Sprint Goal – How to Write It?

Sprint Goal is a high-level summary of what the Product Owner aims to achieve during a Sprint, typically elaborated through a specific set of Product Backlog items. The Sprint Goal helps:

• Scrum Team deliver value for each Sprint
• Keep the development team focused
• Help the Product Owner prioritize

The Sprint Goal is a concise, one or two-sentence description of what the team plans to achieve during the Sprint. It is written collaboratively by the team and the Product Owner. Here’s an example of a typical Sprint Goal for an e-commerce application:

• Add, remove, and update cart quantities
• Develop checkout process: place order, select shipping, add gift wrapping

How Does the Sprint Goal Support Sprint Planning?

While it’s easy to gather many Backlog items during a Sprint, it’s more challenging — but also more valuable — to align a set of Backlog items so they collectively deliver greater business value. Below is a list of Product Backlog Items (PBIs) selected during a Sprint Planning session, with the Sprint Goal for the user forum development project being “Profile Management”:

• Change profile description;
• Bind email account;
• Bind phone number;
• Upload profile picture;
• Delete account.

These Product Backlog items align with the Sprint Goal, providing the entire team with a shared understanding of what to achieve in the current Sprint.

Who Sets the Sprint Goal?

According to the Scrum Guide:

Therefore, the Sprint Goal is determined by the Scrum Team: the Product Owner, the Development Team, and the Scrum Master.

• The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing product value and managing the Product Backlog. During Sprint Planning, the **Product Owner suggests the upcoming Sprint Goal**, and proposes which Product Backlog Items would help achieve it. However, the suggested goal is not the same as the actual Sprint Goal.
• The Scrum Master is a servant-leader who helps the self-organizing Development Team. The Scrum Master does not set the Sprint Goal.
• The Development Team should define their **own goals for achieving the Sprint Goal and creating the Increment**. They do not decide the Sprint Goal independently.

(Source: Willen-Jan Ageling – Who Determines the Sprint Goal?)

Sprint Goal and Sprint Backlog

The Sprint Planning meeting involves the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the entire Scrum Team. External stakeholders may be invited to attend, although this is rare in most organizations. The two defined artifacts produced during the Sprint Planning meeting are shown below:

• Sprint Goal
• A Sprint Backlog

Sprint Planning Meeting

The Sprint Goal is typically defined during the first part of the Sprint Planning meeting through the following key steps:

1. The Product Owner presents the ordered Product Backlog to the team.
2. The team discusses and understands the work for the Sprint.
3. The team forecasts and commits to what they believe can be completed.
4. The team establishes the Sprint Goal for this Sprint.