Sprint workflow and process

The sprint workflow is intended to help team members evaluate their work and communicate with each other throughout the entire process. The workflow is followed for each sprint. The process includes:

• Backlog – A list of set tasks that must be completed before the product is released. The backlog is built by the product owner. The product owner gives a backlog of prioritized items to the scrum master and scrum team.

• Sprint planning – The team discusses top priority user stories and decides what can be delivered in the sprint.

• Sprint backlog – Agreed upon by the entire team, this list finalizes and defines what the development team will complete during the sprint.

• Outcome – The outcome of a sprint is a hypothetically usable product. The product owner can decide if the product is ready or if additional features are needed.

• Sprint – The time frame in which the work must be completed – often 30 days.

• Daily scrum – Lead by the scrum master, the team comes together for short daily meetings, in which they discuss what they have completed, what they are working on and any issues that are blocking the work.

• Sprint end
  • Sprint review – The team shows their work to the product owner.
  • Sprint retrospective – The team discusses what they can do to improve processes. An important goal is continuous improvement.

Sprints are more collaborative and adaptive than waterfall phases because sprints break software features and requirements into iterations to be tackled during short time periods. With frequent testing, immediate feedback, daily meetings and ongoing input and consideration of end-user stories and needs, sprints result in products with extremely relevant features.