Sprint Goal

5 minutes 5 Questions

The Sprint Goal is an objective set for the Sprint that can be met through the implementation of a chosen set of Product Backlog items. It provides guidance to the Development Team on why it is building an Increment. It creates focus and flexibility, provides a consistent direction, and encourages …

Guide to the Sprint Goal

What it is:
The Sprint Goal is a clear, concise statement of the purpose of a Sprint in Scrum Framework. It sets the direction and provides a shared understanding of why the team is working on the Sprint.

Why it is important:
It gives the team guidance and provides a measure of progress during the Sprint. It is not a commitment to deliver a set of features or product backlog items, but a goal the team believes can be achieved by doing the work planned in the Sprint backlog.

How it works:
The Product Owner proposes the sprint goal during the Sprint Planning meeting. The whole Scrum Team then collaborates to formulate a plan to achieve the goal. By the end of the Sprint, the Sprint Review should demonstrate how well the team achieved the goal.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Sprint Goal:
Understanding the Sprint Goal is vital to answer the questions correctly in an exam. Keep in mind that:
1. The goal is a single, clear directive - not a list of features or tasks.
2. The sprint goal is a commitment by the team, not a commitment to stakeholders.
3. It is okay if the goal is not met as long as learnings and adjustments are made.
4. The goal provides context to the team, helping to inform their decisions.
Remember, your understanding of the Sprint Goal should not be limited to a textbook definition, but how it is implemented within the Scrum Framework.

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PSM I - Sprint Goal Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Sprint Goal

Question 1

The Sprint Goal for a Scrum team is to redesign the landing page of their app. During the Sprint, they encounter a critical security issue related to user authentication. What should be the team's course of action?

The team should continue focusing on the design of the landing page and address the security issue in the next sprint. The team should distribute their time between the redesign task and fixing the security issue. The team should bring it to the attention of the Product Owner. It's critical to security so it needs to be evaluated immediately and may become the new Sprint Goal. The team should start working on the security issue and neglect the sprint goal.

Correct Answer: The team should bring it to the attention of the Product Owner. It's critical to security so it needs to be evaluated immediately and may become the new Sprint Goal.

The principle of Scrum is centered around flexibility, openness, and commitment. In the context of Scrum, the discovery of a critical issue during the Sprint necessitates immediate attention. The first recommended action, thus, would be to bring it to the Product Owner's attention. This is essential not just from a security standpoint but also to decide whether it warrants altering the Sprint Goal, given its criticality (urgency and importance). The other options - 'Continuing with the landing page design and postponing the security issue until the next Sprint', 'Dividing time between design and fixing the security issue', and 'Focussing solely on the security issue and neglecting the Sprint goal' - are not ideal because they either completely neglect an immediate issue, divide attention, or deviate from the goal without sufficient planning and discussion. Hence, the best course of action in such scenarios is to inform the Product Owner, understand the impact, and reassess the Sprint Goal if necessary.

Question 2

A team has consistently achieved their sprint goals but hasn't been delivering value to the organization. How can this be resolved?

Delay the release of features to gather more feedback. Increase the difficulty of sprint goals to challenge the team. Reduce communication between the team and stakeholders. Define sprint goals more closely aligned with the organization's objectives. Change the team structure and add more roles. Focus on increasing the quantity of work completed per sprint.

Correct Answer: Define sprint goals more closely aligned with the organization's objectives.

Defining sprint goals that are more closely aligned with the organization's objectives ensures that the team's efforts are focused on delivering value to the organization while still achieving their goals.

Question 3

The Sprint Goal of an educational application development team is to implement a new quiz feature. During the Sprint, the team realizes they underestimated the complexity of the feature and are likely to miss the goal. What should be their course of action?

Adopt a Kanban system within the Sprint to manage the remaining work more efficiently, hoping to speed up the development process. The Development Team should conduct a thorough review of their work against the Sprint Backlog to identify any tasks that can be deprioritized, allowing for a focus shift toward the most critical aspects of the new quiz feature. This approach, albeit structured, might give the illusion of prioritization within the Sprint, which doesn't align with Scrum principles that encourage collaboration with the Product Owner for scope adjustment. Discuss the situation with the Product Owner to potentially adjust the scope of the Sprint Goal, ensuring transparency and adherence to Scrum values. Increase the daily Scrum duration to two hours for the remainder of the Sprint to ensure more detailed discussions on progress and impediments.

Correct Answer: Discuss the situation with the Product Owner to potentially adjust the scope of the Sprint Goal, ensuring transparency and adherence to Scrum values.

In the Scrum framework, when a Development Team realizes they might not meet the Sprint Goal due to underestimated complexity, the recommended course of action is to work closely with the Product Owner. This collaboration may involve adjusting the scope or re-negotiating the Sprint Goal itself, rather than extending meetings, adopting new methodologies mid-Sprint, or making unilateral decisions on task prioritization. These actions ensure transparency, inspection, and adaptation are practiced, aligning with the Scrum values. The wrong answers introduce approaches that either deviate from Scrum practices or focus on tactics that are less about collaboration and more about operational adjustments, which can obscure the underlying issue of not meeting the Sprint Goal.

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