What to do when the Sprint Goal is not achieved
Occasionally, the team will realize they are not able to reach the Sprint Goal by the end of Sprint or that the Goal has not been achieved at the end of Sprint. This usually happens because of two reasons:
- The Developers have not been able to deliver the necessary Sprint Backlog items
- The Increment is not in a usable state
Let us examine both causes, starting with the first one. When one or more Sprint Backlog items have not been finished by the end of the Sprint, this is sometimes due to extraneous circumstances (for example, a Developer has fallen ill). Most often, however, it happens because the Developers did not estimate the items correctly. Unfinished items by Sprint’s end are common, although this tends to happen more often during the early Sprints when the team has not yet established its internal rhythm and delivery cadence.
Important note
Some organizations refer to Sprints that didn’t...
