Sprint Goal

The Sprint Goal is a commitment to the Sprint Backlog. It is the single objective for the Sprint and explains why the work in the Sprint Backlog is valuable.

A Sprint Goal is an output of the Sprint Planning event and forms part of the Sprint Backlog. Every Sprint must have a Sprint Goal.

An excellent practice to support the creation of Sprint Goals is for the Product Owner to come into Sprint Planning to advance the product towards the Product Goal. The Product Owner and Developers discuss this objective and the related Product Backlog items and negotiate and agree on a realistic Sprint Goal.

A good Sprint Goal provides:

  • Focus: Sprint Goals provide a shared purpose to the Scrum Team and opportunities to act as a single team rather than a collection of individuals working separately. More value can typically be delivered faster this way.
  • Flexibility: Focussing on a Sprint Goal (rather than a fixed scope of work) provides flexibility to cope with uncertainty and creates space for innovation.
  • Purpose: A Sprint Goal should provide transparency around the value of the Scrum Team’s work.
  • Prioritisation: Wherever possible, Developers do work that makes the maximum contribution towards the Sprint Goal.
  • Clarity: A Sprint Goal helps Scrum Teams communicate the Sprint’s objective to stakeholders.
  • Inspection: A Sprint Goal helps ensure the right stakeholders are included in the Sprint Review to enable practical inspection of the Increment.

Tips For Creating Sprint Goals:

  • Make Sprint Goals as specific as possible to provide clarity.
  • Sprint Goals must be realistically achievable in the Sprint.
  • Not all work in the Sprint has to relate to the Sprint Goal.
  • There can be more than one aspect to a Sprint Goal, but it is designed to bring focus, so generally, less is more when setting useful Sprint Goals.
  • If a Scrum Team struggles to set a Sprint Goal, it may indicate that the Product Goal is unclear. The Scrum Team may work to deliver high value in these circumstances.
  • If the product is mature, the nature of the work may make Sprint Goals more challenging to create and less useful in practice. If most of the Scrum Team’s work is support and maintenance, then the goal can be clearly stated but may be less beneficial.