How working from home increased the need for Sprint Goal?
Since the first quarter of this year, working from home became our new reality. Some find working from the comfort of their homes or from a lovely beach, very productive, while others feel they are working more without being necessarily more efficient. Some feel that having the chance to work from anywhere and anytime gives them the freedom to better manage their time, when for some, it is a struggle to battle between work and free/family time. No matter in which group you or your teams are, there is one undeniable thing, remote work is here to stay. For that matter, it is of crucial importance to create the right tools and environment for our team to work and collaborate better and be efficient.
One of the greatest assets that will help you in this direction is the Sprint Goal. For those who are using Scrum, Sprint Goal is a fundamental element. It is certainly not a coincidence that Sprint Goal is the 4th most frequently mentioned word in the Scrum guide (by scrum.org).
One of the Sprint Goal’s biggest and most important benefits is that it urges the Scrum Team to get united. With our teams no longer working in open space rooms, which were designed to increase the collaboration between the team members, Sprint Goal comes in to play to become our “virtual open space room” in this new remote work reality. It is this element that even when we are not working together in the same workspace, we have a shared vision that unites us and makes us collaborate and communicate further. Essentially, restore our feeling that we belong in a team, when we are working miles away from our teammates. As a team, we use the Scrum ceremonies to discuss as a unity the progress of the Sprint Goal on a daily basis (Daily Scrum), review and retrospect over our Sprint Goal (Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective), and plan new goals for the following weeks (Sprint Planning).
Apart from team unity, Sprint Goal plays a significant role in the psychological empowerment of the whole team but also for each team member. Having struggles to find our work/life balance, when sometime it’s hard to close our laptops, when we could spend 10 more minutes checking in our code or start preliminary analysis on the next Product Backlog Item in the Sprint Backlog, having daily goals (via Daily Scrums) will greatly help with the sense of completion and help the team focus better. In a hectic IT world, especially in the COVID — 19, where the milestone for delivering the features is yesterday, Sprint Goal is what keeps the team motivated and focused. People tend to be more enthusiastic when they work for something concrete when they can cross items off their to-do lists and put their sticky notes in the Done column. The sense of accomplishment and completion is crucial for the motivation, team dynamics, and psychology of the team.
Another angle that we should evaluate the Sprint Goal is the communication, transparency, and trust between the Scrum Team and the Product Owner and subsequently, the Stakeholders. From the PO perspective, the fact that teams no longer work in the same space may create some concerns about the efficiency of the teams and the deliverables. This is again when Sprint Goal comes in handy since it sets clear expectations on what is going to be delivered to the PO and stakeholders by the end of Sprint. Apart from setting the Sprint Goal, following up on the progress and communicating any issues or blockers that we identify during the Sprint with the PO, and evaluate how this impacts the Sprint Goal is equally important.
Which brings us to the last piece of the puzzle, which is Sprint Goal as risk management and schedule indicator tool. If we consider the Sprint Goal, as a project with timeline of completion each Sprint, any changes, deviation, blocker on the Sprint Goal show us immediately risk on the project’s timeline. It is imperative that these changes are clearly communicated and are understood by the Scrum Team and the PO. Establishing this clear and open communication and transparency through the Sprint Goal will secure the trust and confidence between all parties.
As a highlight, working from home changed our balances both at work and in our personal lives. Having a common goal and vision with our teammates will boost the feeling that we are not working alone, that we are a part of a team that works together (even if miles apart) to achieve this vision. If Sprint Goal was very important before remote work, now it is a must for happy Scrum Teams, POs, and Team Members.
