Skip to main content

The length of the srpint

Last post 05:23 pm June 24, 2015 by Ian Mitchell
2 replies
04:18 am June 23, 2015

Hey! I would like to ask what should be taken into consideration while choosing the length of the sprint. Scrum Guide informs us about risks of the long spring only.
Thank you in advance for your help.


02:56 pm June 24, 2015

The Scrum Guide isn't too explicit on this but we can draw some inferences...

Some things to consider --
Familiarity or comfort with the technology being used?
Market conditions (e.g. competing products)?
How often can the Product Owner and any concerned stakeholders be available?
Scrum Team maturity (i.e. are they just starting off or...?)

Typically, the shorter the better. We're seeing a lot of Teams working in 2-week cycles.


05:23 pm June 24, 2015

The chosen sprint length should help the Product Owner to maximize the release of value. The management of business risk and the observation of a suitable Definition of Done will be considered. This is the most important factor.

Next to consider is the team's duty to the organization, including any practices and standards which might shape the team's cadence. If this is to the detriment of product value then these practices and standards ought to be challenged.

There are certainly other considerations, including team constraints such as skill level. However the needs of the product and the organization are paramount. If these interests cannot be served to at least a minimally acceptable DoD, then no sprint length can ever be appropriate.


By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.