Planning Sprints Effectively

I've lost count of how many ineffective sprint reviews I've attended over the years. Often, the meetings focused on justifying the progress and collecting new stakeholder requests. If your reviews are like this, you should rethink your approach. To help you with this, I've updated my sprint review article. It now shares the following tips: 1️⃣ Use the Meeting for Product Discovery, Not Only Product Delivery 2️⃣ Involve the Right People 3️⃣ Split the Meeting When Needed 4️⃣ Encourage Feedback but Don’t Say Yes to Every Idea 5️⃣ Don’t Rush Important Decisions 6️⃣ Visualise the Development Progress 7️⃣ Consider Collecting User and Stakeholder Feedback Separately   Hope you'll find my tips helpful. Let me know your thoughts, questions, and experiences in the comments. https://lnkd.in/eyx7aNsR #productmanagement #productdiscovery #productdelivery #sprintreview #stakeholdermanagement #agile

Do you have a process in place to measure how well your new functionality is being embraced? The saying, "you get what you measure", holds especially true when it comes to change adoption in agile environments. One effective method is the Rose, Bud, Thorn technique, a tool borrowed from design thinking that's perfect for gathering feedback. At the end of a sprint, when new functionality is accepted and put into operation, launching a feedback survey is key. The Rose, Bud, Thorn method offers a simple yet powerful way to codify feedback: 🌹 Rose: Something positive that has gone well. 🌱 Bud: An aspect with potential that hasn't fully blossomed yet. 🌵 Thorn: A pain point or challenge that needs addressing. As an example, you would implement this by asking your stakeholders to capture their experiences on sticky notes and categorize them under Rose, Bud, or Thorn on a whiteboard. This feedback should be discussed during cross-functional team meetings with leadership and can serve as valuable input for sprint reviews or structured release feedback. Additionally, statement starters like "How might we...?" or "In what ways might we...?" can further channel feedback, offering a fresh perspective and helping to identify opportunities for improvement. Remember, involvement breeds commitment. Regular input and feedback collection should be embedded in your agile approach, influencing sprint cycle planning, future feature prioritization, and overall adoption. #ChangeManagement #ChangeLeadership #ChangeAdoption #Agile #ProjectManagement

Scrum Masters — if your metrics don't reflect customer reality, you're not measuring progress. You're optimizing the illusion of it. Scrum teams don't get paid to move tickets. They get paid to move the needle. Yet most Scrum Masters still obsess over: 📊 Stories Planned vs. Stories Delivered 📈 Velocity trends 🏁 Burndown charts All of which tell us how busy we are. But not whether we made anything better. 🛑 Velocity target: 100 — met. 🛑 Dashboard: glowing green. 🛑 Team: feeling accomplished. 🛑 Users: Still stuck. So, your team didn't fail the sprint. But the sprint failed the customer. Here's how I think about it instead: ✅ Output = Features shipped, code deployed, hours logged ✅ Outcome = A real user can now do something they couldn't before ✅ Impact = The organization gains when that outcome drives satisfaction, loyalty, or revenue Here's the difference: 🚫 "We completed 48 story points this sprint." (Output) ✅ "80% of users now complete onboarding in under 2 minutes." (Outcome) 📈 "Conversion rates for new users increased by 12%." (Impact) 🚫 "We released 6 new dashboard widgets." (Output) ✅ "Customers are now identifying spending anomalies 40% faster." (Outcome) 📈 "This reduced churn in premium accounts by 18%." (Impact) Scrum without outcome thinking is just sophisticated busyness. 👉 Shift your sprint goals from "story done" to "delivered value." 👉 Measure what users gain, not what you give. 👉 Track progress based on real change not performance theater. Busy teams burn out.
Value-focused teams win. #ReTHINKscrum #ScrumMastery Agilemania Agilemania Malaysia

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻? We do sprints to ship features, bur they don’t always work out. Why? Because features alone don’t move the needle - outcomes do. A practice that I usually follow is to ask myself: “What problem are we solving, and how will we measure success?” And that’s how we pivot from feature factories to outcome-driven roadmaps with actionable steps to make it stick. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 > 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 ◾ Outcome-based roadmaps focus on measurable results (e.g., “Increase free-to-paid conversion by 15%” vs. “Build a pricing calculator”). This shift: - Aligns teams around business goals, not just deliverables. - Empowers creativity (solve the problem, don’t just check a box). - Reduces waste by killing initiatives that don’t drive impact. But how do you actually make this work? Here’s my practical playbook 👇 1️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗪𝗵𝘆” - Define outcomes tied to business goals: Partner with leadership to align on 1-2 KPIs per quarter (e.g., “Reduce churn by 10%”). - Ask this question: “If we deliver X feature, what outcome does it enable?” If there’s no clear answer, rethink it. 2️⃣ 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 Outcomes are broad- break them into testable hypotheses. For example: To “Increase user engagement by 20%,” run: - A/B test push notification timing. - Pilot a gamified onboarding flow. - Measure DAU/WAU ratios weekly. 3️⃣ 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 - OKRs: Link Objectives (outcomes) to Key Results (metrics). - Impact Mapping: Visualize how features connect to goals. - RICE Scoring: Prioritize initiatives by Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort. 4️⃣ 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘆-𝗜𝗻 - Frame outcomes as ROI: Show how “Reduce support tickets by 25%” cuts costs. - Prototype outcomes first: Share a mock roadmap with leadership, highlighting gaps in current feature-centric plans. 5️⃣ 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻, 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 - Track leading indicators (e.g., user behavior changes) alongside lagging metrics (e.g., revenue). - Celebrate “failures”: Killing a feature that didn’t drive outcomes is a win. 🔴 3 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 - Vague outcomes: “Improve UX” → ❌ | “Reduce checkout abandonment by 20%” → ✅ - Overloading the roadmap: Focus on 1-2 outcomes per quarter. - Ignoring feedback loops: Revisit outcomes bi-weekly and adapt as data comes in. 👉 Audit your roadmap. For every feature, ask: “What outcome does this serve?” If it’s unclear, reframe it, or cut it. I believe outcome-based roadmaps is a survival tactic. It enables us to build products that matter. P.S. How are you bridging the gap between features and impact? Would love to know your perspective.

Scrum Masters: What Happens in a Sprint Planning? Sprint Planning is where clarity meets execution. It’s the crucial first step of the Sprint, ensuring the team is aligned, motivated, and ready to deliver value. But what really happens in this session? Let’s break it down! Purpose of Sprint Planning The goal is simple: Define what can be delivered in the upcoming Sprint,and how the work will be achieved. This means setting a clear Sprint Goal, selecting the right user stories, and making realistic commitments based on capacity. 👥 Who Attends? Scrum Master (SM)   ↳ Facilitates the session, ensures Agile principles are followed. Product Owner (PO)   ↳ Defines priorities and clarifies requirements. Development Team (DT)   ↳ Estimates work and commits to delivering value. Optional:   ↳ Stakeholders & Field Experts for additional insights. 📝 Key Steps in Sprint Planning 1️. Introduction & Alignment   ↳ Welcome the team & review the meeting’s purpose.   ↳ Discuss any team absences or dependencies. 2️. Situation Overview & Sprint Goal   ↳ PO shares the product vision, roadmap, and priorities.   ↳ Define the Sprint Goal: What value will be delivered? 3️. Sprint Capacity & Story Selection   ↳ The team assesses capacity (availability, velocity).   ↳ Review and select user stories that align with the goal.   ↳ Consider special circumstances: Holidays, leave, external dependencies. 4️. Estimating Work & Breaking Down Tasks   ↳ Assign story points based on effort & complexity.   ↳ If needed, break stories into smaller, manageable tasks. 5. Finalizing the Sprint Scope   ↳ Can the team realistically complete the selected work?   ↳ If capacity is exceeded, the PO and team adjust priorities. 6️. Commitment & Next Steps   ↳ Team confirms their commitment.   ↳ Sprint backlog is finalized.   ↳ The team is ready to start! Why It Matters   ↳ A well-structured Sprint Planning prevents chaos,   ↳ ensures alignment,   ↳ and empowers teams to deliver predictable results.   ↳ No surprises.   ↳ No last-minute scope creep.   ↳ Just focused execution. Scrum Masters, how do you ensure Sprint Planning runs smoothly?

When I started learning Product Management, different frameworks seemed to be isolated islands. So today: How to combine OKRs with Scrum? Before we dive in, let's note the similarities: - "Radical Focus," which aligns with one of Scrum Values - Emphasis on transparency, which is one of Scrum's empirical pillars - Working in iterations, with periodic inspection and adaptation - Having cross-functional teams able to “own” their objectives Combining the two is straightforward: ✅ 1. Make OKR your Product Goal This is the only valid setup. “The Product Goal describes a future state of the product which can serve as a target for the Scrum Team to plan against.” - Scrum Guide 2022. What I love about this setup is that defining Key Results (metrics) for the Objective will help you start making data-informed decisions. ✅ 2. Commit to the Sprint Goal OKRs encourage you to commit to the top 3-4 Product Backlog items (originally: projects). A commitment in Scrum should be a Sprint Goal, which enables focus and encourages working together rather than on separate initiatives. Of course, to achieve your Sprint Goal, you need to implement some PBIs. But make a space for adaptation. ✅ 3. Adjust the length of the Sprint While 1-week cycles suggested by OKRs are often considered good practice (source: Jeff Sutherland), the Sprint length can be anything from a few days to 1 calendar month. For more information, see "How to Choose the Right Sprint Length in Scrum" by Stephanie Ockerman: https://lnkd.in/dJefgGT9 ✅ 4. Keep the original Scrum events As Christina Wodtke explains in Radical Focus (this book is a must-read: https://lnkd.in/eMe-SFfN): “The rituals that make OKRs work can be adapted to the company culture. As long you have a commitment ritual and a celebration ritual, you can do it in a way that fits the company’s organizational culture.” - Radical Focus So, I recommend you keep the original set of Scrum events: - Sprint Planning (instead of Monday Commitment) - Daily Scrum - Sprint Review (instead of Friday Celebration) - Sprint Retrospective Hope that helps!

Rethinking Story Pointing in Agile SCRUM I've worked with many software development teams using Agile SCRUM, and I’ve often seen the time and energy spent on story pointing spiral out of control. Estimating whether a story is a 1, 3, 5, 8, or 13-point effort can lead to endless debates, I think it's a waste of time. Instead, I've found that simplifying the process makes a huge difference. Here’s what I know works better: Set each story to 1 story point. The goal is to ensure that each story can be completed within a single day. If it’s going to take longer than that, break it down into smaller, 1-point stories. This way, we eliminate the wasted time spent on figuring out point values and avoid subjective estimations. It also makes calculating team velocity straightforward since each story is consistently valued. This method has great benefits: - Focused Delivery: Breaking stories down encourages the team to think in bite-sized, deliverable pieces. Which results in faster code reviews, faster testing, and increases productivity. - Streamlined Planning: Less time debating sizes, more time building, and shorter meetings. - Consistent Velocity Tracking: Easier to measure progress and providing more concrete estimates to stakeholders. For over 10 years, I’ve successfully used this method with teams I’ve led across multiple companies, proving its effectiveness for small, medium, and large-scale projects. What are your thoughts? Have you tried similar approaches?

A common anti-pattern in emerging Scrum Masters: ❌ Assuming retrospectives are ONLY where continuous improvement happens. Wrong. 🔍 While retros are important, they are just one piece of the puzzle. 🌟 Don’t miss out on these golden opportunities to drive continuous improvement: 1️⃣ Use your daily syncs to identify blockers and brainstorm solutions on the spot. 2️⃣ Promote improvement stories in your sprint planning. 3️⃣ While you focus on refining the backlog, don’t forget to refine the process. 4️⃣ Use sprint review to collect feedback to drive improvements. 5️⃣ Engage with other teams and bring in best practices. 6️⃣ Invest in the team's growth & development plans over short milestones. 🚀 Continuous Improvement is a mindset, not a meeting!!

Without writing a single line of code, I built an AI automation system for Agile/Sprint Management in Asana's AI Studio that now handles: 1. Quality checks on incoming requests 2. Duplicate detection 3. Auto-categorize of 5+ complex custom fields 4. User Story generation 5. UAT Test Plan Creation 5. Sprint/Retro reporting It took hours, not days or weeks, to build and get into testing. I've broken down exactly how I created this system, and how you can adapt this approach to YOUR team's repeatable processes. I've shared prompts, automation configurations, and frameworks - I've co-developed building hundreds of these AI processes - across countless use cases. Read the full breakdown and start identifying your automation opportunities - link in comments.