5 Workshops To Improve Using Product- And Sprint Goals

The 5 workshops in one overview

You can try these workshops in a random order, although we did give the flow of these do-it-yourself workshops some thought.

Workshop: Scrum Mythbusters: Is The Sprint Goal Optional In Scrum? 

We designed this tried-and-tested workshop to help Scrum Teams think about the value of (Sprint) goals. Although many Scrum Teams consider them optional, Sprint Goals are really at the heart of how you can successfully navigate complex work. With this string, you create transparency around what happens without Sprint Goals or with Sprint Goals that are unclear. And more importantly, what you can do as a team to improve – together!

Workshop: Help Your Team Get Started With A Product Goals And Sprint Goals 

We designed this do-it-yourself workshop to help your Scrum Team get started with a Product- and Sprint Goal. It doesn’t matter if you’re a new team or have already completed multiple Sprints. It’s never too late to get started with how Scrum is intended. But the importance of a Product- and Sprint Goal is something you probably already experienced yourself…

The string of Liberating Structures contains UX Fishbowl to learn from the stakeholders, Conversation Cafe to share ideas & thoughts about the product, Nine Whys to create the Product Goal, and 25/10 Crowd Sourcing to select the Sprint Goals.

Workshop: Formulate A Clear Sprint Goal During Sprint Planning 

We designed this do-it-yourself workshop to help your team define a clear Sprint Goal during Sprint Planning. The string of Liberating Structures contains Celebrity Interview to clarify the Product Goal, 1-2-4-ALL to select a Sprint Goal, Min Specs to create the Sprint Backlog, and What, So What, Now What to define the Sprint plan.

Workshop: Improve How Your Scrum Team Uses Sprint Goals 

To make the importance of the Sprint Goal clear, it’s easy to dictate the Scrum Guide. The term “goal” is one of the most emphasized concepts. Yet we believe it’s more powerful to let your team discover this by themselves. That’s the intention of this do-it-yourself workshop, which contains the Liberating Structures TRIZ, Discovery & Action Dialogue, and 15% Solutions.

Workshop: Create Better Sprint Goals With Powerful Questions 

This workshop is extra special because it’s only available in our book the “Zombie Scrum Survival Guide“. A Sprint Goal helps Scrum Teams self-organize their collaboration. The Sprint Goal also clarifies the purpose and value of the work on this Sprint. It gives flexibility to the Scrum Team to change their Sprint Backlog as needed in response to sudden changes. But creating clear goals is something many teams struggle with, especially in Zombie Scrum environments. This experiment offers ten powerful questions to help your Scrum Team create clear Sprint Goals. The questions are part of the “50 Powerful Questions” card deck. 

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Why the Sprint Goal is not an Essential (Mandatory) Artifact

Although, the Sprint Goal is not defined as an artefact within the Scrum Guide it is an integral part of the Scrum framework. It provides an overarching objective for the Scrum Team which helps them to focus “WHY” is the team invested in the Sprint.

Why do we choose to conduct this Sprint? What is the value we seek to create? Why did we select these items from the Product Backlog and not others? How will we know whether the Sprint was successful in the Sprint Review? Those are the questions we seek to answer with the Sprint Goal and if we have no clarity on those aspects of Product Development then we are missing a key element of Empiricism, and missing a key Inspect & Adapt opportunity in Scrum.

Read the complete article here: https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/why-sprint-goal-not-essential-mandatory-artifact