Start with the End in Mind

Stephen Covey wrote a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, selling more than 30 million copies. Habit #2: Begin with the End in Mind means to start each day, task, or project with a clear vision of the desired direction and destination.

Starting with the end in mind applies to how we approach Sprint Planning. How many times have your planning session gone like this: select stories, fill up the Sprint Backlog, done, check it off, session complete.

Applying Habit #2 to Sprint Planning means starting the planning session with crafting a Sprint Goal. The Scrum Guide declares the Sprint Goal as “an objective that will be met within the Sprint through the implementation of the Product Backlog”. Planning should be centered around the Sprint Goal, which means starting with the end in mind. The end goal for a Sprint is a deliverable increment. Starting with the Sprint Goal will create a backlog containing all of the necessary work to reach the goal, it also provide guidance to the development team on why it is building the increment. 

Simple agenda for Sprint Planning session:

1. Update the team on any changes in the project, market conditions, feedback from the stakeholders and customers.
2. Craft the Sprint Goal. The entire Scrum team is involved in coming up with the Sprint Goal following the direction of the Product Owner.
3. Discuss capacity, who is going to be out, holidays, company meetings, anything that would reduce the available time for development.
4. Build the Sprint Backlog by selecting stories from the Product Backlog 
5. Discuss a plan on how to accomplish the work 
6. End with a confidence vote 

I know at the end of a long planning session, everyone is going to vote 4 on a fist of 5 just so the session can end, but it is important for everyone to voice their commitment to obtaining the Sprint Goal. Begin with the end in mind, start and center Sprint Planning session on the Sprint Goal and watch your efficiency grow in reaching your goals.