Overview
Ceremonies at a Glance
Done well, ceremonies are short, purposeful, and energising. Done poorly, they are the meetings people dread.
📋
Sprint Planning
Set the Sprint Goal and select the work for the Sprint.
2 hrs / week of Sprint
☀️
Daily Standup
Inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal. Coordinate the day.
15 minutes · daily
✂️
Backlog Refinement
Ensure items are understood, split, and estimated before Planning.
≤10% of Sprint capacity
🎯
Sprint Review
Inspect the Increment with stakeholders. Adapt the backlog.
1 hr / week of Sprint
🪞
Retrospective
Inspect how we worked. Commit to 1–3 improvements.
45 min / week of Sprint
Ceremonies
Sprint Planning
⏱ 2 hours per week of Sprint · whole Scrum Team. Three questions: Why is this Sprint valuable? What can be Done? How will the work get done?
0–30 min
Part 1 — Why
PO presents top priorities. Team agrees on the Sprint Goal.
30–75 min
Part 2 — What
Developers select backlog items. Validate Definition of Ready. Confirm capacity.
75–120 min
Part 3 — How
Break items into tasks. Confirm the plan is achievable within the Sprint.
Sprint Goal format: We will [achieve outcome] by [delivering what] so that [stakeholder benefit]. Example: "We will reduce checkout abandonment by delivering the saved cart feature so that returning users can complete purchases without re-entering items." Capacity planning: Available = (team size × sprint days) − (leave + ceremonies + overhead) Target = available capacity × 0.75–0.80
Definition of Ready checklist
✓ User story written and understood by the team ✓ Acceptance criteria defined and agreed ✓ Dependencies identified and resolved (or plan in place) ✓ Sized / estimated by the team ✓ UI/UX designs available (if applicable) ✓ Test approach agreed
Ceremonies
Daily Standup
⏱ 15 minutes · daily · Developers
Three questions: 1. What did I complete yesterday toward the Sprint Goal? 2. What will I work on today toward the Sprint Goal? 3. Is anything blocking me?
Walk the board right-to-left instead of going person-by-person. Focus on the work, not the people. Keep a parking lot for anything needing more than 2 minutes.
The standup is not a status report to a manager. The team is coordinating with each other, not reporting upward.
Ceremonies
Backlog Refinement
⏱ ≤10% of Sprint capacity · PO + Developers
0–10 min
New items review
PO explains new items; team asks clarifying questions.
10–45 min
Refinement
Walk top items in priority order. Discuss, split if needed, estimate.
45–55 min
Acceptance criteria check
Ensure ACs are testable and complete.
55–60 min
Prioritisation check
PO confirms order is correct given any new information.
Story splitting patterns
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| By workflow step | "User registers" → "Enter details" + "Verify email" |
| By user role | "Admin exports data" + "User exports data" |
| By data type | "Search by name" + "Search by email" + "Search by date" |
| By happy/unhappy path | "Login succeeds" + "Login fails (wrong password)" |
| By CRUD | "View report" + "Edit report" + "Delete report" |
| By spike | "Research payment providers" + "Implement chosen provider" |
Ceremonies
Sprint Review
⏱ 1 hour per week of Sprint · Scrum Team + stakeholders
0–5 min
Context setting
Sprint Goal recap. What was planned vs completed.
5–45 min
Increment showcase
Developers demonstrate completed work. Stakeholders interact with working software.
45–55 min
Backlog update
PO reviews what's next. Stakeholders suggest adjustments.
55–60 min
Wrap-up
Key decisions noted. Next Sprint goal previewed if known.
Only items meeting the Definition of Done are shown. Let stakeholders interact with the product directly — real interaction reveals real feedback.
Ceremonies
Sprint Retrospective
⏱ 45 min per week of Sprint · Scrum Team only
0–5 min
Set the stage
Check-in: "In one word, how was this Sprint?" Establish psychological safety.
5–20 min
Gather data
Silent sticky writing (3–5 min), then read and group by theme.
20–35 min
Generate insights
Dot vote on top themes. Discuss top 2–3 in depth.
35–45 min
Decide & close
Commit to 1–3 actions with owners. Add to next Sprint Backlog.
Retrospective formats
Start / Stop / Continue
Best for: most teams, any Sprint
What should we start doing?
What should we stop doing?
What should we continue doing?
4Ls
Best for: surfacing feelings alongside facts
What did you Like?
What did you Learn?
What did you Lack?
What did you Long for?
Sailboat
Best for: visual thinkers, strategy focus
💨 Wind — what's helping us go faster?
⚓ Anchors — what's slowing us down?
🪨 Rocks — what risks lie ahead?
🏝 Island — what's our goal?
Mad / Sad / Glad
Best for: difficult Sprints, emotional honesty
😠 What frustrated you?
😔 What disappointed you?
😊 What made you happy or proud?
Improvement action template: Improvement: [what will change] Owner: [person responsible] Success looks like: [how we'll know it worked] Review at: [next retro / specific date]
A retro that produces a list but no committed actions is wasted time. End every retro with 1–3 specific, owned improvements added to the Sprint Backlog.
Reference
Facilitation Tips
Silent writing before discussion — give people 3–5 minutes to write ideas independently before opening to the group. This prevents the loudest voice dominating.
| Tip | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start and end on time | Respects the timebox; signals meetings are efficient |
| Psychological safety | What's said in the retro room stays in the retro room |
| Use a parking lot | Note off-topic items; handle them after with the right people |
| Rotate facilitation | Builds team ownership; prevents fatigue |
| Time ceremonies well | Short ones (standup, retro) → morning; long ones (planning) → after a break |
| Remote: use async tools | Miro / Mural / EasyRetro for visual, collaborative boards |
Reference
Templates
Ready-to-use templates in /docs/templates/
| Template | File |
|---|---|
| Sprint Planning agenda | sprint-planning-agenda.md |
| Definition of Ready checklist | definition-of-ready.md |
| Sprint Goal canvas | sprint-goal-canvas.md |
| Retro: Start / Stop / Continue | retro-start-stop-continue.md |
| Retro: 4Ls | retro-4ls.md |
| Retro: Sailboat | retro-sailboat.md |
| Improvement action tracker | improvement-tracker.md |
Reference
Anti-Patterns
| Ceremony | Anti-Pattern | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint Planning | No Sprint Goal defined | Spend first 30 min agreeing the goal before selecting items |
| Sprint Planning | Over-committing capacity | Target 75–80% of available capacity; leave buffer |
| Daily Standup | Status update to manager | Walk the board; team coordinates with team |
| Daily Standup | Running over 15 min | Park all discussions; hold them after with relevant people only |
| Refinement | Skipped until Sprint Planning | Refine weekly; items must be Ready before Planning |
| Refinement | Estimating without understanding | Clarify before estimating; "?" is a valid answer |
| Sprint Review | PowerPoint presentation | Show working software; invite stakeholders to interact |
| Sprint Review | Only developers attend | Stakeholders must be present to give meaningful feedback |
| Retrospective | No actions committed | End every retro with 1–3 owned improvements in the Sprint Backlog |
| Retrospective | Same format every Sprint | Rotate formats to keep energy and honesty fresh |
| All ceremonies | Same person always facilitates | Rotate facilitation to build team ownership |