Tales of the Bizarro Scrum – The Variable Sprint Duration

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Statement: Dev Manager “We have a lot of work for this Sprint, so we are going with a 4-week Sprint instead of a 2-week Sprint.”

Anti-pattern: The Variable Sprint Duration.

Problem: Variable Sprint durations disrupt the rhythm of the team.

Recommendation: Determine the amount of work to take on based on the Sprint duration instead of determining the size of the Sprint based on the amount of work.

Explanation: Sprints have fixed durations. Once a team determines the Sprint duration, the team works on a regular cadence and every Sprint is the same size. Everyone knows when a Sprint starts and when it ends. Everyone knows when is Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective. This establishes a rhythm. The team knows they have a short time to deliver so they prioritize what they need to deliver now vs. later, focus on that work, deliver it, get feedback on it, and continuously improve on it. The team gets used to working at a constant, sustainable, predictable pace, and figures out how much work they can accomplish within the Sprint. Varying the Sprint duration breaks the cycle and disrupts the team’s rhythm and makes it difficult to forecast and manage risk. Generally, the team is better off taking on less work and delivering it sooner rather than taking on more work and delivering it later.