress toward the Sprint Goal, providing short updates on work done, planned tasks, and addressing any obstacles.
- Questions to Ask: Touches on what was completed, plans for the day, and any encountered problems.
- Template: A Scrum board aids in visualizing ongoing and completed tasks.
-
Sprint Review:
- Agenda: Focuses on presenting completed work to stakeholders, gathering feedback, and determining if it aligns with requirements.
- Questions to Ask: Reviews accomplishments, their contribution to the Product Goal, and compliance with the Definition of Done.
- Template: May include project demonstrations or presentations, recording issues and new requirements in the Product Backlog.
-
Sprint Retrospective:
- Agenda: Reflects on the team's performance during the Sprint, identifies successes and areas for improvement, agrees on actionable steps.
- Questions to Ask: Evaluates what went well, identifies improvement areas, discusses efforts made to address issues, and plans for future improvements.
- Template: Utilizes a task board to capture information, enabling visual representation and documentation for future reference.
The article provides an insightful breakdown of each meeting, including agendas, key questions to guide discussions, and suggestions for templates or tools to facilitate the process. This comprehensive overview aligns with industry-standard Scrum practices, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, iteration, and continuous improvement within Agile projects.
