The Sprint Review for Scrum Masters
The Sprint Review meeting comes at the end of the sprint and the goal of this meeting is to have key people in the room to be able to assess the state of the product and align the backlog based on what the team shows. This is not just a presentation or demo, but rather a working session facilitated by the Scrum Master where key stakeholders can see the current state of the product and provide feedback on the deliverables. This meeting of stakeholders, end users, team members, product owner, and Scrum Master is an important closing step to a sprint cycle.
The Sprint Review
The purpose of the Sprint Review is to review the state of the deliverables from the current sprint. With the Scrum Master facilitating, this is a working session where feedback is welcome and encouraged to make sure the product is meeting the product vision. By having the stakeholders at the meeting, it allows for fast feedback and aids in creating a quick iteration cycle. This is also a great meeting for the stakeholders, end users, product owner, and team members to get to know each other and understand each other’s longer-term requirements.
Setting Expectations
The Product Owner or Scrum Master will set expectations for what will and will not be seen at the meeting. What was the focus of this sprint? Do some features still need a further effort? What will stakeholders see demonstrated at this meeting? What hasn’t completed this sprint and what were the roadblocks? This helps to frame everyone’s perspective concerning how complete a feature will be and will hopefully change attendees’ view on what level of feedback to give.
Demonstration
After setting expectations, it’s time for the demo to kick off. This is not a formal presentation but rather an informal meeting where anyone in the room can ask questions or provide feedback. It’s helpful to have the Scrum Master own the coordination of the demonstration while the Product Owner provides context for sprint decisions and features as they present each completed item. Some teams like having the people who worked on that feature present it to the group, other teams will opt to have the Scrum Master facilitate the entire meeting, with the team there to provide additional details. They will show off each item that was completed that sprint and let the room respond to it.
Our Favourite Agile Books
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Guiding the Conversation
While this meeting might seem straightforward, it’s very difficult to make sure the room has the right tone and productive feedback is given to the team. This is where the Scrum Master steps in and helps to manage the conversation. The Scrum Master will ask to follow up questions when stakeholders give opinions to make sure the entire room is on the same page. They will also help steer the conversation should it start to go down a tangent that is not necessary for the entire room to be there to discuss. The Scrum Master is there to make sure everyone feels like their feedback is welcome but also making sure it’s given the appropriate context so team member’s don’t feel overwhelmed.
Wrapping Up The Sprint Meeting
To wrap up the Sprint Review, the Scrum Master or Product Owner will then speak about what will happen in the next sprint. Including, what will be shown in the next sprint review. This is also a great time to clarify any questions about the next sprint with end users. By getting this feedback every sprint it gives end users and stakeholders an opportunity to express any changes they might have for the backlog prioritization.