Agile ceremonies
Agile ceremonies refer to meetings held while carrying out projects to determine whether project goals are being achieved. The rituals in agile are part of the agile scrum frame and are designed around a single term known as sprint. Sprints or iterations refer to a sequence of activities that must be performed within a certain period of time. Each sprint is performed for a period of 2 to 4 weeks. The ceremonies are delivered to ensure that the entire project team will be on the same page while the project is being carried out.
Agile ceremonies cannot be performed in isolation. All agile staff should be involved in the ceremony to encourage communication. This further paves the way for the fulfillment of project objectives while providing business value. The ceremonies are performed by various Scrum roles. Let us consider the functions of the scrum involving agile rituals.
Scrum roles in agile ceremonies
The next three scrum roles play a key role in managing the agile rituals.
Product owner
This role is performed by a person representing the client. Product owners are responsible for creating user stories and making decisions about the product they are working on. In addition, product owners are engaged in converting customer needs into activities for the team.
Master Scrum
Scrum masters act as facilitators during the agile ceremony. They are responsible for scheduling the meetings, in addition to performing the role of project manager. During the agile ceremony, a master scrum is required to determine the progress of the project along with the obstacles it faces.
development team
The development team was created to carry out the activities on a daily basis. This is a term given to the developers, designers and other technical friends required for the project. The team is content to complete the product required for product development.
![4 Scrum Ceremonies](https://unichrone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Scrum-roles-in-agile-ceremonies.png)
Agile Scrum rituals
Let’s take a look at the 4 scrum rituals performed by organizations that use agile scrums.
4 Scrum Ceremonies:
Sprint planning
Sprint planning is defined as the first ceremony performed before the start of a new sprint. The product owner, the scrum master and the development team participate. The duration of the sprint planning ceremony depends on the time required to complete a particular sprint. As a result, if the sprint is performed for a week, the time allotted for the sprint planning ceremony should be no more than two hours.
During this session, questions like “What should be provided in this sprint?” And “How can this be achieved?” Need to answer. Without getting answers to this question, the sprint planning ceremony is incomplete. Also, the members attending this session should determine if any discrepancies occur during the execution of the sprint tasks.
Daily Scrum
Daily meetings or daily scrums help the team plan their work for the day. During this meeting, the development team and Scrum Master meet to discuss a solution to three specific questions. they:
- What work ended yesterday?
- What is the action plan for today?
- Are there any obstacles to completing today’s action plan?
Each staff member in this meeting is required to communicate effectively during this meeting. A daily scrum allows team members to work together to achieve their way of action by the end of the day.
Sprint Review
This scrum ceremony was held at the end of the sprint. During this meeting, the development team can present the goals achieved for the sprint. A sprint review is designed to demonstrate the work completed. The team should not engage in proof of work completed during the sprint. Instead, the meeting should reflect the progress of the project.
The meeting is attended by the development team, Master Scrum, a product owner and stakeholders. This ceremony should focus on providing business value while designing the product according to the customer’s needs.
A retrospective sprint
This meeting is considered the last ceremony among the agile scrum rituals. Sprint’s retrospective helps the development team and master Scrum look back at the work done. During this session, the team analyzes what could have been improved while performing the tasks. The team also deals with comparing this sprint to the previous sprint to analyze what went well.
It is important to note that this ceremony should avoid becoming a platform for blaming members for each other. It should be designed to rely on honest feedback and suggestions for improvement. Typically, this ceremony is designed to last one hour for a week-long sprint.
Summary
Scrum rituals are intended for implementation in projects regardless of the product and the tools used for product development. The ceremonies are meant to bring the team together while working on a project. People who are willing to expand their knowledge on agile scrum frameworks can continue to train agile practitioners of PMI. With PMI-ACP approval, Professionals can master the skills to lead agile projects and gain a comprehensive understanding of Agile methodology.