Welcome to Sprints!

Here we will explain how the OTF agile method works for your projects.



What is a sprint?


A sprint is a short, time-boxed period where we work to complete a set amount of work.


Sprints (or some people call them iterations) were created to improve communication, deliverability, and quality by creating shorter feedback loops and continuous delivery of work.


We found that using Sprints allows our clients to plan work better as well as allows OTF to move from one project to the other faster.


Sprint Planning


OTF works in Weekly Sprints, meaning each week, we will define what can be delivered in the sprint and how that work will be achieved.



Backlog


When you add a new project, it will be added to the Backlog. Your Project Manager will continuously communicate with you on the priorities of your backlog.



Next Sprint


On Fridays, your PM will pull projects from the Backlog to start planning next week's Sprints. They will communicate with you with questions about priorities and will clearly define the deliverables of the sprint.



Can I add a project mid-sprint?


Once we start a sprint, we always prefer to complete the sprint and add new projects to the next sprint to lessen the costs of communication and context switching.


However, we know that a current sprint project might need to be paused every once in a while to handle a new, higher-priority task from a client.


If this does occur, we will usually need one day before we can start that task because of resource planning….so again, we suggest our clients make this an exception and not a norm :)



Sprint Board


All clients will have access to a board, which is a visual representation of:

  • All projects in the Backlog


  • Next Sprint


  • Work in Progress


  • Waiting for approval


  • All completed projects




Sprint Capacity and Points


Capacity, how much work will be done in the Sprint, is measured in what is called Points. Points are a way we assign complexity and time to a project.


Our clients get 10 points per stream each Sprint:


  • Silver - 2 Streams - 20 Points


  • Gold - 3 Streams - 30 Points


  • …


Each project will carry a number of points which are defined based on the complexity and the time the project requires to be completed.


Points are assigned: 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8.


Projects must fit into a Sprint.


Larger projects, such as websites, will be broken into smaller projects allowing them to be completed in a Sprint.


I.e. a Website Project might be 60 Points total, but the weekly Sprints will be broken up into tasks, so with each Sprint, we are delivering value to the project.


This means that projects will get a maximum of 8 points. 


If something is more extensive, the project should be divided into deliverables where each one will get their assigned points - projects like website builds, data migrations, or complex integrations.


Average Sprint Points by Project Type


You can check the articles below for more information regarding the average sprint points that a project represents. They are organize by type of project and its complexity.