On teams doing a 2 week Sprint, the Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective, and Sprint Planning events might fit into a single, working day. With so many events, they may feel packed in tighter than sardines. This concentration of events has pro’s and con’s:
Pros:
Single-Day
Leaves 9 full days for focused development
Context from Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective is fresh for Sprint Planning
Provides “rest” from development
May be more convenient for stakeholders who can only visit for a single day
Less time leads to smaller time boxes and pressure to be efficient
Multi-Day
More casual pace
Larger time boxes possible if needed (within Scrum guide limits)
Provides “rest” from development
Cons:
Single-Day
A FULL DAY OF MEETINGS EVENTS (read: tiring an tough to facilitate at times)
Events may not be given large enough time boxes (within Scrum Guide limits)
Stakeholders shared among projects may not be available for multiple reviews
Multi-Day
Could break up development time and lead to waste
Some stakeholders may not be able to stay more than a day consistently
Helpful Sprint Review and Retrospective context may be lost before Planning
Time boxes might “grow” larger than are necessary leading to lack of engagement during meandering meetings.
Given all these things, I would still tend to prefer a single-day set of events rather than a 2-day affair; however, I’m open to hearing how you are doing. Do you agree with the pros and cons listed above? Would you add some of your own? How are you all conducting your Sprint Events?
