It is known that Sprint Goal is essential to a successful Scrum Team working together.
However, every time I join a new team, the goal is not really something that gets discussed enough. Most of the teams don’t have a clear goal for their sprint, they don’t know how to create a good one, and they generally don’t feel that it is needed.
I have found that a good Sprint Goal can turn a team around and help team members to start working together.
In today’s newsletter, I shared some additional thoughts about how to build a strong goal and shared some personal success stories related to it.
Scrum Guide gives us some information about how to build a strong goal:
“It provides guidance to the Development Team on why it is building the Increment… The Sprint Goal gives the Development Team some flexibility regarding the functionality implemented within the Sprint… The Sprint Goal can be any other coherence that causes the Development Team to work together rather than on separate initiatives.”
To summarize a good Sprint Goal should give the team Purpose to work together, Flexibility to choose how to achieve it, and Focus to stay on track.
Do you have examples of good Sprint Goals and how they give the team purpose, flexibility and purpose?
Leave your answers below about what goals can motivate a Scrum Team to deliver a Done increment by the end of the Sprint.
If you are looking for more information about this topic, here is some great reading material from Professional Scrum Trainers:
- Myth: Having A Sprint Goal Is Optional In Scrum by Christiaan Verwijs
- Getting to Done: Creating Good Sprint Goals by Stephanie Ockerman
- Scrum from the trenches – the Sprint Goal by Jasper Alblas
