Sprint Delivery is a crucial aspect in the execution of Agile project management as it enables incremental releases of working software, fostering continuous feedback, adaptability, and the timely delivery of functionality to end-users.

Sprint Delivery refers to the release of a shippable product increment at the end of each sprint, which is a time-boxed development iteration typically lasting two to four weeks. During a sprint, a cross-functional team collaboratively works on a prioritised set of user stories or tasks, with the goal of delivering a functional and tested increment of the product.

Sprint Delivery follows the Sprint Planning phase. You can refer to my previous blogs on Agile which talk about:

1. Step 1 – Project initiation phase
2. Step 2 – Backlog prioritisation phase
3. Step 3 – Product increment planning phase
4. Step 4 – Sprint planning
5. Step 5 – Sprint delivery
6. Role of Scrum Master
7. Role of Product Owner

Effective execution of the sprint relies on effective planning in the Product Increment and Sprint Planning phases. Both these phases identify scope ahead of delivery and provides confidence to decision makers that the sprint can be delivered within agreed timelines.

Sprint delivery is governed by the Scrum Master and Product owner. They work with the business area to align IT and business priorities and deliver the agreed scope.

Below are the key activities that form part of Sprint Delivery. Note that it is important to tailor your approach and activities to the needs of the project:

1. Daily Stand-ups: Daily meetings where team members share progress, discuss any impediments, and plan their work for the day. These short, focused meetings help keep everyone informed and aligned.
2. Facilitating communication: Communication between business stakeholders and the development team, ensuring that the delivered solutions meet the business needs.
3. Development: The development team works on implementing the selected user stories or tasks, aiming to produce a potentially shippable product increment by the end of the sprint.
4. Testing: Developers integrate their work frequently to ensure that new features work well with existing code. Automated and manual testing is conducted to validate that the increment meets the acceptance criteria. Regression testing also occurs to swiftly identify and rectify potential software defects introduced into the production environment.
5. Backlog refinement: Ongoing refinement of the product backlog, including updating priorities and adding, removing, or modifying user stories based on evolving requirements.
6. Deployment of solution: Code for user stories completed within the sprint is amalgamated and promoted to the production environment.
7. Sprint sign-off: Formal acknowledgment and approval by stakeholders that the goals and user stories committed to in a sprint have been successfully implemented, tested, and meet the acceptance criteria.

At a major government agency in Australia, I was a change management practitioner working across 8 Scrum Teams who were deploying workable IT solutions every sprint (two weeks). The most crucial activity I observed in this phase was the daily stand-ups. By conducting this activity daily with Business Analysts, Testers, Developers, Scrum Master and Product Owner, the team was able to efficiently share updates on work done, raise any blockers impeding progress and stay aligned to the sprint goals.

Delivering a sprint promotes iterative progress, continuous stakeholder engagement, and the rapid delivery of value by providing a tangible and potentially shippable product increment at the end of each sprint iteration in Agile development.

Agile Framework

In the below agile framework, I am sharing a visual one-page diagram on how to implement Agile on a large scale. This framework is based on the process that was implemented at a large Federal Government Agency in Australia (who employ over 20,000 staff). I worked with more than 10 highly mature Scrum Teams at this Federal Agency who have been successfully delivering projects under large scale SAFe Agile methodology for more than 10 years. Please reach out to me at kirtan.jamnadas@aclivity.com.au if you would like to receive this document in PowerPoint format which can be updated.

About the Author

Kirtan Jamnadas is a management consultant with over seven years of experience successfully delivering complex IT projects at four large federal government agencies in Australia.

Kirtan is passionate about initiating and driving projects forward while ensuring that all stakeholders are engaged and on board with the project’s goals.

With his employer’s support, Kirtan established the company’s project management practice – this included developing all the frameworks, tools and templates to ensure projects are set up for success.

Kirtan’s mission is to provide current and aspiring project managers with simple and practical tools to help streamline operations, optimise performance and achieve project success.