What Is a Sprint Goal in Scrum? | Definition & Template

The Sprint Goal represents the expected outcome of the iteration, providing the team with a shared objective. It must be defined before the team begins the Sprint, so the team can stay focused on achieving it.
Ideally, every Sprint should have a Goal. This ensures everyone is on the same page. Once the Goal is set, the team must work diligently to achieve it.
First, the Product Owner must clearly define the Sprint Goal (or Goal). Then, the team must implement it to build a “Product Increment.” Finally, stakeholders must validate the Goal and provide feedback.

What Is a Sprint Goal?

The Sprint Goal is a high-level summary of what the Product Owner wants to achieve during the Sprint, typically detailed through a set of specific Product Backlog items. The Sprint Goal is a brief, one- to two-sentence description of what the team plans to achieve during the Sprint. It is collaboratively written by the team and the Product Owner.
Here is a typical Sprint Goal for an e-commerce application:
  • Add, remove, and update the cart quantity
  • Develop the checkout process: process payments, select shipping options, and order gift wrapping

Steps to Create a Sprint Goal

The Sprint Goal is typically defined during the first part of the Sprint Planning meeting through the following key steps:
  • The Product Owner presents the prioritized backlog to the team.
  • The team discusses and understands the work for the Sprint.
  • The team forecasts and commits to the items they believe can be completed.
  • The team creates the Sprint Goal for this Sprint.

Why Have a Sprint Goal?

While it’s easy to gather many backlog items in a Sprint, it’s more challenging (but more valuable) to group a set of backlog items together in a way that delivers greater business value. Here are the five benefits of a Sprint Goal, as suggested by Roman Pichler:
  1. Supports prioritization
  2. Creates focus and promotes teamwork
  3. Helps obtain relevant feedback
  4. Makes analyzing feedback easier
  5. Supports stakeholder communication

Sprint Goal Template

Proposed by Roman Pichler, the Sprint Goal template consists of three main components:
  • The actual Goal,
  • The approach to achieve it,
  • The criteria to determine whether the Goal has been met.
It also includes a title section that allows you to specify the product and Sprint to which the Goal belongs, as shown in the image below.
Sprint Goal Template
Sprint Goal Template