Agile ceremonies are game-changers in project management, irrespective of your chosen methodology. While the term may sound grandiose, don't let it deter you—these ceremonies provide powerful tools for monitoring your team's progress and maintaining project health.
The key ceremonies I've found valuable in my projects include:
While each practice is a scrum event (inherently part of the scrum framework), I'll refer to them as agile. That's because their principles can be adapted to another agile methodology (e.g., kanban) or even traditional waterfall projects.
It's essential to recognize that the agile manifesto was initially conceived by and for software developers, but its reach has expanded significantly over time. I'm not an agile purist, and I believe the agile framework now represents a flexible and collaborative working environment applicable across various contexts. So even if you're not a software development team, embracing agile principles can still contribute to a positive and productive project experience.
This post will share insights on these four agile ceremonies and explain how they can elevate your sprints and project management skills.
1. Standup meetings
When? Typically daily, often first thing in the morning, but be mindful of different time zones across your team. If someone can't join the daily standup, ask them to update asynchronously in your preferred communication channel (e.g., Slack).
How long? Approximately 15 minutes
The term standup meeting originated to emphasize the short, timeboxed nature of this meeting (15 minutes at maximum). It was thought that if everyone stood up, they'd be eager to sit back down and get to work.
With increasingly remote team environments, this ceremony is now referred to by various names, such as daily catch-up, daily scrum, or check-in. The goal is to get a quick snapshot of what the scrum team completed yesterday, what they're working on today, and if there are any blockers or impediments to their planned work.
As the project manager (or scrum master, delivery lead, etc.), you'll facilitate this ceremony, with team members delivering the work within the sprint and doing most of the talking. The product owner (often the client in agency settings) may be included but might choose to participate intermittently. Having tasks displayed during the meeting (e.g., on a Jira or Trello board or physical post-its) helps everyone come prepared to discuss their work.
This meeting focuses on three key questions:
- "What did I work on yesterday?"
- "What am I working on today?"
- "Is there anything blocking me?"
These questions can be adjusted, but the main goal is to keep the team connected, informed, and able to help each other. Standups facilitate progress tracking, allowing easier adjustments and course corrections throughout the sprint. They also often spark productive side conversations that can be addressed outside the meeting.
Even in more traditional waterfall projects, this meeting provides valuable insights into task statuses, encourages team collaboration, and fosters a united team approach rather than siloed work.
➡️ Learn how to make the most of your standup meetings.
2. Sprint planning
When? At the start of the sprint
How long? Approximately 1-2 hours
The sprint planning ceremony occurs at the beginning of a new sprint and involves the team collaborating to determine what they'll deliver during the sprint.
The team should establish a sprint goal, typically set by the product manager or product owner, and ensure it's achievable by gaining consensus from the entire team. Note that some teams may have overlapping roles, with one person taking on product manager and product owner responsibilities.
With the sprint goal in mind, the team then reviews and refines the sprint backlog items and selects the tasks that will contribute to achieving that goal. These tasks may require additional detail or a clear definition of done. Preparing for this session (sprint planning meeting) with the team (or a subset) is essential to clarify the sprint goal and ensure the backlog contains well-thought-out tasks for discussion and prioritization during planning.
By the end of sprint planning, each team member should clearly understand their responsibilities for the upcoming sprint, including their tasks and the allotted time for completion. This can be determined through various methods, such as time estimates, story points, t-shirt sizes, or even an informal sense check (which can be particularly helpful during the discovery phase when tasks may not be as clearly defined).
Remember that estimates are educated guesses, and you can monitor their accuracy during daily standups throughout the sprint.
3. Sprint demo
When? At the end of the sprint
How long? Approximately 1 hour
The sprint demo is an opportunity for the team to step back, review their achievements, and showcase their work to stakeholders who may not have been closely involved in the day-to-day activities. Set clear parameters for feedback to avoid unwanted surprises.
The demo can be a checkpoint for the sprint's overall progress, team satisfaction, and project health. This session isn't designed for gathering feedback; give attendees time to review and process what they've seen and ensure they understand the established feedback loop.
Before the demo, coordinate with your team to determine each person's role in the presentation. As the project manager, introduce the session and its goal before handing it off to the appropriate team member.
Proper preparation helps instill confidence in both the team and stakeholders.
4. Sprint retrospective
When? At the end of the sprint
How long? Approximately 1 hour
Retrospectives are my favorite ceremony! They bring the development team together to celebrate successes and discuss areas for improvement.
There are countless ways to conduct retrospectives, with Miro offering a wealth of templates. Themed retrospectives can be fun and engaging, encouraging quieter team members to participate more actively.
For newer teams, it's helpful to remind everyone of the agile prime directive at the start of the retrospective. This sets a tone of collective responsibility and understanding, regardless of the sprint's outcome.
I also like sharing the retrospective board a day or two early, allowing team members time to consider and add their contributions. Discuss the items as a group during the session and identify emerging themes.
Finally, develop action items for the next sprint and assign someone to each task. This facilitates accountability and follow-up.
➡️ Learn how to run more effective agile retrospectives.
Agile ceremonies improve collaboration
By consistently incorporating standups, sprint planning, sprint demos, and retrospectives into your workflow, you'll cultivate a collaborative, transparent, and adaptive environment that encourages productivity and continuous improvement among your agile team members.
Adopting these practices helps keep your projects on track and enhances team morale and satisfaction, ultimately resulting in better outcomes and more satisfied clients.
So don't hesitate to try these agile scrum ceremonies and witness firsthand the positive impact they can bring to your projects!
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