2. Agile - Ceremonies
cer·e·mo·ny
serəˌmōnē
noun
1. a formal religious or public occasion, typically one
celebrating a particular event or anniversary.
"the winners were presented with their prizes at a special
ceremony"
2. the ritual observances and procedures performed at
grand and formal occasions.
Charter : Confidential 2
3. Agile - Ceremonies
Backlog Refining (a.k.a. Grooming)
• Weekly for a couple hours
• Improve the description of the work
• Estimate the size of the work
• Gives the team a chance to ask questions and propose ideas
• Give time for the Product Owner to find answers
Why Refine?
• Creates a common understanding of the work
• The better the backlog, the more accurate the road map
Charter : Confidential 3
4. Agile - Ceremonies
Sprint Planning
• Start with an empty Iteration
• Move the top backlog item into the sprint
• Add Tasks with estimated hours (first time hours are used)
• If not full, goto step 2
Why Plan?
• The team is pulling work; work isn’t being pushed into the team. Creates a
sense of commitment
• Product Owner knows what will be delivered during this Iteration
Charter : Confidential 4
5. Agile - Ceremonies
Stand Up
Each team member take a turn discussing:
• what they did yesterday
• what they will do today
• roadblocks
After party - discussions can happen but attendance isn’t required
Why Stand Up?
• Keeps the team in sync (e.g. QA learns when they will be able to test a
feature)
• NOT a status report for the Scrum Master or Product Owner
• Keeps the Product Owner and any other interested people informed
Charter : Confidential 5
6. Agile - Ceremonies
Demo
• Informal show and tell by the team of what was accomplished
• Anyone can ask questions
Why Demo?
• Not an acceptance by the Product Owner
• Good time for Product Owner and others to talk, discuss future direction,
bounce ideas around and generally get excited about the changes
• The team gets an understanding of their efforts value, good time to be proud
of work done
Charter : Confidential 6
7. Agile - Ceremonies
Retrospective (a.k.a Retro)
• There is no set format for how this meeting should be ‘run’
• Scrum Masters shake it up so it doesn’t get boring
• Only team members are allowed
• The goal is to come up with a list of…
• Things we did well
• Things we didn’t do so well
• Things we are going to change in the next Iteration
Why Retrospective?
• Continuous improvement – this is how the team gets better
• Give the team some time to decompress from the last Iteration
• Blowing off steam is expected but shouldn’t get out of hand
Charter : Confidential 7
