Agile Mindset for Manufacturers: Ceremonies

The Action Engineering team embraces an Agile mindset & Scrum practices in our work.
In our Agile articles, we share tips & coaching opportunities that work well for us. 

There are so many meetings that just keep popping up… what’s the point?”

Scrum ceremonies, or meetings, are an important part of the Agile framework. They provide the structure for the teams to get work done, set expectations and empower the team to collaborate effectively. Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of these ceremonies is to not have another meeting just to have another meeting. They are structured times for the team to gather feedback, make commitments, and improve the process.

There are four Scrum ceremonies:

• Sprint Planning: This ceremony happens before the next sprint kicks off. The goal is to review the top of the backlog and pull in user stories to the upcoming sprint. Time is also spent estimating the size of user stories and committing to a sprint backlog.
• Daily Scrum: This is a short, daily meeting where we make a commitment to ourselves and our teammates about what we are going to work on. We answer the following three questions: what have I finished today? What will I finish by tomorrow? Do I have any impediments?
• Sprint Review: The entire team plus stakeholders are invited to see a demo and review the work that was completed in the sprint. This where the decision to pivot or persevere is made.
• Sprint Retrospective: In this ceremony, the team focuses on the process, not the product. The team discusses: what should we start going? What should we stop doing? What should we keep doing?

It is helpful to publish a sprint calendar so the entire team can look ahead a few months to see where meetings land. We use a calendar similar to the one below so those who are visual learners can print a hard copy and stick near their desk – or couch, or LazyBoy recliner, or wherever this remote working has you clocking hours from.

Need help creating a color-coded calendar for your team or need someone to bounce sprint cadence off of? We’re here and happy to help. Send us a message!