Sprint Review Vs Sprint Retrospective

Numerous scheduled meetings are a part of agile sprint cycles; these include daily meetings and the planning stages. Sprint reviews and retrospectives, held near the end of the process, allow the team to evaluate their work. You can optimize your finished product and enhance workflows in the future by being aware of the differences between these two procedures.

Retrospectives enable scrum teams to become even more efficient, intelligent, and joyful, while the sprint review assists you in consistently meeting client expectations. That's only the tip of the iceberg. Whereas the sprint retrospective focuses on the team, the sprint review concerns the product.

Sprint Retrospective

A sprint retrospective is a Scrum ritual that examines a team's work process throughout the project to make improvements for subsequent procedures. After the sprint and sprint review, retrospectives take place. The purpose of this meeting is for the Scrum team members to review and discuss their performance from the last sprint. They aim to apply their discoveries to enhance their workflow in the subsequent or impending sprint. Team members can get this data by questioning one another on the specifics and caliber of their work.

Sprint Review

During a sprint review, the last phase of the product development life cycle, a team evaluates their deliverables to maximize customer satisfaction. It is one of the five essential Scrum ceremonies, where the product owner, business stakeholders, and the Scrum development team review the outcomes of the most recent sprint. The Scrum team typically provides product development information, and the in-attendance stakeholders offer any pertinent comments, recommendations, and opinions.

Sprint Review Vs Sprint Retrospective- Unraveling The Tapestry Of Team Reflection

The main distinctions between a sprint review and a sprint retrospective are as follows:

1. Objective 

As improving the product is the primary goal of a sprint review, customer happiness is a greater emphasis of this kind of discussion. While the Scrum development team refines its process, the sprint retrospective aims to enhance team performance and may unintentionally benefit the client. Although these meetings have different goals from other ones over the product development life cycle, they share the trait of looking back at previous actions to optimise future operations. As an illustration, daily standups assess the current while the planning stage looks to the future.

2. Format

Remember that several models and templates exist for sprint reviews and retrospectives when planning one of these meetings. You can select a structure that works for your group and keeps everyone interested. It's also crucial to remember that every team can establish a culture that sets standards for moderation guidelines. A review or retrospective fosters an environment of lightheartedness and concentration on the main goal, providing a safe area for Sprint review and retrospective participants to express their ideas freely.

3. Initial Stages

At the sprint review, the Scrum development team presents the work completed in the most recent sprint during the demonstration phase. The unit can deliver a complete product or a step forward prepared for mass production. The product owner may present the development team with the sprint results if the stakeholders are not as technical.

The decision on the meeting's goals signals the beginning of a sprint retrospective. Numerous objectives are available for consideration, such as enhancing daily Scrum meetings, bolstering stakeholder communications, or modifying process guidelines. By drawing on the experiences and viewpoints of every team member in the early phases of a retrospective, you can also gather crucial information. Using this method, you can be confident that the data you collect is thorough and pertinent to the team's skills and the project's general goals for product development.

4. Feedback 

Upon presenting the outcomes of their sprint, the product owner or developers answer questions and solicit comments from the stakeholders regarding the finished project. The Scrum team's primary goal in guiding the stakeholders through the discussion is to provide a clearer understanding of what was and wasn't throughout the sprint. It might explain why it didn't complete the sprint objective correctly. In exchange, the development team is informed about the current state of the market by the product owners and business stakeholders. The group receives suggestions for future development goals from their client feedback, which they also give.

In terms of input at retrospectives, gathering a sizable quantity of data makes it simpler to derive essential insights regarding the project's progress. To understand why certain situations and events occurred the way they did, you can utilize the information to spot useful trends and take a more comprehensive view of the process. After the retrospective, you can rephrase and elucidate all the significant topics raised throughout the discussion. You might do additional things, such as express gratitude to everyone participating in the debate and develop ideas for improving future retrospectives.

5. Duration Of Time

Sprint reviews usually span one to four hours, while the exact duration may vary based on the team's needs. On the other hand, a sprint retrospective is far more flexible; depending on the sprint project's length, it can last thirty minutes to an entire workday. When the sprint retrospective is held right after the sprint review, it is usually best to do it while the material is still applicable.

6. Participants

Remember that while most attendees are the same for both ceremonies, there is a slight distinction when planning these gatherings. The Scrum master, product owner, and the scrum team participate in the sprint review and retrospective. A distinct feedback perspective is absent from the retrospective attached by the business stakeholders, including in the sprint review ceremony.

7. Results To Be Delivered

The sprint review aims to provide the product development team with an updated product backlog of critical user stories to work on. Product owners typically update the product backlog with various details, user descriptions, and new or updated user stories following the conclusion of a sprint review. They could also take these items out of the product backlog entirely. The team can prioritize their process for the next development cycle by looking at the updated product backlog.

The team receives a plan and action list from the retrospective outlining precise actions to boost performance in the upcoming sprint. Decide on the next course of action to address the problems and obstacles the team is encountering after concluding the data gathered. You must create and carry out a clear plan to assist the team in reaching its objectives and coming to important decisions.

Sprint Review Vs Sprint Retrospective: Comparision

The Advantages Of Sprint Review

Respondents are missing out on several crucial advantages because they need to understand the importance of this meeting. Sometimes, this happens because stakeholders frequently skip sprint reviews or marketers are generally uncomfortable revealing work in progress. They must, after all, comprehend their position. We concentrate on three primary advantages of Sprint Reviews for marketers to emphasize the importance of this meeting.

1. Enhanced Reactivity To The Demands Of Stakeholders
2. A Higher Calibre Of Deliverables In Marketing
3. Increased Group Spirit

The Advantages Of Sprint Retrospective 

By recognizing their advantages, you may comprehend why sprint retrospective sessions should be crucial to your processes. Set objectives and take action toward achieving them if you know what you hope to achieve or facilitate from the meeting. Effective sprint retrospective meetings have the following advantages:

1. Transparency Can Result From Efficient Sprint Retrospective Meetings.
2. Members Of The Team And Leaders Participate In The Meetings
3. Enables Group Members To Identify Problems Early In The Project
4. Can Assist Team Members In Identifying Areas That Need To Be Improved

Also, check:Product Owner Role in Sprint Retrospective

How Can The Sprint Review And Retrospective Procedure Be Improved Over Time?

• Set Definite Objectives And Standards

Sharing a clear Sprint review and retrospective goals with the attendees before each sprint is essential. Examining the product increment, getting feedback, and coordinating the following steps are the objectives of the sprint review. Evaluating the team's performance, pinpointing its advantages and disadvantages, and developing a growth plan are the objectives of the retrospective. All the team members should set ground rules for being truthful, kind, and helpful. These should also be for the participants.

• Prepare And Lead Efficiently

It takes some planning and assistance to ensure the sprint review and retrospective go off without a hitch. A demonstration of the product increment, a synopsis of the sprint goal and backlog, and a few questions or themes for feedback are all appropriate for the sprint review. Along with making sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak and listen, you should also serve as the discussion's facilitator by welcoming questions, remarks, and recommendations from the stakeholders. You should establish a framework or technique for the retrospective, such as the mad-sad-glad, the sailboat, or the starfish, that works for the team. In addition, you should lead the discussion by posing open-ended queries, promoting involvement, and restating the main ideas.

• Try Out Various Forms And Resources

Playing around with different formats and technologies is one approach to keep the sprint review and retrospective exciting and lively. Prototypes, films, or storyboards are a few ways you might showcase the new product. Affinity mapping, dot voting, and online surveys are other approaches for gathering and ranking user feedback. Utilizing games, analogies, or data are a few techniques to extract and analyze the team's insights for the retrospective. Various tools, such as chat apps, sticky notes, and online boards, can also be used to facilitate cooperation.

• Monitor And Take Appropriate Action Based On The Results

The sprint review and retrospective best Practices are integral to a continuous improvement cycle rather than being one-time occurrences. As a result, you ought to investigate and take appropriate action based on each event's results. You should record, communicate, and include the team and stakeholders in the decisions and feedback made at the sprint review. Then, you should update the product backlog appropriately. Additionally, you want to monitor and gauge how the modifications affect the quality and value of the goods. Assign owners and deadlines to each task, and ensure the team knows the action items and improvement plans before the retrospective. You must monitor and assess the advancement and outcomes of the undertakings.

• Get Input So You Can Get Better

To become a better Scrum Master or team member who participates in the sprint review and retrospective, you should ask for feedback. You may get input from the attendees regarding their thoughts on the events, what they enjoyed and didn't like, and what they would change. You can also evaluate your abilities and habits using self-assessment frameworks or tools like the Retrospective Prime Directive or the Scrum Master Checklist. You should also use additional learning resources like books, blogs, podcasts, or courses to increase your understanding of successful sprint review and retrospective procedures.

The Bottom Line 

The sprint review and retrospectives are two essential components of an agile development process. These activities help the team function better and produce better work overall. Since both sprint reviews and retrospectives are equally vital, it is challenging to determine which is more crucial. 

Nonetheless, there are several differences between the two processes, including their lengths and the parties involved.  Consider holding regular events like sprint reviews and retrospectives to implement agile development methods because they add value at every stage of the development process.  Given these distinctions, it will be challenging to decide between them because they are equally significant.

FAQs

1. What Is The Sprint Retrospective's Outcome?

You can find out who on your team is the most creative and who needs more encouragement to contribute by holding a sprint postmortem. You'll also be aware of the team's overall productivity. It will assist you in determining which team members require reassignment before the upcoming sprint.

2. What Are The Results Of The Sprint Review?

An updated Product Backlog defining the likely Product Backlog items for the upcoming Sprint is the outcome of the Sprint Review. The Product Backlog may also be generally modified to take advantage of fresh opportunities.

3. Can We Skip The Sprint Retrospective?

Teams who skip sprint retrospectives tend to continue through successive sprints without addressing essential areas of concern, which hurts productivity. Thus, the group will continue to make the same errors and raise risks that could impact the project.

4. Who Should Attend The Sprint Retrospective?

The product manager, the entire Scrum team, the Scrum Master, and the meeting facilitator will be present. The people who design, produce, and test the product are all part of the Scrum team.

5. How Soon May A Sprint Be Called Off?

It is possible to end a sprint before the allotted time has passed. The Development Team, the Scrum Master, or the stakeholders may exert pressure on the Product Owner, but only that person can call off the Sprint. Should the Sprint Goal become outdated, the sprint ends.