What is a sprint review? Definition, goals, and tips

Sprints are part and parcel of the Scrum development framework. Each short burst is influenced by the success or shortcomings of the previous sprint, driving the continuous improvement and refinement of your product.

This guide digs into the role of sprint reviews in analyzing each product increment and deciding how to approach the next. We’ll look at typical sprint review agenda items for this type of meeting, how they differ from other scrum ceremonies, and best practices for hosting yours. To keep everything organized, we’ll also show you how to use monday dev to manage your sprints.

What is a sprint review?

A sprint review is a meeting at the end of every Scrum sprint in your Agile development cycle. The team uses this time to showcase the work they’ve completed during the sprint. Think of it like “show and tell” with a twist. You’ll also use the time for :

• Gathering feedback from stakeholders
• Ensuring alignment on the project’s direction
• Updating product backlog items for future adaptations.

By reviewing the work done and gathering insights from your key stakeholders, these highly collaborative sprint reviews ensure your Scrum team is always building something meaningful that meets customer and business needs.

Who should attend the sprint review?

The following people are must-invites on your ceremony attendee list:

• Scrum master: This person will lead the meeting, keeping it focused and effective.
• Product owner: As the name suggests, the product owner will review the product backlog to understand how the latest sprint correlates with any feature improvements, design change ideas, bug fixing, or user stories.
• Development team: Your team of engineers, designers, and testers will demo the latest iteration of the product—essentially, they’ll show off what they’ve done.
• Other key collaborators: You might invite other parties whose input is critical for the project’s success, such as writers, analysts, department heads, or even end users.

What are the goals of an Agile sprint review meeting?

Sprint reviews occur alongside other key ceremonies, such as sprint planning, daily standups, and retrospectives. Here’s what makes the review essential to your Agile development process:

• Sprint reviews foster collaboration: Agile frameworks strongly emphasize communication. In review ceremonies, key collaborators stay in the loop and have the chance to celebrate each others’ achievements, enhancing team morale and satisfaction.
• Sprint reviews improve transparency: Reviews provide visibility into the work done during a sprint so all Scrum team members and stakeholders understand project progress or challenges better.
• Sprint reviews enhance product quality: Like every other type of ceremony based on the Scrum methodology, sprint reviews are focused on producing the best product possible. Closing feedback loops at the end of your sprint shapes and refines the product direction and future sprints.
• Sprint reviews align expectations: The content of your Scrum meeting keeps everyone on the same page.

What happens during a sprint review?

A Scrum sprint review is an informal meeting—definitely more of a catch-up than a conference. Nevertheless, it usually involves a few key activities:

1. The product owner reports what’s been done

The first step is a quick run-through of what’s been accomplished in this cycle according to the priorities in the product backlog. Essentially, it’s an overview of the iteration.

2. The product owner reports what’s not been done

Alongside a list of completed tasks, the product owner will also provide details of what hasn’t happened yet. This could be in the context of activities you were unable to tackle this cycle due to unexpected roadblocks.

3. The development team demos the work

Next, the product development team will do a live demo of the work they’ve completed. For example, if you’re creating a new digital tool, your dev team might showcase a new feature they’ve been working on this cycle, or prove they’ve fixed an error in the software.

4. The team tracks progress

Everyone present at your Agile sprint review will compare how the work completed aligns with your product goals and user stories. They’ll make observations to determine if the sprint achievements will satisfy the customer, then make various course corrections to keep the end user in mind.

5. The scrum master updates the product backlog

To conclude the review, the scrum master will update the product backlog to understand how the latest work shapes the subsequent sprint cycle. For example, you may be able to tackle a dependent task now you’ve completed the parent task. You can manage these dependencies in monday dev.

What not to do in a sprint review

Sprint reviews can end up like a free-for-all if you don’t stick to some ground rules. Here’s what not to do:

• Don’t lose focus: Keep in mind why you’re hosting a sprint review—to discuss how your product is coming to life. This isn’t the right forum to discuss individual performance, Agile team dynamics, or project management details. Save those for your standups and retrospectives.
• Don’t skip feedback: Even if the sprint didn’t go according to plan, (in fact, especially if it didn’t) take the time to listen to all stakeholder feedback and steer your product in the right direction. That includes discussing any bugs or unfinished tasks that would otherwise put a dent in your product quality.
• Don’t rush: While you don’t want the meeting to take a tangential trajectory, take the time to properly review your sprint and listen to everyone who wants and needs to contribute.

Sprint review vs. retrospective: What’s the difference?

Sprint reviews and retrospectives are frequently confused. Understandably so, as they’re both types of Scrum events, and they both offer space to reflect. But, there are key differences between these two meeting types, and we encourage you to find time for each in your product development life cycle.

• Sprint reviews are product-centric. They showcase what you’ve built so far and how that determines what you’ll do next.
• Sprint retrospectives are process-centric. They reflect on what worked well, what didn’t, and how to improve the team’s workflow and practices for the upcoming sprint.

4 best practices for your sprint review

Extract the most value from your review by following these best practices:

Clarify what “done” means

Before you launch your product cycle, document how you’ll approach each review, including how you’ll know when a task can be marked as “done.” Who’s accountable for signing off on it? What checks and measures ensure you don’t need to make any further tweaks?

Keep the review focused but informal

Sprint reviews aren’t about PowerPoint presentations and prepared speeches. They’re about hosting collaborative working sessions where everyone is encouraged to engage in honest discussion.

Top tip: Keep conversions relevant to improving the product and timeboxed to avoid drifting off-topic.

Involve the right stakeholders

You’ll only get the best out of your review if you involve the right people who are able to offer meaningful input. Send out meeting invitations early to ensure stakeholders make time in their calendars to attend. And don’t forget to add extra people into individual reviews if they have any nuggets your Scrum team could benefit from.

Regularly update the product backlog

Updating the product backlog shouldn’t be an optional step or something you put off until later. Your teams must be aligned on what to tackle next. So, put your high-priority tasks at the top of your backlog and add plenty of detail about why they’re important. For example, you might rank your backlog items by feature complexity, customer expectations, or development effort.

Plan your next sprint review in monday dev

monday dev provides a central workspace to collaborate on every aspect of your product development lifecycle while connecting all your key stakeholders. The platform allows your dev teams to:

• Increase product quality by reporting bugs and errors and monitoring progress toward fixing them. monday dev’s tracking features allow you to focus on what matters most and react quickly.

• Manage your sprint goals according to your product roadmap. Use monday dev as a base for your sprint management—you’ll focus on impact and clarity by aligning sprint activities which address customer pain points.

• Speed up development within a highly collaborative environment. monday dev allows review meeting participants to communicate effectively throughout the sprint, adding crucial Scrum documents, tags, and comments to board items that keep everyone in the loop.

• Detect bottlenecks or issues hindering your current sprint progress using monday dev’s burndown chart templates. These compare what you’ve accomplished so far with the remaining effort.

• Gain full transparency into your team’s development using visual dashboards with a range of views, including Kanban and Gantt Chart. These provide an at-a-glance overview of the current status of your sprints.

Ready to maximize the value of your sprint reviews? Take a free trial of monday dev today.