Can we vary the iteration length for a release.

If a team didn’t plan on making a release for nearly 10 months, would they really be in a position to sprint at all?

Is the Scrum Team in a position to "potentially" release working functionality to the end-user(s) for feedback at the end of the first iteration?   If not, why not?   Does the Scrum Team's Definition of Done (DoD) support such a releasable state at the end of each iteration?



Specifically to your question though, a Scrum Team may choose to reduce the length of their sprints if the Scrum Team can still deliver working functionality under the shorter sprint length, and the Product Owner sees benefit in a more frequent feedback loop around such functional delivery.

Thank you so much for the information. Actually, This is not a real scenario and I was trying to understand how this works if any such scenarios arise. Someone mentioned that once we have decided on the sprint length then we won't change it during the same release. In another release, we can do. 

So my other question is like first I choose 4 weeks iteration and then changed to 2 weeks and I hope it is okay to change this back to 4 weeks if the 2weeks sprint did not work out for the team. My understanding is that the team can give the opportunity to do an experiment with this.

My understanding is that the team can give the opportunity to do an experiment with this.

What is very important to keep in mind is that, as with all improvement "experiments" conducted by the team, it is best to allow the experiment to run for at least a few sprints.

This is highly recommended not only to properly assess its effectiveness over time, but also to not draw conclusions from a small sample size that may have been affected by factors unrelated to the experiment.

Thank you very much, Timothy Baffa.

What would be the expected benefit of differing sprint lengths?

Someone mentioned that once we have decided on the sprint length then we won't change it during the same release. In another release, we can do. 

So my other question is like first I choose 4 weeks iteration and then changed to 2 weeks and I hope it is okay to change this back to 4 weeks if the 2weeks sprint did not work out for the team. My understanding is that the team can give the opportunity to do an experiment with this.

Choosing the sprint lenght should be a team decision. However, under certain circumstances, others (whether people or events) may have an input that requires (or strongly recommends) changing the sprint length in order to ensure the most reasonable path is followed. I have encountered numerous cases where changing the sprint length was the best scenario; and, in most cases, changes were made to just a couple of sprints a year (if you constantly change the sprint length, every other sprint or so, then you have a problem as consistency/predictability is gone)

Once a sprint starts, its duration shouldn't be changed. Decisions to modify the sprint length should apply for future sprints and are normally taken during the retrospective.

Your ultimate goal should be to release as often as possible, learn as much as possible, and adapt as you travel.