Sprint Process

Owned by Christine Di Bella
Last updated: Mar 17, 2023
2 min read

Note: Development priorities are based on involvement and input from community members in a variety of ways. Many factors go into determining what is worked on and how. What's below focuses on how the program team translates priorities into organized development.

 

Sprint Basics

  • Sprints are intended to help focus and organize the work of the program team developers. The work of other developers, such as contractors, may relate to what's happening in a sprint, but is not usually the focus of a sprint.

  • Three-week sprints, beginning the second Thursday of each month.

  • Other weeks of the month are used to review and hone processes, work on code maintenance, and focus on other tasks and priorities not specifically linked to individual JIRA issues.

  • A sprint planning meeting kicks off the sprint and is focused on assigning issues; reporting back on the outcome of work on assigned issues happens through a retrospective (which may be a separate meeting or part of the next sprint planning meeting). Progress is also discussed in standups, short meetings held several times a week with all involved parties.

 

Roles

Product Owner (Program Manager): 

  • Identify overall development theme or focus for a sprint.

  • Identify JIRA issues from the prioritized backlog that relate to the chosen theme. 

  • Work with Scrum Master to ensure that individual JIRA issues are clear and assignable. 

  • Work with Scrum Master to ensure that the pool of prioritized JIRA issues for each sprint planning meeting is appropriate. 

  • Work with Testing sub-team and other testers to ensure adequate testing of issues. 

  • Final acceptance of tested issues.

 

Scrum Master (Technical Lead): 

  • Work with Product Owner to ensure that individual issues are clear and assignable. 

  • Work with Product Owner to ensure the pool of issues available for each sprint planning meeting is appropriate.

  • Run sprint planning meetings. 

  • Work with Developers to assign story points to issues during the sprint planning meeting.

  • Work with Developers to assign the specific issues each Developer will work on during the sprint.

  • Ensure that overall assignment of issues to Developers during the sprint planning meeting is appropriate. 

  • During the sprint itself, ensure that development is on track.

 

Developers (Technical Lead, Developer, Front-End Developer, Lyrasis DTS Tech Lead): 

  • Work with Scrum Master to assign story points to issues during the sprint planning meeting. 

  • Work with Scrum Master to assign the specific issues each developer will work on during the sprint.

  • During the sprint, work on and deliver issues. 

  • Report on progress with assigned issues during standups and the retrospective. 

  • During the retrospective, update story points for an issue if there was a difference between what was expected and what happened. 

 

Testing

  • Once issues are selected for a sprint, Product Owner will notify the Testing sub-team leaders so that they can assign the issues to their members for testing. Typically each issue is assigned to two Testing sub-team members and each member signs up to watch the JIRAs for the issues to which they are assigned.

  • The goal is to have issues tested as close to when they are delivered as possible.