Sprint Goals—What We’re Doing
Now that you have a project charter and know the product vision, you can create a Product Backlog to fulfill the vision. The Product Backlog contains the information from the user’s viewpoint showing what the software must do to fulfill the vision. This information often takes the form of a User Story: As a [type of user], I would like [some functionality], so that I may [receive value].
The team selects work for the Sprint Backlog from the Product Backlog. The team and Product Owner (or customer proxy) then define the sprint goal, which is a short description of what the team plans to achieve during the sprint.
Daily Goals—Will We Get There?
The Sprint Project Goals keep the team’s efforts aligned with the company's strategic goals. Daily goals show the progress we’re making towards completing the work.
Tracking daily goals starts with team members answering three questions:
- What I have accomplished since our last meeting?
- What will I accomplish before we meet again?
- What is getting in my way of getting things done?
When a team member has a problem, other team members can help them. If an impediment gets in the team’s way, they can raise awareness about the impediment and get it removed.
Tracking the daily goals also shows progress to other people who might be interested in the project.
All’s Well that Ends Well
We finally located the second patient a mile down a side road. When the ambulances arrived we loaded the patients and helped the paramedics start the necessary intervention based protocols. Our goals allowed us to focus on achieving a positive outcome for the patients.
Having clear connections between the project’s goal, the sprint's goals and the daily goals keeps the team’s efforts focused on helping the business. When the goals get disconnected, problems can creep in, adding time, cost, and extra effort to achieving the original goals. If you’re not sure the project, sprint, and daily goals align, check the project charter/vision, sprint goal, and daily progress.
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About the author
Don Gray’s goal to answer “What is the earliest indicator for a project’s status?” has led him to focus on such diverse topics as communication, personality types, team styles, systems thinking and human systems dynamics. Don’s varied interests and client experience provides a platform for helping clients introduce and work through change as they transition to agile development practices. His blog can be found at www.donaldegray.com. Don helped create and co-Hosts the AYE Conference.
