Northern SPIRIT

h1. Sprint Operations

h2. Overview

This page outlines tips and tricks to organizing and planning a Sprint, which will last 1 month for this project.

h3. Starting a Sprint

# First, ensure the backlog has recently been groomed so that the team is prepared for the upcoming sprint (see [[Backlog_Grooming]]). Based on the sprint retrospective from the previous sprint, the scrum master should estimate the team's current sprint velocity. This places an upper limit on the amount of work the team can assign itself.

# The scrum master will organize a sprint planning meeting for the team to discuss and prioritize the work being done this sprint. See [[Sprint_Planning]] to learn what this looks like.

# The scrum master will create a new subproject of the main project, named "Sprint XX". Make sure to select the inherit options button.

# During sprint planning, edit tasks and assign them to this month's sprint by changing the project field. Also, add estimates for time and modify the due date to correspond to this sprint.

# Then, create a custom view in the backlog by adding the Project (/sprint) filter and clicking "Save custom query". A quick filter will then appear on the right-hand menu for this sprint. Click "clear" to return to the default view. Tip: a convenient way to view the backlog with all sprints is to set the backlog to group by project. *Features should never be moved into sprints unless they are truly being closed. Usually features are indefinitely open.*

_Note that in redmine, sprint labelling is accomplished using custom fields in the AlbertaSat administration settings. Contact an administrator if a sprint label needs to be added to the dropdown._

*Load Management*

Scrum only works if we are effectively managing our workloads and tracking time being spent on tasks. *The total "estimated time" parameter on the _sub-_project "Overview" tab should be less than or equal to the current sprint velocity.* If it isn't, then the team has assigned itself too much work and the scrum master should work with the team to trim the workload.

h3. During a Sprint

On a weekly basis, the team will complete a standup. Each member on the team is expected to participate and answer the standup questions outlined in [[Daily_Standup]]:

* What did I work on last week?

* What am I working on this week?

* What issues are blocking me?

* What could others do to help?

Mid-way through the sprint, the team will complete a happiness metric, according to the guidelines in [[Happiness_Metric]] 

h3. Adding Tasks During a Sprint

Though not recommended, if an urgent task arises during a sprint, it can be added to this sprint. At the discretion of the scrum manager and product owner, the task can either take the place of a user story assigned at sprint planning, or be added on top of existing work. The same expectation of completing the task within the current sprint still apply. If it is expected to take longer, then it should be split into multiple user stories.

h3. Concluding a Sprint

# At the end of the sprint, the team will complete a sprint retrospective according to [[Retrospective]] to wrap up work on the sprint. This will serve as a review of the work that was done and facilitate a discussion about how to improve for the next sprint. 

# As part of the process, and if not done already during the sprint, users should enter time spent on their tasks using the "spent time" function. This will allow us to compare estimates to actuals and project sprint velocities into the future.

# The team should also complete another [[Happiness_Metric]].

h3. Sprint Velocities

100-150 hours/month: Webb

150-200 hours/month: Sputnik

200-250 hours/month: Voyager 1

250-300 hours/month: Galileo

300-350 hours/month: Parker