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Agile Ceremonies

Webopedia Staff
Last Updated September 30, 2021 9:05 am

Agile ceremonies are periodic meetings held to ensure that projects are on time and meeting quality goals. The ceremonies are part of a project management framework for software development within the agile philosophy, emphasizing iterative product delivery, team collaboration, and continuous learning. Leading a team for a project to guarantee product quality, on-time delivery, and customer satisfaction requires not only management skills but also an effective methodology. The agile management structure is founded on such a premise.

In the agile approach, the processes are lean, as the method of delivering the product is a sequence of iterations leading toward an end goal. Key to agile is the scrum methodology, where each sprint or iteration occurs in a time window of two to four weeks. In this time frame, agile ceremonies or meetings occur to ensure the team is on the same page on the tasks and objectives.

The agile ceremonies foster communication and collaboration, empowering teams to adapt to changes, share information, and deliver the highest possible value to each product increment.

The four scrum ceremonies

There are four scrum ceremonies:

Sprint planning

In sprint planning, the development team discusses and collaborates with the product owner in defining the work, breaking it down into tasks, creating strategies to accomplish the objectives, and determining the processes and criteria for satisfaction. Sprint planning invites team members to share the same commitment toward a specific goal. The event occurs at the beginning of the iteration and lasts one hour per week of a scrum. A four-week phase kicks off with a four-hour sprint planning.

Daily scrum

Once the sprint has started, the team meets every day for at least 15 minutes to keep everyone on the same page and sync their work. The purpose is to describe the work of every member, track progress, and quickly resolve issues that arise.

Iteration review

At the end of every sprint, the development team seeks feedback from the product owner and other stakeholders. The goal is to ensure the highest possible standards for each product increment. The meeting focuses on whether the product passes the highest possible standard. It usually lasts up to an hour, although this is an ongoing process. More details are added and refined as the team reviews and modifies the product to achieve its desired end.

Retrospective

In this one-hour ceremony, the focus is not on the product but on the project s processes. It is an evaluation stage where the development team identifies the areas to improve for the next sprint.

Agile ceremonies are helpful tools or guides to boost team productivity, collaboration, transparency, and adaptability. They enable teams to have a focus in each phase and to keep improving from one iteration to the next.