What is the right Sprint length?

This question has been the primary thing of focus for most people who are new to Scrum. Yes, it seems daunting at first, but it is not a challenge to get the right answer.

However, you need to note that there is no specific lower limit when it comes to sprint length. One week is a fairly short duration, but a very effective one. The common sprint durations range from one week to one month. I’ve even heard of one day sprints but never experienced it myself.

Then, how do you choose the most appropriate sprint length for your team? Experimenting until you get the right sprint length is the way of making this a reality! General rule of dump is, the shorter the sprint that faster the learning due to shorter feedback loops and more frequent retrospectives.

A common length to start with is two-week sprints. These sprints will seem to be too long if your team misses their forecasted velocity from time to time. Also, these sprints are not the perfect option if the team does not hit the sprint goals. In this case, you need to shorten the sprints and see if the team can deliver the sprint goals and meet the forecasted velocity.

Also, the sprints are too short if the team deliver the planned sprint goals and meet the forecasted velocity, but finds it hard to make the right progress in each sprint. This problem is a regular issue that affects those teams that work in domains with high degree of team external dependencies. Unless it is possible to reduce dependencies or complexity, in this environment there is a need for more time to advance the product in the right increments. If you come across this issue, then take a step of extending the sprint length to see if your team can deliver all the requirements.

As mentioned earlier, shorter sprints enhance more opportunities to improve and faster feedback. Also, note that a sprint length exceeding four weeks is difficult to plan and forecast. Shorter sprints are the most preferred in the case where the team is new to Scrum or Agile Software Development in general.

Longer sprints are not the right good from my point of view because they decrease transparency. Also, you need to note that fewer sprints reviews due to longer sprints are equal to less feedback. In the case of longer sprints, there are fewer chances to improve the product. Other than this, the problems discovered in longer sprints are addressed more slowly.