Choosing a Scrum Sprint Length – Shorter Beats Longer cover image

Choosing a Scrum Sprint Length – Shorter Beats Longer

The pros and cons of shorter and longer Sprints, and how to discover what works best for your team.

Profile image of Mark Levison
Nov 05, 2019 • 7 min read
4.24 (25)
Agile
Scrum
Sprint Goal
Sprint Planning
Design Sprint
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Summary

A very descriptive agile text focusing on the pros and cons of short scrum sprints and long sprints to help teams decide on which would work best. We learn that a Scrum Sprint is a fixed period of time for the Team to focus and develop a product with quality high enough that they could release it to the customer. A “good” Sprint Length, then, has to be long enough to produce results, but short enough to limit risk. The article also notes that short sprints help reveal problems and impediments faster while longer sprints are vulnerable to risks due to the high chances of unpredictability. Let's read to explore the merits and demerits of these two and narrow down why shorter sprints are more effective.

Takeaways

  • A Scrum Sprint is a fixed period of time for the Team to focus and develop a product with quality high enough that they could release it to the customer. A “good” Sprint Length, then, has to be long enough to produce results, but short enough to limit risk.
  • Scrum Sprints are limited to one calendar month. Normally, shorter sprints are 1-2 weeks long and help reveal problems and impediments faster. While longer Sprints take up to 3-4 weeks and are riskier for predictability and cost.

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