While Scrum is a flexible framework, it isn’t Scrum unless you have all the components, so NO, it’s not okay to skip some Scrum events! Think of it like the rough framing of a house – if you suddenly removed one or more of the 2x4s, what would happen? The rest of the frame would collapse because in a framework, “…each part mutually enforces every other part (‘How’ by Dov Seidman, Page 271).”
There are five official events in Scrum:
Let’s explore what each of these events is for, and what might go wrong if you skip it:f
Sprint
Purpose
The Sprint is a container for the activities of Scrum within a defined time-box. The Scrum Guide calls it the “heartbeat of Scrum.” The maximum time for a Sprint is one month or less. The most common Sprint length is two weeks.
A Sprint begins with Sprint Planning and concludes at the end of the time-box. There are no particular types of Sprints (e.g., Sprint 0, design sprints, hardening sprints, integration sprints, testing sprints, etc.), or Sprints of varying lengths (or Sprints that start, pause, and start again). The cadence should be consistent and indefinitely sustainable.
Consequence of Skipping
Since Sprints are the essence of the Scrum Framework, you can’t practice Scrum without them. Consider yourself dead in the water if you skip a Sprint or have sporadic Sprints with breaks between them or different cadences. None of these are in keeping with the spirit of agile or the Scrum Framework.
Sprint Planning
Purpose
The purpose of Sprint Planning is to review the Product Backlog, select items for a Sprint, craft a Sprint Goal, and determine the plan for delivering the work. In this activity, we ask three questions:
- Why is the Sprint valuable?
- What can be Done this Sprint?
- How will the chosen work get done?
Consequence of Skipping
There’s a common myth that there’s no planning when using agile, but that’s untrue. If anything, there is more planning (and re-planning, and re-planning again…).
I love the quote by Benjamin Franklin:
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”
No plan is executed perfectly, but you must still have a plan.
Sprint Planning allows the Scrum Team to negotiate what’s picked for the Sprintf and lets the team figure out how they will deliver. You could “start” without planning, but how would you know what to work on and in what order? Without any planning, who knows where you might end up? Probably at a destination where no one wanted to go.
Daily Scrum
Purpose
The whole point of a Daily Scrum is for the Developers to plan their day’s work toward accomplishing the Sprint Goal. The meeting happens at a consistent time and place, thereby reducing the need for other meetings. When the team discovers new information, they can pivot or negotiate with the Product Owner.
Consequence of Skipping
If there is no Daily Scrum, the team ends up having many more impromptu meetings, interfering with flow and efficiency. By skipping this event, Developers no longer have the built-in opportunity to communicate, collaborate, and inspect and adapt; this can lead to miscommunication or misunderstandings, duplication of effort, and often causes rework.
Sprint Review
Purpose
The Sprint Review is the Scrum Team’s opportunity to highlight the increment(s) completed in the Sprint, along with collaborating with the Product Owner, customers, and stakeholders on what to do next. Not merely a demonstration, this event also serves as the primary conduit for direct feedback about the work.
Consequence of Skipping
The Sprint Review is the foremost opportunity for people to see what was done and without it, you lose the whole concept of visibility and transparency. Without holding a Sprint Review (and having all the key stakeholders attend), there is no feedback loop to drive the product’s requirements. If you don’t get any feedback, you won’t have any guidance on the direction of the product.
Sprint Retrospective
Purpose
The Sprint Retrospective is the Scrum Team’s formal change to look back and inspect itself, its processes, and tools. A retro allows the team to select what things it would like to improve upon in the next Sprint. It can also be an excellent place to celebrate when a Sprint has gone well.
Consequence of Skipping
The first event that I have seen teams start skipping is the Sprint Retrospective; if the format is always the same, it can get boring, repetitive, and rote. The problem with skipping this vital component of Scrum is that the idea of empiricism gets lost, and the team doesn’t think about ways of continuously improving. By opting out of retros, your team will quickly stagnate.
Final Thoughts
Now you know what each Scrum event is for and what may occur when a Scrum Team chooses to skip an event. The result is that the team is no longer using Scrum; consequently, their results will be suboptimal. So, my advice is – don’t skip any Scrum events (or, just like technical debt, you’ll pay the price, sooner or later)!
How about you (dear reader)? Have you been on a Scrum Team that skipped one or more of the official Scrum events? If so, what was the outcome? I’d love to hear your stories, so please share them in the comments below!