Article

How to Approach Sprints in Agile Project Management: 3 Recommendations

August 16, 2024

|

Emily May

Teams worldwide utilize sprints to stay on track with their goals. Whether you’re new to implementing sprints within your organization or are seeking tips to improve your team’s approach, we’re here to help.

This article provides ICAgile’s top three recommendations for how to implement sprints for effective agile project management.

What Is an Agile Sprint?

Agile teams often complete their work in short increments called sprints, which is a predetermined length of time to complete agreed-upon tasks. This project management method is a hallmark element of the scrum framework and is leveraged by many teams and organizations implementing agile ways of working.

Features of a sprint in agile teams include a fixed duration, team sprint goal setting and planning, and sprint reviews and retrospectives. Working in short increments helps teams break complex projects into manageable pieces and prioritize tasks to maximize continuous value delivery to their customers. 

Some of the benefits of sprints include improved:

  • Adaptability
  • Value delivery
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Product refinement
  • Productivity
  • Collaboration
  • Innovation

3 Tips for Approaching Sprints for Agile Teams

a person looking at a board of an agile sprint

The three recommendations below help establish an effective structure for your agile team’s sprints. 

1. Decide on Your Agile Sprint Duration

A key starting point for agile teams is to collectively decide on a sprint length. Sprints follow a repeated cadence, with typical durations of one week, two weeks, and four weeks. 

Each popular sprint duration in agile has advantages and disadvantages. For example, a one-week sprint offers a rapid turnaround time on customer feedback but can, at times, put undue pressure on the team, which can hinder productivity long term. On the other hand, a four-week sprint offers ample time for team members to complete projects with more complexity. However, the lengthened feedback loop means less time for teams to take action on new insights. In addition, with modern technological capabilities, longer sprints are declining in popularity.

While there are many factors to consider when choosing the best sprint cadence for your team, with some experience under our belts, the ICAgile team recommends adding these considerations to your list:

  • Technical infrastructure
  • The style in which the product team approaches their work (Example: kanban)
  • The preferred pace at which your customers desire product updates


For example, ICAgile follows a two-week sprint cadence–with the exception of a one-week Sprint 0 dedicated to planning at the beginning of each quarter. The two-week cadence is the right balance for our team to integrate effective feedback loops that allow for swift response while also keeping in mind the size of our team for a manageable workload. 

2. Establish Mechanisms for Continuous Improvement

person looking at different options for continuous improvement

Sprints are an effective way for agile teams to set checkpoints to assess progress, feedback, and potential adaptations. Establishing mechanisms for continuous improvement within the sprint cadence ensures ample opportunities for positive change. 

Sprint Ceremonies in Agile Project Management

Agile sprint ceremonies are integral to ensuring that sprints maximize value delivered and account for ongoing changes. Sprint reviews are held at the end of every sprint to demo progress, exchange feedback, and reflect on successes and areas for improvement. These sessions also support teams in adjusting their priorities and estimating their workloads for the next sprint. 

Another important sprint ceremony is the retrospective, a dedicated space for teams to discuss potential issues regarding the sprint process and team dynamics. These transparent conversations can help boost morale, remove bottlenecks, and streamline collaboration and innovation within the team. 

How often agile teams engage in retrospective meetings often hinges on the framework. For example, the scrum framework calls for team retrospective meetings or “retros” at the end of each sprint. Conversely, teams utilizing the kanban framework may not engage in retrospective meetings on a set schedule and instead hold them on an as-needed basis. 

Feedback Loops

Sprints provide an ideal structure for teams to collect feedback from their peers and customers at pre-determined intervals. A customer feedback loop may involve releasing a product feature to users and analyzing feedback and user behavior at sprint checkpoints. 

Additionally, teams can implement internal feedback loops at sprint checkpoints, such as reviewing the performance data on a new initiative or discussing the pros and cons of a recently implemented project management tool within the team. 

Feedback loops provide agile teams with a constant stream of new and relevant information that helps steer all future efforts in the right direction.

Learning & Development

Team leaders should invest in the ongoing mentorship, learning, and development of their teams to continuously improve their collective efforts.

Group learning, such as taking a class covering agile fundamentals, is a helpful option for teams new to agile ways of working–and serves as a team-building opportunity. Individual learning is just as crucial, providing employees with opportunities to explore cutting-edge industry trends and develop their skills.

Long-term learning ensures that as adaptations are needed, team members can call upon their skills, new & old, to problem-solve quickly and effectively.

3. Implement Feedback for Ongoing Adaptation

employee taking feedback and applying it

Sprints offer multiple opportunities for teams to collect feedback internally and externally, but the real challenge is implementing feedback. Folders full of customer interviews and emails aren’t helpful if they are never put into action.

Integrate feedback into your sprints. For example, if recent user feedback suggests doing away with a product feature, discuss these insights in your sprint planning meetings and use them to inform upcoming work. Quickly adapting often requires brainstorming, reprioritization, estimating project times, and the potential for bringing new work into the coming sprint. 

Implementing internal feedback is also crucial for changing how your team collectively approaches sprints. In your retrospective meetings, the conversation centers around how to keep the process productive. By identifying bottlenecks, the goal is to remedy those problems immediately–ensuring that they don’t impact the value delivered to the customer and the organizational culture. 

Conclusion

To ensure successful agile project management, intentionally choose your sprint duration based on business circumstances, establish multiple mechanisms for continuous improvement, and take action on valuable feedback. Remember: every sprint is part of a longer journey, and we get better with time and long-term insights.

Build on your basic knowledge of sprints with a certification in Agile Project and Delivery Management. You’ll learn to guide your team through iterative work to deliver valuable products to your customers. 

We look forward to meeting you in one of our courses soon!

Elevate Your Learning

Join our community of agile learners and get the latest news and resources delivered straight to your inbox.

* indicates required
TAGGED AS:
Value Delivery, Agile Project and Delivery Management

About the author

Emily May | ICAgile, Marketing Specialist
Emily May is a Marketing Specialist at ICAgile, where she helps educate learners on their agile journey through content. With an eclectic background in communications supporting small business marketing efforts, she hopes to inspire readers to initiate more empathy, productivity, and creativity in the workplace for improved internal and external outcomes.

Suggested Resources